Blighty's Britfood Tips

How to Make Incredible Mince Pies!

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:48:00 +0000

You might be tempted to think "why do I need a recipe for mince pies? They are easy to make." After all, you just pick up a jar of Robertsons Mincemeat, make some small pastry shells and lids, bung it in the oven and Bob's your uncle.

Others might just shrug and say "thanks but there is nothing better than Mr Kipling Mince Pies, so I'll just buy a couple of packs and save myself the bother of making them."

And then there is me. I thought to myself, okay, nobody is going to be interested in a mince pie recipe unless the result is so good that beings from other planets will visit the Earth to taste it. Well, I haven't seen any flying saucers in my backyard yet, but I think I created an incredible mince pie recipe!

If you really want to pop into my little shop and buy yourself some Robertsons Mincemeat, or some Mr Kipling Mince Pies this Christmas you will be very welcome. But, if you don't try out this recipe you will miss one of the great taste sensations in this sector of the galaxy.

Yes, Mr Kipling Mince Pies are very good. Very good indeed in fact. So good that I used them as a standard against which to compare the ones I made myself. The mincemeat had to be sweet, spicy and mouth-wateringly good. The pastry had to be firm and light with a smooth texture. Move over Mr Kipling, you have met your match.

Ingredients
For the mincemeat:

2 cups chopped dried fruit (currants, sultanas, raisins, apple, apricot, prunes, pears - mix and match your own choice of dried fruits)
1 tablespoon each of candied orange and lemon peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons Lyles Black Treacle
Sugar to taste
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon dried ginger

For the pastry:

1 cup fine, soft wheat flour (e.g. "Cake and Pastry" flour)
2 tablespoons margarine
1 pinch of salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Preparation
Mincemeat

Bring 1 cup of water almost to the boil and stir in 2 tablespoons of Lyles Black Treacle until dissolved
Bring to the boil then add all the dried fruit and lemon juice and boil gently for a few minutes
Add the allspice, ginger and sugar, then stir thoroughly
Simmer until the mixture becomes a little thick and sticky; stir frequently
Spoon the mincemeat into small ovenproof ramekin dishes

Pastry

Rub the margarine, salt and sugar into the flour, in a mixing bowl, until the texture is like breadcrumbs
While mixing the pastry dough, add cold water a few drops at a time until the dough is slightly dry but workable
Roll out on a floured board to a thickness of half a centimeter
Cut circles of dough about a centimeter more in radius than the ramekins
Mould the dough so that it overlaps and seals against the outside of the ramekins then pierce small holes to allow steam from the mincemeat to escape during baking
Bake at 350F for about a half hour or until the pastry looks well baked
Near the end of the bake, sprinkle a little sugar and a few drops of water on top of each pie to create a sweet glaze
Cool for about 15 minutes before eating

John's Notes
Traditional mince pies are made with a pastry shell filled with mincemeat covered with a pastry lid. The mince pies in this recipe only have pastry on the top and that leaves more room for the delicious mincemeat underneath.

The secret to good mince pie pastry is to make sure you use a fine, soft flour. If you make your pastry with plain flour, or "all purpose flour" your pastry will be a lot heavier. My pastry turned out to be every bit as good as Mr Kipling's.

It really is worth the little bit of extra trouble to make your mincemeat from scratch. The flavour is like all the Christmases you have ever seen come together in one day. I was very pleased; you will be too.

Great Custard Tarts

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:31:00 +0000

Okay, I know I promised mince pies this week but I just had a craving for custard tarts that wouldn't go away. So we will do mince pies sometime soon (before Christmas - I promise).

I have tried commercially made custard tarts in Canada and have met with some real shockers. One baker (who, mercifully, is no longer in business) made custard tarts with custard sauce (you know the corn starch based stuff that tastes great with dessert but is disgusting when baked in a pastry shell).

Another baker failed to pre-bake the pastry shells before filling them. The result was custard tarts with soggy bottoms.

To be honest, I can't make them taste quite as good as the delicious tarts you find in many small British bakeries over 'ome. But, mine are pretty darn good all the same.

Ingredients

1 dozen frozen tart shells (or make from scratch)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup of milk
1 pinch nutmeg

Preparation

Bake the defrosted pastry shells at 350F for a few minutes (do not overbake) then remove from the oven and allow to cool
Heat, but do not boil, the milk
Whisk the eggs and sugar together until frothy
Stir in the hot milk and whisk again for a few seconds
Carefully spoon the custard into the pie shells taking care to fill each shell without over-spilling
Sprinkle nutmeg over each tart
Bake at 300F until the custard sets
Cover and cool, eat the tarts cold

John's Notes
A good custard tart is well filled with custard. The pastry shell MUST be lightly pre-baked. If you try to bake the custard in unbaked pastry shells, the custard will cook but the pastry will remain uncooked and taste 'orrible. I like lots of nutmeg on my custard tarts.

Custard tarts must be made with real custard which means custard made with eggs and milk. Contrary to popular opinion the stuff the English usually pour over desserts is not real custard at all. Custard thickened with corn starch was invented by a famous Mr Bird whose wife loved custard but was allergic to eggs! You can read all about custard in our earlier post "English Custard".

And finally, if you just want to enjoy the custard without the pastry shells then make "custard cups" by baking the custard in small ovenproof dishes.

Brandy Snaps - Just in Time for Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:37:00 +0000

Brandy snaps are one of those "essential" items in a British Christmas. Just like plum pudding, brandy sauce, mince pies and all the other little things we were brought up to expect to find in a British home at Christmas.

It is not quite Christmas yet but it is time to start preparing all those little items you are going to need. It is already too late to make a Christmas cake; a good one needs to mature for a few months before it tastes just right. It's not too late to make mince pies and we'll have a go at them next week.

But this week it is brandy snaps. You can make them now, and if you actually put brandy in them, they will keep until Christmas - that is if you can keep the family away from them.

