Steamed pudding is like a sweet, jammy hug in a bowl.  I love it.  It’s a special favourite in our little country.  I was recently introduced to a New Zealand specialty steamed pudding which is the queen of both steamed puddings and now of my heart…burnt …
I was the happy competitor in a baking competition recently. Â I say ‘happy’ because how could you ever not be happy when you have a genuine excuse to make sweet delicious treats several times over? Â And the competition was for a great cause too…Good Bitches …
I know, I know, vegetables and chocolate.  My reflex reaction is ‘blurgh’ too.  But bear with me, these brownies are good, contain lots of dark chocolate and are a handy way to use up beetroot if you find yourself needing to do so.
Not that I often have spare beetroot about the place.  I love the stuff, in line with my enthusiasm for pretty much all vegetables.  The humble beetroot is a member of the Amaranthaceae family and related, would you believe, to chard.  Our modern-day beets descend from the sea beet of the Mediterranean.  Our little beet has an ancient and distinguished history.  Remains of beets have been discovered in illustrious and ancient places, including the third dynasty pyramid Saqqara and the Neolithic site Aartswoud in the Netherlands.
So naturally we people of the 21st century have found that mashing up beetroot and baking it with chocolate is a delicious, modern usage.  The best tip I can give you about this recipe, as warned in the excellent original from BBC, is to wear gloves and ideally an apron when peeling the beets.  Beetroot has a brilliant red juice, which is a stunning, attractive colour, but will make it look as though you killed someone and it takes some time to scrub off.
You will need:
Set the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Â Butter then line a 20 x 30cm tin.
Cover up with rubber gloves and an apron then peel the beetroot and cut it into chunks. Â I find it helps to do this bit in the sink, so that you are not left with a pink kitchen.
Place the beetroot in a large microwave-proof bowl and cover with water. Â Cover the top of the bowl with cling film, pierce the cling film with a few holes and microwave on high for 12 minutes.
Drain the beetroot then place back in the bowl with the butter, chocolate and vanilla extract. Â Use a hand-held, bladed blender to mulch into as liquid-y a mix as you can manage. Â You can also do this bit in an electric mixer, although I find my hand-held one works fine as the beetroot is soft and its warmth melts the chocolate.
Crack the eggs into another large bowl and add the caster sugar.  Beat until foamy and pale, about two minutes with an electric beater.  Gently fold in the beetroot mix, then sift in the flour and cocoa.  Mix in the flour and cocoa gently with a metal spoon.  It will be quite pink!
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 25 minutes, until the top is all risen. Â Cool completely in the tin and once cooled, dust with icing sugar.
This is sweet and chocolatey and honestly, not a hint of beetroot.  It has a very pretty pinkish tinge, not unlike a red velvet cake.
What to do with sage? Make buttery, cheesy sage and cheddar biscuits?  Yes please. I’ve found myself with a reasonably plentiful supply of fresh sage, which is a new thing.  I have always managed to grow parsley and been left perplexed at how to use the …
I always loved visiting Wales when I lived in the UK, and what’s not to love? Â Beautiful countryside, that lovely lilting accent and, most importantly, Welsh cakes. To the uninitiated, these little morsels may present like just another baked good. Â I promise you, they are …
The busy run-up to Christmas is paved with good intentions, namely my intention to publish this post.  So forgive me for missing the boat a little with this one.  I think we can still consider this timely though, as many of us will have tin-foiled lumps of Christmas cake waiting for a cup of tea.
I would never try to better my go-to Christmas cake recipe – Nigella Lawson’s chocolate fruit cake.  I have made her cake for a least five years and partly what makes it so great is that it’s another of my favourite one-pot recipes.  You don’t need to make it weeks in advance as all of the delicious fruity, boozy, buttery ingredients are gently boiled together to mellow and release their flavours.  Not only does this make it scrumptious, it will also make your house smell amazing.
So without further ado, here are the ingredients and method below. It’s a long list of ingredients I know, but worth it! Â My only little tweak is the brazil nuts, which make the cake feel all hearty and wholesome and slightly good for you. Â I also used brandy in my most recent version instead of coffee liqueur, but both are equally good and cointreau’s not bad either.
