Appleby Farm
Page 38
You will need . . .
2 large, ripe bananas
225g self-raising flour
170g caster sugar
115g margarine or butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon honey or golden syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
85 g chocolate chips (you can usually buy them in small packets - one of these is fine)
1 tablespoon Demerara sugar, for sprinkling on top of the cake
Grease and line a 2 lb loaf tin and heat the oven to 160°C (320F/gas mark 3).
Into a large bowl, sieve the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Add the other ingredients and mix (either with a wooden spoon or an electric hand mixer) just until smooth.
Put into the loaf tin, level the surface, and sprinkle the Demerara evenly over the cake. Bake for 50-60 minutes, then test with a cake tester or fine skewer – poke the centre of the cake, it shouldn’t stick to the skewer. The cake may need 5-10 minutes more; ovens can vary!
Cool in the tin for a few minutes and then on a rack. Serve with tea and be prepared for it to go quickly . . .
Chocolate Brownies
This is one of my daughter Isabel’s favourite recipes: she even made it on Christmas Day as an alternative to Christmas pudding! It’s supposed to make 16 pieces, but in our house, we cut it into 12 . . . They will last for days (in theory!) in an airtight container.
You will need . . .
100g lightly salted butter
150g dark chocolate
3 eggs
200g caster sugar
100g self-raising flour
Icing sugar to dust
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4). Line a 20cm square cake tin or baking dish with greaseproof paper and grease lightly.
Gently melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl above a pan of simmering water.
While it’s melting, beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the flour and mix well. Pour the melted butter and chocolate mixture into the bowl and stir until combined.
Pour into the tin and bake for 35–40 minutes. Remove from the oven when the edges are beginning to crack but the centre is still slightly squidgy. Allow to cool in the tin, sprinkle with icing sugar and cut into squares as big as you like!
Delicious served with crème fraiche or vanilla ice cream.
Lemon Drizzle Cake
My mum rarely arrives at our house without a cake, and this is one of our favourites! Some recipes melt the sugar and lemon juice to pour over the cake at the end, but the Bramleys prefer the crunchy top of this version.
You will need . . .
88g golden caster sugar
88g soft margarine
Grated zest of a lemon
1½ large eggs
88g of self-raising flour, sifted
¾ teaspoon of baking powder
A pinch of salt
For the lemon topping:
50g granulated sugar
Juice of half a lemon
Line a well-greased 1lb loaf tin with baking parchment and pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4).
Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, margarine and lemon zest in a mixing bowl until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs a little at a time to avoid them curdling. Carefully fold in the flour, baking powder and salt.
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 30–35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean and the cake is firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin on a cooling rack.
To make the topping, simply stir the sugar into the lemon juice and pour over the still-warm cake. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin, shout ‘The cake is ready!’ and stand back!
Agent Fergie’s Stem Ginger Cookies
I’m thrilled to include a recipe from my agent, Hannah Ferguson . . .
I can’t count the number of times I’ve made these glorious stem ginger cookies for friends and family. They go down especially well with my niece and nephews, and those three mini bakers have now mastered the art of the stem ginger cookie for themselves. Their favourite part is scooping out that magical golden syrup from the tin and watching it run into the weighing scales . . . and of course the messy icing at the end!
You will need . . .
115g unsalted butter
85g golden syrup
350g self-raising flour
4 teaspoons of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
200g caster sugar
1 egg
40g crystallized stem ginger
For the icing:
300g of icing sugar
5–6 teaspoons of water
Pre-heat the oven to 170°C (325°F/gas mark 3). Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper and then lightly grease with a small knob of butter.
Slowly melt the butter with the golden syrup in a pan over a low heat, stirring as you go. Be careful not to let it get too hot and boil! Once it is completely melted set it aside to cool.
Sift the self-raising flour, ground ginger, bicarbonate of soda and sugar into a mixing bowl. Then, once the butter and syrup mixture is barely warm, add it to all the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.
