Pancakes

Pancake with Nutella, topped with chopped nuts

& toasted mini marshmallows

I know, I know, I'm a day early for Shrove Tuesday but I thought you might like to plan ahead for tomorrows flipping feast.  Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.  Lent, is traditionally a period of sacrifice in the forty days leading up to Easter Sunday.  Prior to this period of sacrifice a feast of pancakes would be consumed on Shrove Tuesday to enjoy foods such as sugar, eggs and butter which would be restricted during the Lenten season.  While the tradition of sacrifice during Lent is not as prevalent today, Shrove or Pancake Tuesday as it is more commonly known now has not waned in it's popularity. 

Pancake with peanut butter, topped with banana

& a drizzle of honey

When I was younger my mam would make the customary pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.  I don't remember ever having them at any other time throughout the year.  She made the traditional Irish style pancakes, thin and crepe like.  Despite my propensity to consume vast quantities of chocolate and rich desserts in a single sitting these pancakes always lay a little heavy on my tummy and I stopped eating them quite young.  My mam would still make them for herself and my sisters though (my dad doesn't like them either).  She would flip them expertly and when they were ready she would smear them with butter, sprinkle with sugar and roll them up before slicing. 

Pancake with salted caramel sauce,

topped with sliced apple

The next day we would go to church to have our foreheads marked with black ash and start into the annual period of sacrifice.  Every year it was the same for me, chocolate and sweets.  We received a special dispensation every Sunday and of course on St. Patrick's Day, you know the unwritten rule about being allowed to break your fast on a holy day.  It's been a while now since I have given anything up for Lent, I think it is the same for a lot of people.  I don't really see how depriving myself of chocolate, that I will naturally eat on the sly when there is no one around to see me, will make a big difference to the world at large.  Instead I try to make a bigger effort to be a slightly better person, grumble less, lift my head to say hello how are you to that neighbour that I really don't like, help someone out.  This year will be the same, I'm not sure it makes a huge difference to the world at large either but it's got to be better than a grumpy chocolate deprived me, right?

As I have said, I'm not a fan of crepe style pancakes, preferring thicker and fluffier American style ones.  I have tried a few recipes over the years, some I didn't like, some that just didn't work and through trial and error have created the recipe that works best for my tastes.  It produces thick, fluffy panckes that provide the ideal base for any number of delicious toppings.  Enjoy!

Pancakes
(makes 8+ depending on how many tablespoons of batter you use for each pancake)

150g/5.5oz Self Raising Flour
3tbsp Caster Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 Large Egg
150ml Buttermilk
2tbsp Vanilla Extract

1.  Place the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl and mix to combine.
2.  Place the egg, milk and vanilla extract into a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
3.  Make a well in the centre of the dry mix and pour in the wet ingredients.  Whisk just until all of the ingredients are combined.  Do not overmix as your pancakes will be tough instead of light and fluffy.

4.  Place the mixture into the fridge to rest for half an hour.
5.  Set a pan over a medium heat and allow to heat for 4-5 minutes.  Add in 2tsp of oil and allow the oil to heat.
6.  Drop 2tbsp of the pancake batter into the pan and cook until bubbles appear around the edge.  Flip the pancake and cook on the other side until golden brown on both sides and the centre feels firm.  Repeat with the remaining batter.  (If you are making these for children you could drop 1tbsp of the batter onto the pan instead to give smaller pancakes.)

7.  Dress the pancakes with toppings of your choice, traditional ones are butter and sugar or lemon juice.  I topped mine with nutella, mini marshmallows and chopped nuts.  I popped them under the grill until the marshmallows were golden brown and toasted.  I topped others with peanut butter, chopped banana and honey; or salted caramel sauce and sliced apple for my husband. 

Scones

In my mam's last few weeks of feeling well she became rather fond of high tea in the Westbury Hotel.  I'm not sure how we ended up there the first time but she liked it enough that we found ourselves back there every Friday morning.  I was lucky in that I was in college at the time and would return home an hour after leaving the house to say that my classes had been cancelled or that the pipes had frozen or that a dog had eaten the college and I had been sent home for the day.  I'm sure she knew that no such thing had happened but she would happily declare that sure wasn't it great that I could come for tea and scones with her. 

