Stocking Up

I've been stock piling the fruit that I want to turn into jams and jellies when the weather gets a little cooler. These are the red currants that I picked, sorted, and froze yesterday. Don't miss the oh-so-small windows of opportunity that are here now!

Jemima Puddleduck

I just realized that Jemima isn't a duck at all - but her best friends are a couple of ducks that she shares a private pond with (thanks to Farmer Jones). She is one of the many birds and animals that we have been visiting this summer at all of our favourite farms!

Chocolate Fridge Cake

Here is one of the recipes I made for the Ultimate Afternoon Tea classes this month. Apparently Prince William is having a version of this type of cake for his Groom's cake - perfect timing if you want a little something chocolaty to enjoy while you are watching the Royal wedding on the 29th!

A rich chocolate mixture is combined with little pieces of digestive biscuits (McVities are my choice), soft raisins, candied cherries, and dried mango. It does sound a bit unusual but it really works. Enjoy the wedding!

Chocolate Fridge Cake

1 cup raisins
1/2 cup orange juice
300 grams dark chocolate, broken into pieces
3/4 cup butter, diced
1 1/2 Tbsp Lyle's golden syrup or corn syrup
1 cup candied cherries (also known as glace cherries)
1/2 cup dried mango, diced small
8 ounces digestive biscuits
Icing sugar for dusting

Place the raisins in a small saucepan with the orange juice and simmer until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, stirring occasionally. Leave to cool for about 20 minutes while they absorb the rest of the juice.
Melt the chocolate, butter, and syrup in a large bowl set over a saucepan with a little simmering water in it. Stir until smooth. Stir in the raisins, the cherries and the biscuits, tossing until everything is coated in the chocolate mixture.
Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper and spoon the mixture over the base of the pan. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the surface and press it level using your hands, though it will still appear slightly rough. Remove the plastic  and loosely cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Chill for 2-3 hours or until hard.
To serve the cake, remove the whole piece in the parchment paper and place on a cutting board. Dust generously with icing sugar. Cut into small fingers or squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep for up to a week, but you may need to sprinkle with icing sugar again.

Homemade Mincemeat

When cooking is your thing and a crisis hits, what else is there to do but cook? That was how I saw things last week when my friend Shaila was admitted to the hospital with a seriously nasty case of meningitis. One of my first questions was, "What do you want me to make you?" Her answer was short and to the point - Mincemeat tarts.

I immediately remembered, with a pang of regret, that I had used up my last litre of mincemeat the week before in a very delicious apple-mincemeat crisp. Oh, it was good. The mincemeat was from St. Alban's church in Harrow where they make large quantities of it and sell it as a fund raiser. For the last couple of years, I have bought enough to get me through the winter. I thought I was safe to finish it off for the year. But circumstances change.

With no previous experience in making mincemeat, I felt I needed to consult with one of my favourite UK cookbook authors, Tamasin Day-Lewis. Her book, Good Tempered Food, is a book I turn to often for inspiration of a culinary nature.

Perhaps the hardest part about making mincemeat is gathering the wide variety of ingredients you need to have on hand. Once that is taken care of, it's simple. And it tastes and looks like real mincemeat! The interesting thing about making something like mincemeat in March is that it will only get better with age. By this Christmas (if it makes it that long), it will be in fine form and I will be one step ahead with my Christmas baking. You might even say that it makes sense to make mincemeat in March.

For my friend Shaila, I would willingly make mincemeat any month of the year. Now I know I can.

Homemade Mincemeat

2 cups each golden raisins, raisins, and currants
1 1/2 cups finely chopped blanched almonds
3 eating apples, cut into dolls'-sized dice
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 1/3 cups mixed peel, finely chopped
Grated zest and juice of 1 1/2 lemons, and the zest of an orange
1 tsp fresh nutmeg, finely grated
1/4 tsp ground cloves and cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground mace and ground ginger
6 ounces beef or vegetarian suet
4 Tbsp dark rum
1/2 cup Cognac or Apple Brandy

Simply mix all the ingredients together really well in a colossal bowl. Decant into sterilized jars, cover, and keep at room temperature. Turn the jars upside down every so often so the liquid permeates the mixture constantly.