Ingredients

One tablespoon each of: Flour, Treacle, Sugar and Butter
1 teaspoon ginger
Drop of brandy (optional)

Preparation

Gently heat the treacle, sugar and butter in a saucepan until all have melted and you have a sticky sauce in the bottom of the pan
Stir in the ginger and flour and remove from the heat
Grease a large baking tray and, using a teaspoon, put well spaced drops of the sticky sauce onto the tray
Bake at 350 degF for a few minutes. The sauce will bubble and form a lattice structure as it cooks
Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little
Remove the thin baked cookies from the tray (very carefully) using a metal spatula and roll them around a wooden spoon handle

John's Notes
Once you have mastered this recipe it takes only a few minutes from start to finish. I spent most of my evening getting this recipe just right and learned a few things I can offer as a helpful tip.

First, measure the ingredients! That sounds obvious, but I didn't do it the first time and used too much flour (and ended up with something resembling gingerbread).

Second, don't take the tray out of the oven too soon - let the sticky stuff bubble away for a few minutes to ensure the flour is fully cooked.

Finally, clean up your pans as soon as you are finished. Clean-up is easy when everything is still warm and sticky. It won't be so easy the next morning when the sticky stuff has hardened.

How to Make the Ultimate Gravy

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:42:00 +0000

What is the secret to a rich tasty gravy?
It's all in the stock! Gravy is a sauce made from stock thickened with starch. You can actually get good results using instant gravies such as those made by Bisto and Oxo but for an outstanding gravy you can't beat making it from scratch.

Ingredients

Dripping from a roast
Flour
Olive oil
Seasonings

Preparation
We will split the preparation into two parts; (1) the stock and (2) the starch. My favourite method begins with the starch so we will discuss that first.

A Saucy Roux

Warm a splash of olive oil in a pan and stir in two tablespoons of plain or all-purpose flour. Remove from the heat and stir very thoroughly until the oil and flour mixture forms a smooth paste. Do this stage properly and there will be no lumps in your gravy.

Return to the heat and cook gently for a few seconds to allow the flour to swell as it absorbs the oil. Slowly add 1 cup of water, stirring all the time, to thin the roux. Once you are sure you have a perfectly lump free white sauce you can splash in the remainder of the water.

Take Stock

The very best stock is made from fresh dripping left in a pan after cooking a roast (beef, turkey, chicken etc). Stir some hot water into the dripping pan and scrape all the dripping into a tall, slim glass jug. Set aside for a few minutes to allow the fat to rise to the top. Carefully remove the fat with a spoon and discard it.

I like to use a hand blender to smooth the dripping at this stage. Now pour the dripping into a saucepan and cook gently, adding a little seasoning (salt, pepper, basil, oregano and garlic). A splash of Soy Sauce and a few drops of Worcestershire Sauce add a nice additional savoury flavour.

Stir the stock into the white sauce, cover and cook over a low heat until its consistency is just right. Good gravy should be slightly thick but should still pour easily.

An interesting variation is too add some chopped cooked onion, mushroom or other vegetable to the finished gravy.

If you would prefer a vegetarian gravy, simply substitute the roast meat dripping with scratch vegetable stock. To make a vegetable stock simply fry finely chopped onion, potato, carrot and celery until tender then add water and bring to the boil. Cook gently for a half hour.

John's Notes

What no picture? Come on, we all know what it is supposed to look like. I like my gravies to taste very beefy so I use lots of stock and just sufficient starch to thicken the gravy to the point where it will stick to the back of a spoon. You can experiment to get a flavour that suits your family.

So what is the purpose of gravy anyway? For me it serves two purposes. First and foremost it adds and enhances the flavour of a good Sunday dinner. Secondly, it moistens the food making it more easily digestible.

Bonus Recipe - How to Make Beef Tea

Buy a jar of Bovril Beef Extract
Put one teaspoon of Bovril in a cup and stir in piping hot water.
Best enjoyed while watching a soccer match on a cold, wet Saturday afternoon!

Recipe for Jam Roly Poly

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:16:00 +0000

Jam Roly Poly is one of those very traditional British desserts that probably shouldn't be eaten by anybody over the age of 21. Why? Because it is not exactly the kind of meal that is waistline friendly. If you are a weight watcher you should serve this one in very small portions.

Incidentally, I am a weight watcher. I stare down at those bathroom scales and watch in wonder as the big needle goes up and up. I guess it doesn't help that I prepare, eat and publish these recipes every week!

Ingredients

1 cup McDougall's Self Raising Flour
1/2 cup Atora Light Vegetable Suet
1 tablespoon sugar
Lots of your favourite Robertsons Jam

Preparation

Blend the flour, suet and sugar together with enough warm water to make a smooth, moist dough
Roll the dough flat into a rectangle on a floured board
Spread the jam thickly over the dough
Roll the dough into a cylinder and seal over the ends to keep the jam inside
Bake in a 350 degF oven for 45 minutes OR wrap in aluminum foil and simmer in a pan full of water for 2 hours

John's Notes
This recipe makes a very heavy pudding. Hungry kids will love it. It is best served with Bird's Custard drizzled over it (actually, most British desserts are best served drizzled with - or drowned in - Bird's Custard). A couple of things are important if you want this recipe to be a success.

First, use a good quality, thick jam and use lots of it. Some of it will soak into the dough during baking. Roll the dough up into a cylinder quite loosely and remember to seal the ends to stop the jam from seeping out of the pudding during baking.

If you bake the pudding in the oven it will develop a crusty outside layer like a pie. If you steam the pudding the dough will remain soft. You choose.

The quantities suggested will make enough to serve four guilt-ridden weight watchers.

How to Make Mars Bar Rice Krispie Squares

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:27:00 +0000

The following recipe was submitted by Sarah:

I dropped in to Blightys on Saturday to pick up a few things and we got to talking about your blogs. You mentioned that you were interested in any recipes that I’d be willing to share and at the time, I gave you the ingredients for Mars bar Rice Krispie squares. To make things a little easier for you, here are the instructions:

Ingredients

1 imported British Mars bar
1 oz (2 tablespoons) margarine
1 cup Rice Krispies

Preparation

Melt Mars bar on stovetop (personally, I use the microwave – you just have to be careful not to melt it too quickly). Add margarine and mix until melted and smooth. Pour over Rice Krispies and mix. Press in to pan, wait until cooled, cut in to squares and enjoy. They also freeze really well.

This recipe can be easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled… entirely up to you.

