This recipe for melting moments is at least thirty years old. My sister-in-law gave it to me when both our children were in primary school and always hungry when they came in.
Ingredients
3 oz caster sugar
4 oz soft butter or margarine
5 oz self-raising flour
1/2 egg
approximately 2 oz porridge oats
Method
Switch on oven to 180 C. Grease a flat baking tray – a swiss roll tin is perfect.
Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and light. Add the egg and beat well.
Mix in the flour, making sure the flour is well blended into the mixture.
Using your hands take golf size pieces of the dough and form them into balls. This quantity makes between 10 and 12 melting moments – this time I made 11.
Coat the balls in rolled oats.
Place on the baking tray and flatten slightly.
Lightly press half a cherry into the centre. I forgot to do this and added the cherries when the melting monents came out of the oven. The cherries didn’t stick so well 😉
Cook in the oven at 180 C for about 15-20 minutes until the melting moments are turning golden.
A simple recipe today for cheese scones, perfect for afternoon tea in autumn.
Ingredients
8 oz self-raising flour
2 oz hard butter
3 oz strong cheese, plus extra for topping
approximately 1/4 pint milk
Method
Switch on oven to 200 C.
Grease a flat baking tray – a swiss roll tin is perfect.
Put the flour into a mixing bowl.
Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until no lumps are left. I use hard butter as it rubs in better than using spreadable butters.
Mix in the 3 oz of grated cheese. Strong cheese gives a better flavour – mine was classed as having a strength of 6.
Add the milk a little at the time using your hand to blend it into the flour and butter mix. Gradually collect the mixture together into one piece. Knead lightly to form a soft dough.
Roll into a thick sausage shape, about two-inch diameter. Cut into 8 pieces. Knead each slightly into a round about an inch thick.
Add grated cheese on the top of each scone pressing gently so that it sticks to the scone.
Place the scones on the greased baking tray and cook in the oven for fifteen minutes until well risen and golden.
When cooked, cool the scones on a slatted tray or trivet.
You can either eat these warm or cold. If you like, spread butter and jam in the middle. Perfect with a cup of tea.
My greengage plum tree has had a super crop this year, but it has been a battle harvesting the plums as the blackbirds like them a lot. The trouble is the blackbirds don’t just eat one, they peck a hole and eat a little bit then go onto the next. I’ve picked several pounds of plums and stewed and frozen some, and given loads away.
I decided I’d make something a little different and produced this plum pudding cake. It can be eaten either as a cake or with cream as a dessert.
If you don’t have greengage plums, any plums will be a good substitute.
Ingredients
Approximately 20 greengage plums quartered and stoned
4 oz butter
4 oz soft brown sugar
2 eggs
6 oz self-raising flour
1/2 level tespoon cinnamon
2 dessertspoons granulated sugar
Method
Switch on oven to 180 C
Grease and line a 7 ½ inch cake tin with greaseproof paper.
First quarter the plums. I score round each one with a knife then twist the sections off. Discard the stones.
In a bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add one egg at a time beating each egg into the mix. Add the flour, stirring well to make a smooth mixture.
Put half the mix into the prepared cake tin, smoothing it level.
Layer half the quartered plums on top of the mix, pushing each quarter down slightly.
Spoon the rest of the mix on top, levelling as before.
Put the rest of the quartered plums on top pressing them into the mix slightly. I start with a circle round the outside, then inner circles from that. The whole surface should be mostly plums.
Sprinkle the cinnamon on top, then scatter the demerara sugar over to give a crunchy top. You can use more sugar if you like a sweeter taste.
Bake in the oven at 180 C (fan), for an hour and a quarter.
Remove the pudding cake from the tin, and if not eating it warm, cool on a wire rack. Remove the greaseproof paper.
Keep the plum pudding cake in an airtight tin.
The plum pudding cake can be eaten warm or cold either as a cake or a dessert.
My favourite is cold as a dessert served with thick cream, but then a slice with a cup of tea is rather good.
