desserts and sweets

Charlie not only shared her recipe with us, but a taste of the cake as well. Delicious!

Ingredients:

• 150g Butter
• 200g Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 3 eggs
• 100g Dark chocolate (can be a mixture of dark and milk)
• 2 tbsp water
• 200g courgette
• 50g ground almonds
• 200g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a loaf tin.
2. Gently beat the butter with the sugar and milk. Add the eggs and beat into the mixture
3. Melt the chocolate and stir into the mixture.
4. Grate the courgette and with the almonds mix into the batter.
5. Sieve in the flour and baking powder.
6. Pour batter into the loaf tin and bake for 55 minutes.

By Charlie Wild

 A traditional West Country Victorian Pudding, where we grow apples in abundance!

Ingredients:

For the Pudding:

• 225g of self raising flour
• 1 level teaspoon of baking powder
• 50g butter, cut into bits
• 150ml of milk
• 450g (approx.) of cooking apples
• 1 tablespoon Demerara sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon of ground cinnamon/allspice

For the Syrup:

• 1 large unwaxed lemon
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup (or honey)
• a knob of butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 200ml of water

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F gas mark 5. Butter a 1 litre (2 pint) baking dish and set aside.
2. First make the lemon syrup. Peel the lemon as thinly as possible. Place the peel in a saucepan along with all of the juice from the lemon.  Add the syrup, butter, sugar and water. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
3. Sift the flour into a bowl along with the baking powder. Add the bits of butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the milk, stirring it in with a fork. Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Turn to coat the dough in flour and then pat it out to a 20cm square.
4. Peel and chop the apples, discarding the peel and cores. Spread the apples over the square of pastry. Sprinkle evenly with the sugar and cinnamon/allspice.  Roll up like a Swiss roll. Cut into 25mm thick slices with a sharp knife and place cut side down in the prepared baking dish.
5. Strain the syrup mixture and then pour it over top of the slices.
6. Bake in the heated oven for 30 to 35 minutes until puffed up and golden brown.  
7. Serve hot with some warm custard or clotted cream. Delicious!

Paul made us his Eton Mess right in the garden after picking some strawberries! 

For four generous portions you will need:

Ingredients:

• 300 g fully ripe strawberries - raspberries can be used, or a mixture of both
• 4 meringue shells broken into chunks
• 200 ml double cream whipped until just thickening
• 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

Method:

1. Remove the green hulls from the cleaned strawberries and crush with a fork to release some of the juice. 
2. Add the cream and yogurt, and finally, mix in the broken meringues. 
3. Place the 'mess' in individual serving dishes (we used plastic cups!), decorate with wild strawberries, and enjoy on it's own or with a shortbread biscuit.

This recipe can be used as an alternative to traditional mincemeat:

Method:

1. Steam a quantity of well bletted (very ripe) medlars, at least 1kg, in the microwave for a few minutes to soften the skins.
2. Remove as much skin as possible and sieve the fruits to produce a puree.
3. To this puree, add dried fruits, mixed peel and mixed spice to give an appearance of mincemeat.  These additions can be adjusted to suit your own taste.  The puree can be frozen to be used later  in tarts and pies as usual.
4. To help speed up the bletting, place the medlars in the freezer overnight.