A little background on this recipe for you.. My grandmother started making these in the 50’s as a treat for my father and aunt when they were small children. I believe the inspiration came from Women’s Weekly, and she took the recipe and perfected it. Every year, this recipe is a staple at Christmas time, and at least 4 batches are made. My grandmother is now 92 and living in Rochford. And she still enjoys the occasional Mars bar Rice Krispie square…

John's Notes

First, I want to thank Sarah, a customer at Blighty's, for sharing her grandmother's recipe. As always, I like to try every recipe before publishing it on this blog. Unfortunately, I don't have any fine imported British Mars bars in stock at the moment. Neither does our importer (the infamous Pugwash). So I had to make a substitution. I used a 230g bar of impported British Cadbury Diary Milk chocolate instead.

I melted the chocolate in a special double boiler that I have used before in these recipes. It is simply a pyrex dish that fits neatly into the top of a saucepan. The chocolate is melted by the heat of the steam from the boiling water in the pan.

Sarah: I promise to try the Mars bar version as soon as I can get more of them in stock!

Why is Yorkshire Pudding Eaten as a Starter?

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:08:00 +0000

First and Foremost
Tradition has it that Yorkshire Pudding should be served before the main meal. A big hunking serving of Yo'ksher Pud covered in lashings of onion gravy. No veggies, no meat, just Yorkshire Pudding and gravy.

When I was a young lad my parents explained that this was because poor families wanted to fill their bellies with inexpensive pudding before serving the roast beef. That seemed like a rational idea to me.

That belief lasted for years until I picked up a book written by Peter Walker (aka Nicholas Rhea: the author of the "Constable" series on which the TV show "Heartbeat" is based). The book is called "Folk Tales from the North York Moors".

Nay Lad, This is Why Folk Do it
Peter Walker has an altogether different explanation that, as the descendant of a Viking Warrior, I find quite appealing.

The Vikings raped, plundered, burned and pillaged their way across eastern England for hundreds of years. When a Viking raiding party reached one particular Yorkshire village they received a strange reception.

Sit Thee Down and Eat Lad
It is a tradition in Yorkshire to offer food to visitors. So, when the Vikings arrived, screaming, roaring and beating down cottage doors with their battle axes, the villagers responded by laying another place setting at their tables and serving a heaping helping of Yorkshire Pudding smothered in rich onion gravy along with roast beef and three vegetables all on the same plate.

Vikings may have been merciless butchers, pillagers and rapists, but the smell of good Yo'ksher Pud overwhelmed them and they sat down to eat. The villagers were spared in the expectation of similar feasts in the future.

Gone But Not Forgotten
After the Nordic raiders moved on to find plunder further afield, the villagers changed their eating habits. Thenceforth they served their precious Yo'ksher Pud first just in case the Vikings came back for more.

How to Make Swine in Scrumpy

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:35:00 +0000

For a couple of years now, Blighty's customers have been eating a lot of McWhinney's Irish Pork Sausages. I eat them myself at least once per week. This week sausage night came round once again and I wondered if there was something a little more exciting I could do with my bangers.

Then, while flipping through the pages of an old book of Celtic recipes, I came across a Cornish recipe for Pork in Cider. If you would like to call this recipe by its original title of Cornish Pork in Cider, be my guest. I changed the name to "Swine in Scrumpy" for two reasons.

First, I thought it sounded better. Second, I modified the original recipe very slightly to accommodate ingredients that I had available. I am quite pleased with the result.

Ingredients

1 pack of McWhinney's Irish Pork Sausages
1 cup of flour
4 small Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup cream
2 sticks celery
2 small onions
Parsley, salt, pepper, cinnamon
1 jug rough cider direct from a farm (or a can of imported English cider)

Preparation

Cut the sausages into small pieces
Coat the sausages in flour and brown in a little oil in a frying pan
Chop the onions and celery and fry in oil until soft
Peel, core and chop the apples; toss in a little cinnamon
Mix all the ingredients with the cider in an oven-proof dish
Bake at 325F for 90 minutes
Remove from oven and stir in the cream
Sprinkle the top with parsley

John's Notes

The recipe includes a pint of "scrumpy" (aka "rough cider" as found on farms in the south west of England). If you know a farmer in Canada who makes rough cider you are very lucky. The rest of us will have to make do with a can of English cider from the liquor store.

Just remember that the cider used in this recipe is the fermented kind from England. The non-alcoholic, sweet cider sold in supermarkets in Canada will give the dish an entirely different flavour.

Bonus Recipe

I had a little MacDougall's Plain Flour left over from the sausage preparation so I mixed it with an equal amount of Hamlyn's Scottish Oatmeal. I then broke a couple of eggs into the mixture, added just enough cold water to make a sticky mixture. I then rolled balls of the mix in flour and pan-fried it to make some tasty dumplings that I served with my Swine in Scrumpy.

Recipe for Welsh Faggots

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:25:00 +0000

It's time to get back to savoury dishes again before this blog and the Blighty's British Recipes Newsletter get a reputation for being overly obsessed with desserts. Actually, that probably wouldn't be a bad reputation to earn. I read some advice once that seemed sound at the time: "life is uncertain, eat dessert first!"

So this week's recipe is for Welsh Faggots. This recipe was considered a nutritious and delicious lunch by Welsh miners. The original source suggested it could be eaten hot or cold. I made Welsh Faggots and ate them hot but I can see how they would taste good cold too.

Ingredients

1 kg calves liver
2 onions
1/2 cup Atora Shredded Light Suet
1/2 cup oatmeal
Salt & pepper
1/4 teaspoon sage
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/4 teaspoon thyme

Preparation

Grate the onions
Wipe away the tears from step 1
Finely chop the liver
Stir all the ingredients together until well mixed
Empty into a well-greased oven dish
Bake at 350 deg F for at least 60 minutes

John's Notes

The aroma of the herbs while the dish is in the oven is intoxicating. All the family will be really looking forward to eating it. I served mine with Bisto Onion Gravy and it was simply delicious. The herbs used in this recipe really give the meal its distinctive flavour.I recommend Batchelor's Marrowfat peas as a good accompaniment to this meal.

Bonus Recipe

Here's a dessert recommendation to go with Welsh Faggots. Break up a whole pack of stale chocolate biscuits and soak in milk until mushy. Break 2 eggs into the mix and stir thoroughly. Pour into a greased oven dish and bake at 350 degF until the top is brown and a knife pushed into the centre of the pudding comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream.