A Good Book in the Bath

It was a cold, snowy Sunday afternoon, last Sunday in fact, and I found myself alone in the house with a good book. More than just a good book actually, it was the latest in the Isabel Dalhousie Series by Alexander McCall Smith. Real comfort food. As I wrote to a friend not long ago, reading that series is like wearing flannel in front of a blazing fire place, or something to that effect.

As I read, I came to a part where Isabel spends a day working in her niece's delicatessen (everything being set in Edinburgh, Scotland). She walks home, smelling of salamis and cheeses, tired but content. She heads straight upstairs and runs herself a hot bath.

This is where I took my cue. I jumped off the sofa with my book, heading for my own tub, and proceeded to run a hot, soapy bubble bath. I folded a fluffy white towel to use as a head rest and sank into the steamy tub, book in hand. This was bliss - true bliss. I barely missed a beat as I continued reading, the hot water still flowing out of the tap. Needs to be a bit hotter, I thought. I brought my foot out of the water to nudge the faucet to a higher temperature setting, not paying much attention to the task at hand. The heroine Isabel was enjoying an evening with her much younger, and incredibly handsome, fiance Jamie, when I misjudged my toe placement and kicked on the shower instead. I moved the library book out of the way JUST after the first cold drops hit my relaxed body.

***You will be happy to know that the book was none the worse for wear (and in fact has already been returned to the library).

Homemade Mayo for Sandwiches

My family was up early this morning, attempting to hit the local ski slopes before the crowds. I decided I was going to stay home, but it was my responsibility to pack them a delicious lunch.

One look in the fridge reminded me that we were completely out of mayo. No worries... I did have the ingredients that I needed to make the missing sandwich spread. It was quick, it was easy, and the sandwiches were delicious (just received a confirmation email)!

The sandwiches were very simple. Fresh light rye bread, generously spread with the homemade mayonnaise, a couple layers of thinly sliced mortadella and/or Black Forest ham, and crisp green leaf lettuce. Each sandwich was slightly different, depending on who it was for.

For the record, when I do use store-bought mayonnaise for sandwiches, I prefer the regular (full-fat) Hellman's. I'm all about the taste!

Homemade Mayo (from The Harrow Fair Cookbook)
Makes 1 cup.

1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup vegetable oil

Mix together the egg yolk, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
Pour 1/4 cup of the oil in slow, steady drops with the mixer on medium.
Add the remaining oil, but at a slightly faster rate. Mix just until the oil is combined and the mayonnaise is the desired consistency.

Salted Caramels

If you are just now coming around to the idea that using salt in sweets is a good thing, don't beat yourself up about it. There is plenty of time for you to hop on this incredibly delicious band-wagon.

When I say "salt", I don't mean table salt. There is a whole world of salts out there that most of us have no idea about. But for this recipe, I am suggesting fleur de sel (the "flower of salt"), which is available at most good grocery stores these days, including Costco. Fleur de sel is a hand-harvested salt collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt off before the majority sinks to the bottom of the salt pans. I use fleur de sel in recipes where it won't be cooked (or at least not very long) and you will be able to enjoy it's taste - salads and salad dressings come to mind, as well as these caramels.

Candy-making is labour intensive and it can be quite finicky. Do you have a reliable candy thermometer? Do you have the time to sit by the stove and babysit the caramel for at least 30 minutes and maybe more? Great. Pull a stool up stove-side, make yourself a cup of tea, and enjoy the process.

Salted Caramels
Makes approximately 6 dozen.
(picture taken by Kristine Newman)

2 cups (500 mL) corn syrup
2 - 300 mL cans sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) milk
1 cup (250 mL) whipping cream
1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter
4 cups (1 L) granulated sugar
2 tsp (10 mL) pure vanilla extract
1 Tbsp (15 mL) fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling

Line a 15- x -10- x 1-inch (38 x 25 x 2.5 cm) baking sheet with parchment paper (this size is known as a jelly-roll pan).
Combine the corn syrup, condensed milk, milk, whipping cream, butter, and sugar in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven. Place the mixture over medium heat and stir occasionally with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes to a boil.
Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 240 F (the soft-ball stage). Remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla and 1 Tbsp fleur de sel.
Pour the caramel into the prepared pan without scraping. Generously sprinkle with more of the fleur de sel.
Allow the caramel to stand at room temperature overnight. Cut into 1 - inch (2.5 cm) pieces and wrap the pieces in parchment paper squares or waxed paper squares.
Keeps at room temperature for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.