Simnel cake is one of my all-time favourite cakes as it combines a rich fruit cake with almond paste. I make it for Easter but it is good any time of the year. Once cooked and decorated it will keep for several days in an airtight tin – unless it gets eaten straightaway 😉
Ingredients for almond paste
10 oz ground almonds
5 oz icing sugar
5 oz caster sugar
1 egg
Ingredients for cake
6 oz butter
6 oz caster sugar
3 eggs
8 oz plain flour
15 oz mixed dried fruit
4 oz glace cherries, quartered
1/2 level teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 level teaspoon nutmeg
Switch on oven to 150 C
Grease and line a 7 ½ inch cake tin with greaseproof paper.
Make the almond paste.
Put the dry ingredients for the almond paste into a bowl. Mix together, removing any lumps in the sugar. Lightly beat the egg and add to the dry mix.
Knead together to make a solid paste. It may appear dry at first but as you work it, the oil from the almonds will make it pliable. Divide in half. Put one half in foil in the fridge until needed later. With the other half make a disc slightly smaller than the cake tin and put to one side.
Now for the cake. In a bowl put the flour, dried fruit and cherries. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg. I use whole nutmegs and have an amazing tiny grater to grate them with. Mix together so that all the dried fruit is separated and covered in flour.
In a separate bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add one egg at a time, beating each egg into the mix.
Fold in the dried ingredients combining them until there are no signs of flour on the fruit. If the mixture does not drop easily from the spoon add a small amount of milk.
Put half the mix into the prepared cake tin, smoothing it and bringing it slightly up the edges. Place the rolled out almond paste on top, then spoon the rest of the mix on top. Smooth the top making a dip in the centre.
Bake in a cool oven, 150 C, for two and a half to three hours.
Cool in the tin on a wire rack.
When the cake is completely cool, remove from the tin and take off the paper that lined the tin.
Take the rest of the almond paste and divide into half. Roll one half into a circle slightly smaller than the simnel cake.
Brush the top of the cake with egg white or melted jam, then place the circle of almond paste on top.
With the other half of the almond paste make eleven balls. Using egg white to stick them, place them around the edge of the circle of almond paste. Paint egg white over the tops of the balls and on the almond paste circle.
Place the whole cake under a medium grill until the tops turn golden brown – there will be a wonderful smell of roasting almonds.
The simnel cake is now complete. Keep it in an airtight tin.
We call these almond rissoles, nutty burgers. They are a very tasty vegetarian dish. The quantities below will make enough for four. I usually make a batch and give half to my daughter – we then have two meals each. The cooked burgers keep for several days in the fridge and can be eaten either hot or cold.
Ingredients
6 oz fresh breadcrumbs
8 oz ground almonds
small onion
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 egg
1 oz butter
Coating
1 egg
2 oz fresh breadcrumbs
Frying
vegetable or sunflower oil
butter
Mix the breadcrumbs and ground almonds together in a mixing bowl. The original recipe only had half the amount of ground almonds, but I find these better using more almonds.
Grate the onion into the bread and almond mix. I use the smaller part of a metal grater and find that I don’t get watery eyes.
Chop the parsley finely. I prefer curly leaf parsley rather than the flat leaf variety.
Add the onion and parsley into the breadcrumb and almond mix.
Melt the butter and add to the mix along with a beaten egg.
Mix all together, then using your hands form this into a dough like consistency.
I usually make 16 small burgers, but you can make 8 larger ones if you prefer.
The easiest way to make 16 is to divide the dough in half, then each half in half again. You now have four. Divide each of these into half and half again. Shape each of the burgers in the palm of your hand and lay out.
Break the egg for the coating into a bowl, add a splash of water to make it go further, and beat together. Coat each burger by dipping it into the beaten egg and then covering it with breadcrumbs.
Heat a frying pan with oil and butter. Add the covered burgers. My pan holds eight at a time. Cook over a medium heat for a few minutes, then turn the burgers when they are golden brown and cook the other side. Drain on kitchen paper.
They can be eaten either hot or cold. I had my nutty burgers warm, with steamed vegetables. They were delicious.
Nannie RaRa 