This recipe came about because we had an almost-full can of sweetened condensed milk in the fridge and some fruit that was looking past its best and needed using up. I’m a big fan of banana bread and hate food to spoil and go to waste so thought I’d combine these ingredients and see what happened.… Continue reading Banana, apple and sweetened condensed milk cake
One of my Dad’s recipes, this one is made a bit less frequently than some of the others but is equally delicious. It really does improve after a couple of days so is worth making ahead of time. Ingredients: 325g Golden Syrup 150g Brown Muscovado Sugar 150g Butter 170g Self Raising Flour 120g Medium Oatmeal… Continue reading Traditional Parkin
Another recipe that my Grandma used to bake in the same 8-inch square cake tin as her Cherry & Almond Cake, this makes a lovely moist gingerbread that tastes even better a day or two old if you can manage not to eat it all first. Ingredients: 8oz (225g) Plain flour 1 level tsp. Bicarbonate of… Continue reading Gingerbread (Cake)
Since I first made a batch of this on my narrowboat perhaps 7-8 years back, it has become a firm favourite in our family. Every year when the peppers are in season around September-October (read: on offer) I make a double batch to distribute to my family as Christmas gifts. It goes really well with cheese / cold meat and… Continue reading Sweet Chilli Jam
A sort of cake-meets-tart hybrid, these buttery goodies are delicious. These are the ones that my Mum always used to demolish first when Grandma had been baking! They’re also really quick and easy to make – bonus. If you’re looking for health food, look elsewhere though. Ingredients: 8oz (225g) Unsalted Butter (they really wouldn’t be the… Continue reading Viennese Tarts
These are similar to bakewell tarts, but with a slightly lighter topping and made with strawberry jam rather than cherry. I’m not sure why this was, or whether these tarts have any other history or link to the similar baked goods from Bakewell but they do taste good! Grandma used to make her own shortcrust pasty for these but hasn’t included… Continue reading Almond Tarts
Grandma always used to make this one in an 8-inch (20cm) square tin, greased and lined with baking paper. I’ve made it a few times in a similar sized heart-shaped silicone cake mould from Ikea too. Imperial measures first as they were what Grandma used, but I have converted to metric too. Ingredients: 8oz (225g) Butter… Continue reading Cherry & Almond Cake
My Grandma was a great cook and a fantastic baker. Before she died, she wrote some of her baking recipes down in this little purple book for me so that I could recreate them myself. I plan to type these recipes up and share them here too.
Messing About In The Kitchen 