Beat one egg and finely chop the crystallized ginger and then add both of these to the mixing bowl. Mix everything together with a wooden spoon making sure all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Once mixed well, divide into 24 equal sized portions and, using your hands, roll each one into a smooth ball, about the size of a conker.
Place on to the baking tray – it’s important to leave enough space between each ball as the cookies will spread when baking, so do in two batches if it is easier. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15–20 minutes until a golden brown colour.
Remove from the oven and transfer onto a wire cooling rack. Once completely cooled you can prepare your icing!
For the icing, weigh out 300g of icing sugar. Add 5–6 teaspoons of water a little at a time until you reach a smooth and runny consistency. Using a teaspoon, scoop up a little of the icing at a time and run in a zigzag motion over the biscuits to create a random stripy pattern. Don’t worry if it gets messy – these biscuits aren’t meant to look perfect.
Leave the icing to dry – and then enjoy. Please note: these go exceptionally well with a large, hot mug of tea.
Chocolate Roulade with Fresh Cream
My friend Alison made this at her Christmas Party last year and it disappeared in minutes! It looks amazing and is very light. It doesn’t contain any flour, so perfect for people on a gluten-free diet!
You will need . . .
170g dark chocolate
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
170g caster sugar
300ml double cream
Icing sugar to dust
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4). Line a swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper and grease lightly.
Gently melt the chocolate in a bowl above a pan of simmering water.
Separate the eggs, and mix the egg yolks with the caster sugar and melted chocolate. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and fold thoroughly into the chocolate mixture.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven when the sponge is springy to the touch, and allow the cake to cool completely in the tin, preferably overnight.
Turn the sponge out onto a clean piece of greaseproof paper. Whisk the double cream until thick but not solid and spread over the cake. Using the paper, roll the cake up carefully and decorate with icing sugar.
Courgette and Lime Cake
My friend Rachel is an excellent cook and we all tuck into her cakes eagerly. It was only after I’d declared this cake to be delicious that she told me what was in it. A-maz-ing.
You will need . . .
3 medium eggs
125ml vegetable oil
150g caster sugar
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225g self-raising flour
250g courgette, finely grated
For the icing:
400g cream cheese
175g icing sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
40g pistachio nuts (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon lime zest
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4). Grease and line two 21cm sandwich tins.
Beat together the eggs, oil and sugar in a large bowl until creamy. Sift in the flour, bicarbonate soda and baking powder and mix well. Stir in the grated courgettes until well combined. Divide the mixture into the cake tins and bake in the middle of the oven for 25–30 minutes.
Remove the cakes from the oven and carefully turn out onto a wire rack. Carefully peel off the paper lining and leave to cool.
For the icing, beat the cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Sift in the icing sugar and stir in the lime juice.
For the icing, beat the cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Sift in the icing sugar and stir in the lime juice.
Use a bread knife to level one of the cakes if necessary. Use 2/3 of the icing to sandwich the 2 cakes together, the levelled one on the bottom, and use the remaining icing to cover the top of the cake.
Sprinkle with the pistachio nuts and lime zest and serve immediately.
Florentines
This is my grandmother, Mary’s recipe. She used to make these when she had her ladies’ coffee evenings and she always seemed to have a box of them in the fridge whenever I went round to visit her. They are absolutely delicious but very rich so cut them into small squares.
You will need . . .
225g dark chocolate
125g glace cherries
125g sultanas (or mixed fruit if that’s what you’ve got)
125g sugar
125g desiccated coconut
1 egg
Line a tin with silver foil. Melt the chocolate and pour over the foil. Place into the fridge until set.
Roughly chop the cherries and sultanas and add to a bowl with the sugar, coconut and egg. Mix well and spread over the chocolate.
Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F/gas mark 5) and bake for 20 minutes.
Allow to completely cool, pop it into to fridge to chill for half an hour and then cut into small squares. They will keep for quite a while in an airtight box in the fridge.
Helen Redfern’s Pistachio Meringues
Many of you will have heard of Helen; she writes for Novelicious and has her own blog HelenRedfern.co.uk. I spent a week on a writing retreat with her recently and when I told her that I was including recipes in my book, she kindly offered to donate this one, which is perfect because something very similar appears in the Appleby Farm Vintage Tea Rooms.