Recipe: Iron Duke's Field Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:18:00 +0000

The Iron Duke, as every British schoolchild knows, was Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington. The Duke led the British army to victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

It isn't easy to feed a large army in a foreign land. Some supplies were brought from England in the wagon train, others had to be procured locally from a potentially hostile local population. While enlisted men survived on pork, beans and hardtack, officers dined in style.

Nonetheless, army cooks had to improvise often using simple ingredients that could be prepared in the field using very basic cooking facilities. At the same time, officers' mess meals had to be fit for a gentleman's table.

This recipe is an adaptation of a traditional British recipe that meets those conditions precisely. It uses simple ingredients, can be prepared in minutes and is definitely worthy of an English gentleman's table. Blighty's Britfood Tips dedicates this recipe to one of Britain's greatest soldiers - the Iron Duke.

Ingredients

One large stale cake
1 cup of sherry
2 cups of custard
3 tablespoons strawberry jam
1 shot of brandy

Preparation

Break the cake into small pieces, thoroughly mix with the sherry until the sherry has been absorbed by the cake
Press the sherry soaked cake into individual serving bowls
Mix the jam and brandy together and pour over the cake
Pour a layer of custard on top of the jam
Top with a knob of Devon Double Cream
Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving

John's Notes

At first, I thought this was just another trifle. But then I remembered a previous recipe on this blog in which we established that, although there are many different ways to make trifle, all of them contain fruit. There is no fruit in this dessert.

This is a dessert that could easily have graced the Iron Duke's field table. It took me no more than ten minutes to prepare and my family thought it was "brilliant" as they say in England.

Scotch Mushroom Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:01:00 +0000

Some say that the word "Scotch" is reserved for the description of Scottish whisky. Anything else should rightly be called "Scottish". For example, what some refer to as "Scotch Pies" should properly be called "Scottish Meat Pies". With that in mind I stand by my description of this week's recipe for "Scotch" Mushrooms and you can probably already guess why.

Yes, one of the ingredients is Scotch Whisky. We used Scotch in another recipe recently. If you bought a bottle to use in that recipe I recommend that you drink the remainder and buy a fresh bottle. Scotch that has been left in an opened bottle too long is not suitable for cooking.

Trust me on this. If your spouse doesn't believe that story, just tell him or her that you read in Blighty's British Recipes - so it must be true.

Scotch Mushrooms is a superbly easy recipe and makes a good appetizer. It is simply marinaded button mushrooms.

Ingredients

30ml Scotch Whisky
45ml oil
10ml lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup of button mushrooms
Seasoning

Preparation

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a blender
Add to the mushrooms (raw or lightly cooked)
Toss and store for several hours for best flavour
Use a container with a lid and turn the container several times during storage to ensure the mushrooms are evenly coated

John's Notes
My wife and I couldn't agree on the best part of this recipe. She loves mushrooms and could eat them with every meal. I was deeply concerned with getting the marinade just right and went to a lot of trouble to make sure that the whisky was at its best before I used it ;-)

I made my Scotch Mushrooms with raw mushrooms to make a light and delicious salad appetizer. Some may prefer to lightly cook the mushrooms before adding the marinade.

Please Sir, Can I Have Some More?

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:08:00 +0000

I have a fondness for eating porridge for breakfast. It all started when I was diagnosed as a mild type 2 diabetic. Oatmeal is a good source of starch which the body can convert slowly into blood glucose. My wife, who doesn't like porridge, calls it "gruel".

While reading through a book of Celtic recipes recently, I came across a recipe for Scottish Gruel. "Why", I thought, "did gruel get such a bad reputation?" Charles Dickens portrayed it as a very lowly meal for workhouse boys in his novel Oliver Twist.

But gruel doesn't have to be a bland, tasteless meal for boys living in poverty. I thought I could improve on Dickensian gruel. I succeeded. I created a gruel that would have had boys lining up to get into the workhouse - and asking for more!

Ingredients

3 level tablespoons Hamlyn's Oatmeal
3 cups of water
Honey
1 tablespoon butter
1 shot Scotch Whisky

Preparation

Mix the oatmeal with a little cold water and stir into a smooth paste
Heat the remainder of the water and stir into the oatmeal
Bring to the boil and cook gently for 15 minutes
Stir in the butter, honey (use enough to sweeten to taste)
The last ingredient is optional - stir in a shot of Scotch Whisky

John's Notes
I offered my wife (who doesn't like porridge, remember) a small bowl of Blighty's Britfood Gruel. She liked it - and asked for more! Cast aside your prejudices about gruel and give this recipe a try.

My wife and I decided it was a very pleasant tasting and nutritious light meal. We tried adding a little cream to it. My wife thought it was even better with cream, but I preferred it without. You can experiment with different flavourings if you wish. What about strawberry gruel, vanilla gruel, or banana gruel?

Oliver Twist would have liked living in my workhouse.

Secret Double Chocolate Pudding Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:01:00 +0000

This recipe is a secret. I am sharing it with just a few select people. Why? Because this dessert is so opulently rich and sinful that very few people deserve this much pleasure. Think I'm kidding? You won't once you have tried it.

The recipe is really very simple and involves only two basic ingredients: chocolate and eggs. The result is a dessert that is so rich and delicious that you are going to feel quite guilty after eating it.

There are two layers in this pudding. Each contains approximately the same ingredients as the other, but differences in the preparation produce two very distinct but complementary layers.

Combined, the two layers form a dessert that you will remember for a long time. You will want to make this one again and again.

Ingredients

2 family size bars of Cadbury Bournville Dark Chocolate
8 eggs
2 tablespoons of cream
2 tablespoons red wine or brandy

Preparation
Layer One

Break one of the chocolate bars into individual squares and melt in a double boiler (I use a pyrex bowl that fits snugly into the top of a saucepan of boiling water)
Separate four of the eggs and gently whisk the yolks and the whites until smooth
Stir the egg yolks into the melted chocolate then fold the whites into the mix and continue to cook for a couple of minutes
Add the wine or brandy and stir thoroughly
Place in a refrigerator until the mixture sets firmly

Layer Two

Break the second chocolate bar into individual squares and melt in a double boiler
Separate the other four eggs. Gently whisk the yolks then beat the whites until very firm
Stir the egg yolks into the melted chocolate
Add the cream, stir, then fold the whites into the mix
Place the mix into individual serving size ovenproof bowls
Bake at 350F for 20 minutes; the mixture will rise like a cake
Allow to cool in a refrigerator.