Friday had always been her morning to meet her sisters in town anyway so they would meet us too and more often than not a couple of friends and my sisters, if they could wangle some time off work.  We sat in the same place each week, at the window overlooking Harry St., and my mam would make herself comfortable in a big armchair.  The small table would heave with plates of scones, clotted cream, jam, pots of tea and a pot of hot chocolate just for me.  We were never in a rush; sitting, chatting, laughing and of course eating.  Sometimes we sat so long we had to order another round of scones or sandwiches before we had the energy to leave. 

They were wonderful mornings, all the girls together doing what girls do best, gossiping and laughing.  One of my favourite treats now is to indulge in afternoon tea in the Westbury (or anywhere for that matter).  If that same table is free I will sit there and savour the atmosphere, and the sweet treats, luxuriating in the decadence of those couple of hours.  While I don't treat myself to that often, I can treat myself to those lovely scones in the comfort of my own home.  I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do.  Sit down in your most comfortable chair, fill a mug with steaming tea and dollop on some extra cream.  Why?  Well, why not?

Scones

(makes 12+)

450g/1lb Self Raising Flour, plus extra for dusting
1/4tsp Salt
100g/4oz Cold Unsalted Butter, diced
85g/3oz Caster Sugar, plus extra for dusting
280ml Buttermilk
2tsp Vanilla Extract
30ml Milk

1.  Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and dust lightly with flour.
2.  Pulse the flour, salt, butter and sugar in a food processor until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Alternatively grate the butter into the dry ingredients and cut in with a knife until there are no lumps of butter left.

Apologies for the poor picture quality but I don't have natural light in this part of my kitchen.

3.  Place the buttermilk and vanilla into a small saucepan and warm gently.  (Be careful no to heat the milk too much as it will separate)
4.  Place a third of the flour mix into a large bowl with a third of the buttermilk.  Mix with a knife and repeat in two more stages, but be careful not to over mix. 
5.  Dust a work surface with flour and turn the mixture out onto it.  Lightly flour your hands and gently bring the mixture together to form a dough.  (If you find the mixture is very wet at this stage gradually add a little flour at a time until the consistency becomes manageable)

6.  Wrap the dough in some clingfilm and refrigerate for 15 minutes - half an hour.  Place back onto a lightly floured work surface and flatten with your hands to a depth of approx 4cm.
7.  Using a floured scone cutter stamp out rounds and place on the prepared baking sheets.

  Brush with milk and dust with some caster sugar.

8.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes until golden and risen.
9.  Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Mam's Christmas Pudding

My brain has become a little fazzled of late thinking up new recipes and dreaming up ways to improve some oldies but goodies.  I also have writers cramp from scribbling in my blog notebook.  I have pages of yummy things to try out and I just wish I could grow another me to make it possible, but I will eventually get around to trying them all out soon.  For this reason when it came to developing my own recipe for Christmas pudding my brain just point blank refused to work.  Normally this would bother me, I would sit pen in hand until driven with distraction and the task was finished but I decided to take the 'life's too short' approach this time.  Christmas is not too far away and the puddings need a bit of time to mature, and had I forced the task at hand I would not have enjoyed it and mixed my puddings with a bad heart, and we all know you can't make a cake with a bad heart.  It just won't taste good.  I swear.

I decided I would stick with my mam's recipe as it is well tried and tested.  I combined all of the ingredients on Wednesday and left them to sit overnight to thicken.  Every time I walked into the kitchen I was assaulted by the aroma of Christmas, and I couldn't help but sneak a peak under the tea towel every now and then.  Last night I added the Guinness and myself and Mr. Boo both stirred the mix 3 times towards our hearts before making a wish.

It was tradition in our house that the puddings could not be cooked unless everyone who lived in the house had made a wish.  I'm not entirely sure where the tradition originated but I do remember that even when I was too small to stir the mixture by myself my mam or dad would help me and I would make my wish.  I wouldn't dream of ever skipping this vital step.  I am sure it will have no bearing on the taste of the finished article but I almost feel as though I am stirring through some Christmas magic with each turn of the wooden spoon and I wouldn't dare risk leaving that out.  We all need a little Christmas magic in our lives so go on, gather everyone around and one by one stir 3 times towards your heart and make a special wish. 