For Nigella Lawson’s chocolate fruit cake you will need:
Put the fruit, butter, sugar, honey, booze, orange juice and zest, mixed spice and the cocoa in a big saucepan over a medium heat and bring it to the boil, stirring. Â Simmer for 10Â minutes and remove from the heat, letting it stand for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, warm your oven to 150 degrees celsius and get your cake tin ready.  You are going to line it so the baking paper towers up beyond the sides of the tin and your finished, prepared tin looks like it has an extra top layer of baking paper.
This may seem a lot of faff but I promise it’s worth it as without it, the top of the cake can be burned and tough. Â There are more explicit instructions here. Â In short, I find it works for me if I grease the whole tin liberally to start. Â I cut out a circle of baking paper for the base and two long strips which circle around half of each side, and then plaster it all on, the side pieces first and then the base circle. Â This is not the best picture, but I’m including it to give an idea of the finished product if that’s helpful and, like me, the idea of origami makes you balk a little.
Add the eggs and all dry ingredients to the cooled butter mix and stir gently to combine. Â Pour the mix into the prepared cake tin and bake for 1 and 3/4 to 2 hours, until the top is firm but shiny and a skewer inserted into the middle has a little gooey mixture clinging to it.
Cool in the tin. Â It keeps for ages wrapped in a layer of baking paper encased in tin foiled. It’s not at all bad with a little nip of something! Â And of course, it goes well with tea.
Keep safe and happy this Christmas season, wherever you are in the world.
You all know how much I love a good, old-fashioned cookbook. Â So I was naturally delighted when this little gem, ‘The Cookin’ Woman: Irish Country Recipes’ arrived in my letter box, thanks to my little sister (Science teacher extraordinaire and blogger at Einstein’s Kitchen). It’s …
A friend in need is a friend indeed, do you think?  I don’t know the exact origin of this phrase (although the finger is pointed at a certain Quintus Ennius), but I do know that anyone in any kind of need can do with a tasty …
How do you like them apples? Â That’s how I feel I should be addressing you, because we really have had a lot of apply recipes by this point in the Edmonds A section. Â But I love a good flan and this little number is easy and satisfying, so it’s worth a try if you like the sound of it. Â d
It all beings with a packet of Edmonds butter cake mix.  I haven’t bought cake mix for years. It gives me a little guilty pang and I feel like I should be making my own from scratch.  One of the last times I used cake mix was a formative baking experience back in the mists of time.  I had to produce a cake for Girls Brigade and Mum, sick with the flu and no doubt not feeling up to chaperoning a junior baker in the kitchen, bought me an orange cake mix.  I proudly presented the finished product to the family table and Mum, who probably wanted to eat anything else in the world apart from a vivid orange pile of stodge crafted by a 10 year old, gallantly rose from bed and forced down a bowlful.  Being the anxious kid I was, I decided then and there if anything happened to Mum I would always remember that moment.  Probably a little hysterical on my part (I always was a worrier) but it was a very touching moment nonetheless and I still appreciate her sucking it up for the sake of my feelings.
If you want to make this Apple Coconut Flan, you will need:
Set the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Â Combine the coconut and cake mix in a bowl. Â Edmonds offers you the choice of doing this by hand or with a food processor. Â I don’t think you need a food processor, I did this by hand very easily.
Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Â In another bowl, combine the stewed apple and lemon rind and put in the bottom of a greased, oven-proof baking dish. Â Spoon the cake mixture over the apples, and then combine the water and lemon juice and pour this over the top. Â Bake for 55 minutes or until pale golden and firm to touch. Â You can serve this hot or cold.
The apple in my version caramelised rather charmingly at the corners of the dish and the coconut toasted up a little in the topping. Â We had ours semi-warmed with some yoghurt and it went down a treat, I hope particularly for my Mum.
You may be a bit tired of my Winter and Autumn range of stodgy, warming things that include root crops and apples, and trust me, I’m just tired of Winter, but this is quite a pleasing little loaf and really easy to make. Â Don’t be …