4 egg whites
200g caster sugar
50g shelled pistachio nuts, bashed into small pieces
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4). Mix the egg whites on a fast speed until stiff and able to form peaks. Slow the mixer down but keep going and slowly pour in the caster sugar. Mix on a fast speed until the mixture again can form stiff peaks.
Gently mix in the bashed up pistachios.
Lay out the baking parchment onto the baking tray – use a small blob of the meringue mixture to stick the parchment down in each corner. Draw four large circles with a pencil – I draw round a bowl measuring 12cm in diameter.
Scoop the meringue evenly onto the four circles. Use your spoon to smooth or create a swirl effect up to the pencil edges.
Place in the pre-heated oven and immediately turn it down to 150°C (300°F/gas mark 2). Bake for one hour. When the timer goes off leave to cool in the oven for at least one more hour. Remove from the oven and enjoy!
Bookcamp Biscuit Cake
Cesca Major is not only an amazing writer and organizer of Bookcamp writing retreats, she makes delicious cakes too. I’m honoured to be able to share her rather fun recipe for Biscuit Cake in her own words . . .
You will need . . .
A bar of dark chocolate
3 tablespoons of golden syrup
3 tablespoons of butter or margarine
A load of crunched-up digestive biscuits
A bar of white chocolate
A bag of Maltesers
Melt the chocolate, syrup and butter together.
Whack in a load of crunched-up digestive biscuits. Press into a pan.
When set, melt the white chocolate and spread it over the surface of the biscuit cake.
Chop up the Maltesers into halves and press them into the surface.
YUM.
Harriet Bourton’s Mini Victoria Sponges
These miniature Victoria sponge cakes are actually rather like Appleby Farm: bite-sized, sweet and irresistibly more-ish! I find it best to cook the cakes in plain cases and then once you’ve halved and filled them, place them into new, clean paper cases. They are also incredibly easy to make, and I always use Bonne Maman jam – I just think it has the best flavour and you only get a dollop with these . . .
You will need . . .
170g self-raising flour
170g golden caster sugar
170g Stork margarine
3 eggs
A drop of vanilla essence
For the filling:
1 tbsp icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
1 tbsp icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
Strawberry or raspberry jam
Pre-heat your oven to 160°C (325°F/gas mark 3). Line a fairy-cake tin with twelve cases.
Measure out all of the ingredients into a food processor or a large mixing bowl, and either blitz for 5–6 seconds or mix until everything is combined.
Spoon the mixture into the tins, then bake without opening the oven door for 16–20 minutes (depending on fierceness of your oven).
Cool on a wire rack, and then slice evenly in half, covering one half with a teaspoon of the sweetened whipped cream and one half with a teaspoon of jam. (Spreading is easiest with a palette knife, I find.) Place together as a sandwich, and once all are done sprinkle the tops with sieved icing sugar.
Place into clean new cases and serve with a giant pot of tea!
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About the Author
Cathy Bramley is the author of the bestselling romantic comedies Ivy Lane, Appleby Farm, Wickham Hall and Conditional Love. She lives in a Nottinghamshire village with her husband, two daughters and a dog.
Her recent career as a full-time writer of light-hearted, romantic fiction has come as somewhat of a lovely surprise after spending the last eighteen years running her own marketing agency. However, she has always been an avid reader, hiding her book under the duvet and reading by torchlight. Luckily her husband has now bought her a Kindle with a light, so that’s the end of that palaver.
Cathy loves to hear from her readers. You can get in touch via her website www.CathyBramley.co.uk, Facebook page Facebook.com/CathyBramleyAuthor or on Twitter twitter.com/CathyBramley
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First published in Great Britain as four separate ebooks in 2015 by Transworld Digital
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First published as one edition in 2015 by Corgi Books
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Cathy Bramley 2015
Cathy Bramley has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781473525207
ISBN 9780552171595
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