Spoon the first layer pudding over the second layer pudding and serve.

John's Notes
Layer One is a very rich, thick chocolate custard. Layer Two has the consistency of sponge cake. The combination of the two layers forms the "double chocolate" pudding.

This recipe is a development of an original recipe for Manx Chocolate Mousse. I have deviated from the original recipe a little but I am sure you will agree that the end result is very well worth it.

Warning: You will be racked with guilt for days after eating this dessert. Then, like me, you will probably make it again. Go ahead, try it today; the world may end tomorrow and this is one of those "must do before I die" things.

How to Make Cornish Drop Scones

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:06:00 +0000

Blighty's British Recipes is back from a fortnight's sojourn in the United Queendom. While we were there we collected a lot of very interesting recipes. We will be presenting several of them over the next few weeks here on this blog and in the Blighty's British Recipes newsletter.

England stretches from the warm sunny county of Cornwall in the southwest all the way up to chilly Northumberland in the northeast - a distance of several hundred miles.

It was while I was on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne off the Northumberland coast, near the Scottish border, that I came across this interesting recipe from all the way down south in Cornwall.

You may be pleased to hear that this recipe is a very easy one. It takes 10 minutes to prepare, 15 minutes to bake and will probably be eaten in far less time than it takes to make.

Ingredients

One and a half cups of McDougalls self-raising flour
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon margarine or butter
Half a cup of milk
Pinch of salt

Preparation

Rub the margarine into the flour
Add all the other ingredients and stir until you have smooth stiff dough
Roll onto a floured board and flatten the dough into circles about a centimeter thick
Bake at 425F for 15 minutes or until light golden in colour

John's Notes
This recipe makes about eight scones. They taste just the way scones ought to taste - full of flavour and a little heavy. Serve them buttered or with Devon cream and jam. And, of course, wash them down with a nice cup of tea.

I washed mine down with a cup of home-made Chai tea. Here is a simple bonus recipe for Chai tea: Prepare a pot of tea in the usual way (I used Marks & Spencer Gold Loose tea prepared in a French Press). Add half a teaspoon of cardomom and a pinch of nutmeg. Chai tea is very refreshing and a pleasant alternative to everyday tea.

We'll be back next week with another traditional British recipe. Until then ... enjoy!

Recipe: Chicken Pot Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:15:00 +0000

My grandmother's recipe book described how to prepare a farmyard chicken before making the pie. I have seen it done but I chose to start with a pack of lean chicken breasts from the supermarket instead.

Chicken pot pie is baked inside an ovenproof procelain dish. The dish is filled with a cooked, moist chicken stew topped with a layer of puff pastry. This recipe provides a complete meal; you won't be feeling hungry if this is all that appears on your plate - I promise you. Nonetheless, as often happens on this blog, we have included a bonus recipe for using up the remainder of your puff pastry. Whether you prepare it from scratch, or use ready made frozen puff pastry, there is always some left over. So, in the unlikely event that the chicken pot pie doesn't leave you feeling completely full, the bonus recipe of Spiced Apple Pastry will certainly finish the job.

Ingredients

Half a kilo of lean chicken breasts
2 large carrots
1 small onion
1 tablespoon flour
1 small egg
1/2 cup of milk
Seasoning
Puff pastry

Preparation

Dice the chicken and gently fry until the outside surfaces are cooked
Finely chop and fry a small onion
Chop and boil the carrots until just tender
Stir the flour into the onions and gently add the milk, stirring to keep smooth and free of lumps
Stir the onion sauce and carrots into the chicken and simmer for half an hour, adding more milk if needed to keep the mixture moist but not runny
Pour the stewed chicken into an oven-proof porcelain dish
Roll out the puff pastry and cut enough to cover the dish
Whisk the egg and brush it over the surface of the pastry
Bake at 350degF until the pastry rises and turns golden
Serve immediately

John's Notes The quantities given in this recipe will actually make two generous individual pot pies. It is best to serve the pie in the dish in which it is baked. That is the way it would be served in an English pub at lunchtime.

Bonus: There will inevitably be some leftover pastry so try this dessert. Finely chop one Granny Smith apple, mix with some raisins, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Roll out the scraps of puff pastry into a circle. Wrap the pastry around the apple mixture and squeeze tightly into a baseball shape. Splash a little egg wash over it and put it in the oven with the chicken pot pie and bake until it turns golden. Serve with a dollop of cream. Then lay down and complain about feeling bloated!

How to Make Great British Bread Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:47:00 +0000

Bread pudding is one of those fabulous stomach fillers that characterize the Great British dessert. It is not quite as filling as the Banoffee Pie that we featured a few weeks ago on this blog. I can finish a plate of bread pudding but the victorious Banoffee Pie stood over my exhausted body and laughed.

My mother was taught how to make bread pudding by my grandmother. I learned how to make it from my mother. But the bread pudding I grew up with is fundamentally different to the popular recipes used by modern cooks.

The bread pudding I ate as a child was made with a copious quantity of beef suet. The fat literally dripped from the fork.

Bread pudding can be made in two ways. One way uses suet. I made it with Atora Light Vegetable Suet which contains 30% less fat than regular beef suet. A healthier alternative is to substitute the suet with eggs. I made that too.

Just for good measure I made a third variety - Bread & Butter pudding. We are going to get fat in my household this week.

Ingredients

1 loaf white bread
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg
1/4 cup sugar

and either:

2 large eggs
1 cup milk

or:

1/2 cup Atora Light Vegetable Suet

Preparation

Cut the bread into small squares and add enough warm water to thoroughly moisten the bread
Knead the bread and water into a smooth mush then drain off as much water as possible
Mix the raisins into the mushy bread then stir in 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon and nutmeg plus the sugar

Either:

Mix in the Atora suet

or:

Whisk the eggs and milk together and add to the mix

Then:

Put the pudding into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degF until the top begins to darken
Allow to cool then turn out of the pan and cut into slices for serving

John's Notes
I enjoyed both varieties of bread pudding. For my health's sake I'll probably only make the egg variety in future. But here's a bonus:

Bread and Butter Pudding Bonus

Thickly butter 3 or 4 slices of bread. Cut the slices into quarters and layer in a baking dish with raisins. The top layer must be bread. Pour on a whisked mixture of 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of sugar, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of nutmeg. Bake at 350degF until the top layer of bread browns.