I would love to hear if you had this tradition in your house or any other Christmas pudding traditions.  Please leave me a comment as I love to hear from you.

xxx

Mam's Christmas Pudding
(makes 2 puddings)

175g/6oz Self -Raising Flour
1 level tsp Mixed Spice
1 level tsp Ground Cinnamon
0.5 level tsp Ground Nutmeg
225g/8oz White Breadcrumbs
350g/12oz Dark Brown Sugar
450g/1lb Currants
225g/8oz Raisins
225g/8oz Sultanas
125g/4oz Mixed Cut Peel
125g/4oz Glaze Cherries(halved)
50g/2oz Almonds(blanched and chopped)
Finely grated rind of 1 Orange
Finely grated rind of 1 Lemon
225g/8oz Margarine(melted)*
3 large Eggs(lightly beaten)*
2tbsp Brandy*
275ml/0.5pint Guinness(or other stout)

*beat this ingredients together

Firstly I am going to give you some tips before I start into the instructions:

It is very important to be organised when making Christmas cakes and puddings to avoid it becoming stressful.  There are quite a few ingredients so I find measuring everything in at the same time a having it ready to go into the bowl at the same time really helps.  Once the ingredients are measured the rest is a doddle.

The bread needs to be slightly stale to make the breadcrumbs but if you have forgotten to buy it in advance you can pop fresh bread into the oven on a low heat (approx. 100C) for 15mins to dry it out.  It is important that there is no moisture in the bread to prevent mould forming.

Toss your glace cherries in some flour before adding to the mix to stop them sinking to the bottom.

When adding the dry fruit to the flour mix I find it easier to add each item individually and tossing it gently in the flour to evenly distribute, if you just dump it all in and then add the wet ingredients it can mean some extra elbow grease is needed to mix it all well.

Enjoy it.  I find it very relaxing and the wonderful aroma of the spices and zest and alcohol just scream Christmas so don't do it when you are stressed and rushing, allow it the time it deserves and savour the Christmas spirit.

1.  Sieve the flour and spices into a large bowl.
2.  Add the breadcrumbs, sugar, prepared fruit, nuts, lemon and orange zest and mix thoroughly.

3.  Make a well in the centre then pour in the melted margarine and beaten egg and brandy mixture.  Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

4.  Cover and leave to stand overnight to thicken.
5.  The next day add the Guinness and mix thoroughly again. ( It's at this stage you make your wish)

6.  Grease 2 x 2 pint/1.1lt pudding bowls.
7.  Cut 2 large circles of grease proof paper for the top of each bowl, grease the bottom layer well and make pleats cross wise in the paper.
8.  Cut a large circle of foil for each bowl and make pleats cross wise in it.

For each pudding you will need:

1 x 2pint/1.1lt Pudding Bowl(greased)

2 x Circles of Greaseproof Paper(1 greased)

1 x Circle of Tin Foil

1 x Large Elastic Band

Twine

9.  Place the mixture into the prepared bowls.

10.Cover each bowl with two layers of grease proof paper(make sure the greased sheet is greased side down on top of the bowl).  Secure in place with some twine or a large elastic band.  Pull tight across the top of the bowl.

I usually cut the paper a little too big and trim

when it is secured in place.

11.Place a layer of tinfoil over the grease proof paper and again secure with twine or a large elastic band.  Pull tight across the top of the bowl.

You may also like to trim your tin foil when

secured in place.

12.Place the lid firmly on the bowl.

13.Tie some twine around the bowl(as if tying up a parcel) and secure on top of the bowl with a loop to make it easier to lift the bowl from the pot when cooked.

14.Place a small clean cloth(this stops the saucer moving around with the simmering water and making noise) into the bottom of a large pot and sit an upturned saucer on top.

15.Sit the pudding bowl on top of the saucer and pour boiling water into the pot until it comes half way up the sides of the bowl.

16.Cover with a tight fitting lid and boil for 6 hours.  (check occasionally to ensure the level of the water hasn't dropped, top up if needed)

17.When the puddings are cooked, remove carefully from the pot and allow to cool completely.
18.When cold remove the damp papers and recover with fresh double grease proof paper(not greased) and store in a cool dry place.