Recipe: Mulligatawny Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:01:00 +0000

I call this one "The Forbidden Soup". Canadian government officials consider it so dangerous that it is illegal to import it from Britain.

I bet you are wondering what could be so dangerous about a soup that Canada would ban it. Well the dangerous ingredient is chicken stock. All meat products from the UK are banned in Canada because the Canadian Fool Inspection Agency (CFIA) is afraid that Canadian Mad Cow Disease might become contaminated by British Mad Cow Disease.

Ok, I'll dismount from my soapbox now and talk about food instead. Mulligatawny is a traditional British curry soup. If you like curry and you haven't tried Mulligatawny before, now is the time to try it out. It is very easy to make and quite delicious.

Ingredients

1 large onion
1 large apple
1 large tomato
1 litre Knorr chicken stock
1 tablespoon chutney
1/2 cup cooked lentils
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon McDougall's Flour
Salt, pepper

Preparation

Chop the onion, apple and tomato and fry until the onion is golden.
Stir in the flour, chutney and curry powder
Add the stock gradually, stirring to make a smooth paste
Add the lentils and cook over a low heat for at least an hour
Season with salt and pepper to taste

John's Notes
I curried favour with the boss of the house with this one [who threw that shoe?]. I read several recipes before deciding which ingredients to use for my Mulligatawny. My trusty Grandmother's recipe book from the 1950s suggested using coconut but left out the lentils.

I didn't have any coconut in my kitchen cabinet anyway, but I recall eating Mulligatawny for the first time in a restaurant in England many years ago. My recollection is that it definitely had lentils in it.

The flavour of the soup will be influenced by your choice of chutney. I recommend one of the fine selection of Patak Indian pickles or Shaw's chutneys available at Blighty's Tuck Store (what a surprise).

If you want to adjust the ingredients slightly, go ahead, be creative. For example, add a little finely chopped chicken to the soup. And don't forget to wear rubber gloves and a biological protection suit if you use imported Knorr chicken stock cubes [get off that soapbox John!!] ...

PS: Can you spot the English style soup spoon in the picture? It's hard to find spoons like these in Canada.

How to Make Steak & Kidney Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:39:00 +0000

I have a dream. I have a dream that, one day, I will find a good source of Steak & Kidney Puddings in Canada.

Until that day arrives I will just have to make my own. And that is just what I did today. It's quite a challenge to sit at the keyboard writing this post with a huge steak pud inside me.

Home-made puddings tend to be heavy. Heavier than the type of pudding you buy at a "chippie" in the north of England.

So, if you want one of those "come hungry" type of meals then have I got a recipe for you.

Ingredients

1 pack Atora Light Vegetable Suet
1/2 Kg McDougall's Self-Raising Flour
1/2 Kg boneless stewing steak
Small amount of chopped kidney
1 Oxo cube
Salt, pepper

Preparation

Rub the flour and suet together until the texture is smooth
Add 1 cup of water and mix thoroughly
Roll the dough on a floured board to make circles about 15cm in diameter
Press some aluminum foil into a small dessert bowl with a broad overlapping fringe
Press the rolled dough into the bowl on top of the foil
Brown the steak in a little oil in a frying pan then throw in a pinch of flour, a crumbled Oxo cube and a couple of tablespoons of water. Stir to make a gravy
Put the meat and gravy inside the dough and wrap the dough tightly around the meat.
Wrap the foil tightly around the dough and remove from the dessert bowl
Place the pudding into a large pan of gently boiling water and simmer for 2 hours. Keep the pudding half-immersed in the water and top up with water from a kettle as necessary
Serve with more gravy and Batchelor's mushy peas

John's Notes
Instead of aluminum foil you could use the more traditional method of wrapping the pudding in cloth to make a "rag pudding".

I tried in vain to find a "pudding bowl" in my local stores. Pudding bowls are deep with steeply sloping sides and make an excellent mould for a pudding. If you have a pudding bowl you can line the walls with dough, add the meat then make a flat dough lid for the pudding. Seal the top of the bowl with foil and put the bowl into the boiling water to cook.

If you are not a fan of kidney you can substitute onion or mushrooms - or even just make a plain old steak pudding.

How to Make Pease Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:05:00 +0000

Pease pudding is a delicious, nutritious, easy-to-digest food and it is also very simple to make.

Let me first say something that is on my mind. I often wonder why I am publishing these recipes. You see, I sell cans of Foremost brand pease pudding at Blighty's Tuck Store.

If I carry on telling folks how to make Great British food from scratch am I going to kill all my sales at the store?

For that reason, if I ever find a recipe for British Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate I will never, never publish it or I'll definitely go out of business!

Ingredients

1 large chopped onion
1 kg dried yellow peas
3 Knorr ham stock cubes
1 tablespoon butter
Salt, pepper, garlic

Preparation

Put the dried peas in a large stock pot, cover with water
Boil for 30 minutes then leave to stand for at least an hour then drain off all the water
Cover the peas with just enough ham stock (prepare from scratch, or use Knorr ham stock cubes) to cover the peas, then add a little more so that there is about a couple of centimeters of liquid above the peas
Add the chopped onion and seasonings
Boil until the peas are quite soft
Strain the cooked peas into a mixing bowl and set the remaining liquid to one side (do not discard)
Add the butter and blend until the peas form a paste. Leave a little texture in the mix - it will taste better.
Serve with ham, Heinz Piccalilli and your choice of vegetable

John's Notes
This recipe turned out very well. She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed and I enjoyed a really nice dinner. Well actually I probably made too much pease pudding because we ate the rest the next day too and still had some left over.

There is a side bonus to this recipe. During the preparation we set aside some of the stock used to boil the peas. Take this leftover stock (which now has a very high pea content), stir in some milk and finely chopped ham and warm gently for a splendid ham and pea soup.

But wait, there is a second bonus! If you have as much leftover pease pudding as I did, blend it with some milk and a little more ham stock for even more soup.

Comment from John's evil twin: Make life easy; don't use this recipe. Go to Blighty's Tuck Store and buy a can of pease pudding instead.

Recipe for Parsnip Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:15:00 +0000

The parsnip is a very versatile vegetable. You can do a lot with parsnips. You can chop and steam them with carrots to make a really tasty veggie side dish. You can puree them with garlic butter. You can even make wine with them.

This week I chose to make parsnip soup. Since parsnips will grow just about anywhere and are not terribly hard to cultivate, the parsnip has been a prominent guest on British dinner tables for a long time.

I checked my old recipe books and then I checked with Jamie Oliver to see if things have changed over the years. Jamie's recipe is essentially the same as my grandmother's but I am sure his soup probably tastes a hundred times better than mine just because he is Jamie Oliver.

I actually modified the original recipe, took a couple of preparation hints from Mr Oliver and came up with a soup of which I am exceptionally proud. If you love parsnips too, give this one a try; it's not hard to make and your tastebuds will love you.

Ingredients

1 cup of white stock (I used pork stock, but chicken would do, maybe even fish but I don't recommend it)
3 cups milk
3 large parsnips
1 large onion
Ginger, garlic, salt and pepper

Preparation

Chop the onion and parsnips fairly coarsely and fry in a large pan, along with the seasonings, until they turn a light golden colour
In a stock pot, mix the white stock and milk and bring to a gentle boil
Add the lightly fried parsnips and onion to the stock pot and return to the boil
Simmer for about 30 minutes until the parsnips are thoroughly tender
Using a hand blender, puree any solid material in the stock pot and simmer for a few more minutes. Taste and add more seasoning if required.
Serve in wide soup bowls and decorate with crushed almonds and chives or mint

John's Notes
I really enjoyed this soup; I mean really enjoyed it. My wife did too. Some day I would like to visit one of Jamie Oliver's restaurants and try his parsnip soup to see how mine measures up to the best.

By the way, here is a bonus side dish. Thinly slice another couple of parsnips and deep fry in some oil in a wok. Fried parsnip chips are a very tasty way to complement parsnip soup. Enjoy!

How to Make an English Trifle

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:50:00 +0000

How many different ways are there to make an English Trifle?

Probably about as many ways as there are people willing to give it a try.

The ingredients for a trifle can vary widely. Perhaps the only essential ingredients are sponge cake and fruit.

There is a classic dessert called the Sherry Trifle. Most English cooks make a trifle in this classic way. Here is how I make it:

Ingredients

1 pack Greens Plain Sponge Cake mix
1 pack Hartleys Strawberry Jelly
1 can Ambrosia Devon Custard
Fresh strawberries, chopped
Whipping Cream

Preparation

Bake the sponge according to the instructions on the pack (alright, if you are short on time buy a pack of small sponge flan bases at a grocery store)
Place a thick wedge of sponge cake at the bottom of a single serving glass dessert bowl
Pour in one ounce of cream sherry and allow the sponge to soak it up
Add chopped fresh strawberries
Make up some Hartley's Strawberry Jelly according to the instructions on the pack and slowly pour over the sponge and fruit until the jelly just covers the sponge and fruit (optional, the jelly is not an essential component of the trifle)
Cover with cling film and allow to set overnight in the refrigerator
When the jelly has set add a layer of Ambrosia Devon Custard
Top with a layer of whipped cream and decorate with sprinkles or crushed Cadbury Flake

John's Notes
I actually made three variations of trifle this week and I don't think I have even scratched the surface of all the possibilities. I described my basic sherry trifle above. I also made a second trifle with gelatine, light cream, fruit and sponge. It was quite different, but still quite delicious.

Gelatine (e.g. Hartley's Strawberry Jelly) is an optional ingredient in trifles so I missed it out in my third trifle variety. I simply mixed sponge cake, strawberries and Ambrosia Devon Custard to make a very tasty simple trifle much like the ones sold at my local supermarket.

I believe the essential design specification for an English Trifle is "layers" and lots of them. We'll come back to trifles again in the future after I have perfected the recipe for my own multi-layer rich and creamy trifle.

I hope you weren't planning to go on a diet.

Recipe: Banoffee Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:56:00 +0000

hI wanted to call this dessert "Diabetic's Dream Pie". It contains so much carbohydrate that a big helping would be enough to put a diabetic into a coma. As a mild type II diabetic myself I made a huge sacrifice by trying this recipe out.

Banoffee Pie is a traditional English dessert and I want to thank Blighty's own Pat Pilcher for supplying the recipe that she makes for her own family.

Ingredients

1 can of condensed milk
2 bananas
1 pack McVities Hobnobs cookies
1 Cadbury Flake bar
250ml carton whipping cream
2 tablespoons melted margarine/butter

Preparation

Bring a large pan of water to the boil on the stovetop
Drop the unopened can of condensed milk into the water and boil for 2 hours
Crush the whole pack of Hobnobs inside a freezer bag
Empty the Hobnob crumbs into a mixing bowl and thoroughly mix with the melted margarine
Line the bottom and sides of a cake tin with the Hobnob/margarine mix and press firmly with a spoon to make the pie shell
After the condensed milk has finished boiling, cool the can thoroughly, then open it and spoon the contents into the pie shell. The condensed milk will be caramelized.
Top with slices of banana, whipped cream and a crushed Cadbury Flake bar (as you can see I forgot the Flake and had to improvise)
Refrigerate then serve in small portions (this is a very heavy dessert)

John's Notes
How could you do this to me Pat? I went completely off the diabetic diet wagon to try this! If Pat has any more recipes to offer, the principal ingredients had better be lettuce and fat-free yogourt!

But seriously folks, if you like very sweet, heavy desserts you are going to absolutely love this one. If, on the other hand, you don't like very sweet, heavy desserts - avoid this like the Black Death!!!

The McVities Hobnobs and Cadbury Flake are available at Blighty's Tuck Store. Buy lots, I have a hydro bill to pay! John.

How to Make a Melton Mowbray Style Pork Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:08:00 +0000

Blighty's Tuck Store attracted a lot of attention recently when the Toronto Star newspaper published an article about Melton Mowbray pork pies and mentioned Blighty's as one of the Greater Toronto Area's vendors of such pies. In fact, we were top of the list. The pies in the store are made by a former Marks & Spencer owned company called Churchill Pies (how very British).

We have sold a huge quantity of Churchill brand Melton Mowbray style pork pies since the article in the Star was published. I eat them myself, but then I got to wondering just how difficult it would be to make my own. Actually, quite a bit of work is involved but I am quite proud of the result. Here is how to make your own pork pies:

Ingredients

Raised crust pie shell (see previous post on this blog)
1/2 Kg pork, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon powdered sage
Seasoning (salt, pepper, cayenne)
Pork stock (I used a Knorr Ham Stock cube)
1 beaten egg
Gelatin powder

Preparation

Make sure the pork is very finely chopped or ground
Mix with the sage, some salt and pepper and half a teaspoon of cayenne
Pack the meat into the pie shell. Be careful, the raised crust pastry shell is fragile before it is baked
Cover the pie with another piece of raised crust pastry and carefully seal all around the edges
Make a hole about a centimeter across in the centre of the pie lid and pour in some of the pork stock
Brush the pie crust with egg wash (beaten egg with a little water) and bake at 325F for 2 hours
When done, pour a little more stock with a small amount of gelatin mixed into it through the hole in the top of the pie
Cool overnight in the refrigerator

John's Notes
As you can see from the picture, I didn't pay too much attention to making the pie shell look elegant but the pastry really did turn out well. It tastes exactly like pork pie pastry should taste. I didn't chop my pork up finely enough so the texture of the pie filling is not as smooth as I expected. But the taste? Slightly different to commercial pork pies. I suspect my pie tastes a little different because I used very lean pork. Commercial pork pies tend to contain some fat.

Actually, I was surprised how lean the meat in Blighty's Churchill brand pork pies is. My memories of pork pies in the UK is that they were very fatty indeed. If you want to duplicate the taste of a real British pork pie try using a fattier cut of pork.

I also misread the recipe and added the gelatin before baking. Most of it bubbled out of the hole in the top of the pie while it was in the oven. By the time I realized my mistake I had already sliced the finished pie so it was too late.

One final note: Some customers have asked how to heat up pork pies. Aaaarrrgghh! Don't heat pork pies!!! Pork pies should be enjoyed cold with your choice of pickle.

How to Make Raised Crust Pastry

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:35:00 +0000

I used to think pastry was pastry. Well maybe, I thought, there are two kinds. You know, ordinary pastry and the flaky stuff you find in sausage rolls. My old grandmother's recipe book quickly taught me that was a silly idea.

In fact, there are a lot of different ways to make pastry. The method you choose depends on what the pastry is going to be used for. This week, Blighty's British Recipes newsletter subscribers are going to hear about my attempts to make a genuine, British-style pork pie. Pork pies require a special kind of pastry called "raised crust" pastry.

Many pies are shallow. The base of the pie is a "pastry shell" supported inside an aluminum tray or pie tin. Pork pies are deep and are usually made without any means of external support. The pastry has to be robust enough to hold together while it is filled with meat and baked. That is where raised crust pastry enters the stage. Here is how to make it:

Ingredients

1 cup of McDougall's Plain Flour
2 tablespoons Atora Light Vegetable Suet
1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of milk
Salt

Preparation

Boil the liquids, add the Atora suet and salt and allow the fat to completely dissolve
Put the flour into a mixing bowl and make a hollow in the centre
Pour the liquid into the hollow and thoroughly mix to make a stiff dough
Knead and roll the dough on a floured board
Cut out two circular pieces of pastry, each large enough to generously cover the ends of a jam jar
Mould the remainder of the dough into a cylindrical shape around the walls of the jar, then carefully slide the jar out
Moisten one of the circular pieces of dough and attach it to the base, ensuring that you make a very good seal

You now have a raised crust pie shell ready for making a Blighty's British Recipes pork pie. We'll share with you how to do that in the next post on this blog.

The flour and Atora Light Vegetable Suet are available at Blighty's Tuck Store and by mail order if you don't happen to live near the store. If you would like to be notified when new recipes are published (usually about once per week) you can subscribe to Blighty's British Recipes newsletter by email.

How to Make Strawberry Blancmange

noreply@blogger.com (Blighty's Tuck Store) — Tue, 26 May 2009 21:30:00 +0000

If you had a go at last week's recipe (Turkish Delight) then, like me, you probably have quite a lot of corn starch left over.

Actually, I have quite a lot of Turkish Delight left over. It contains a lot of sugar - and I am diabetic.

So, rather than switch back to a savoury dish this week, I thought it would be useful to publish another recipe to help use that leftover corn starch.

Blancmange is a form of custard. Unlike true custards which are made from milk and egg yolks, Blancmange is thickened with starch - just like "custard powders" and "instant custard" (eg Bird's and Pearce Duff custards). You can make a reasonably good custard by making a white sauce from milk and cornstarch with a drop of vanilla essence and some yellow food colouring. Just add a little extra corn starch and the "sauce" will solidify and you have Blancmange.

Ingredients

2 cups of milk
4 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons sugar (or "Splenda" for us diabetics)
Strawberry food flavouring

Preparation

Dissolve the corn starch in just enough cold milk to make a smooth paste
Stir in the remaining cold milk and the sugar
Bring to a vigorous boil then turn down the heat and allow to simmer for a few minutes
Remove from heat and stir in the strawberry flavouring
Pour into serving dishes and allow to cool for 3-4 hours

John's Notes
This is an easy one that takes only 15 minutes preparation but produces a very tasty little dessert. The quantities shown above will provide enough Blancmange for four modest, or two generous, servings.

The strawberry flavouring can be prepared by putting some fresh strawberries in a blender. When I consulted my strawberries on the subject they complained that they didn't wish to end their days being dissected by high speed rotating blades. So I ate the fresh strawberries and used strawberry daiquiri mix instead.

Next Week
Ok, Britfood Tips readers, the easy recipes have come to an end. Next week we are going to attempt to make a Melton Mowbray style pork pie. You are going to need a jam jar; why? Check in with us next week and find out.