‘I’m fine, but I’m also hungry,’ I said, giving in and making for the little jetty. It was lovely that Geeta and I had discovered we were expecting only a week apart – which could mean the babies arrived at the same time, if one was early or the other late.
‘I was thinking that everything has worked out just like a fairy tale,’ I said to Nile, as I reached the wooden ladder and he caught up with me.
‘Not one of yours, I hope!’
‘No, this time I’m the heroine and you’re the right prince, so for once there will definitely be a happy-ever-after!
Recipes
You’ll be everyone’s favourite if you copy Alice’s example and whip these up for afternoon tea …
Little fat rascals
Welsh rarebit
Sticky ginger cake loaf
Very cheesy cheese straws
Little fat rascals
Fat rascals are a Yorkshire delicacy, somewhere between a rock cake and a scone, and no one can come close to those baked to a secret recipe by Betty’s Café in Harrogate. However, this recipe was devised by a friend, the late author Angela Dracup, and is quick, easy and delicious.
I have added a couple of tweaks – instead of currants, I have used raisins, added a little more spice and then divided up the mixture into afternoon-tea sized morsels: Little rascals, in fact!
I love these split while warm and buttered, but they are also good spread with jam and cream, as you would a scone.
Ingredients
3oz/75g butter or margarine
8oz/200g self-raising flour
A quarter tsp each of ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg and mixed spice
Pinch of salt
3oz/75g mixed dried fruit with peel
2oz/50g raisins
3oz/75g caster sugar
One large egg, lightly beaten with two tbsp milk
Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200°C/400°F and line an oven tray with baking paper.
Put the butter into a large mixing bowl and sift in the flour and spices. Add the pinch of salt.
Mix together using the rubbing-in method until it looks like very fine breadcrumbs.
Add the dried fruit and sugar and mix well.
Stir in the egg and milk mixture one spoonful at a time, until you have a stiff dough.
Divide the mixture up into twelve small rounds on the baking tray.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until pale golden brown, then remove from the oven and put on a cooling rack.
They are irresistible warm from the oven, but they can be stored in a cake tin once cooled.
Welsh rarebit
A true Welsh rarebit is a tasty and luxurious version of cheese on toast and there are many opinions on the best way of making it: some like to use bread toasted on one side only, while others prefer it made with English mustard, rather than dry mustard. But this is how I make mine – and luckily, living in Wales, I can even use lovely Welsh cheese for greater authenticity!
Ingredients
4 slices wholegrain bread (I prefer it quite thickly sliced)
1 level tsp dry mustard
2 heaped tsp plain flour
1 tbsp butter
4 tbsp any dark beer (though milk can be substituted)
8oz/200g strong cheese, such as mature Cheddar, grated
A pinch of black pepper
2 generous tsp Worcestershire sauce
Toast the bread and butter it.
Mix the mustard powder and flour together.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over a very low heat and stir in the flour and mustard mixture to form a roux.
Now, slowly stir in the beer.
Add the cheese and stir till it is melted.
By this point it should be a nice, thick paste, so add the pinch of pepper and mix in the Worcestershire sauce.
Divide the mixture between the slices of bread and spread it out. Then toast under the grill until it goes brown and bubbly.
Serve immediately!
Sticky ginger cake loaf
A delicious sticky, dark and spicy ginger cake. Fragrant and warming for even the rainiest of Yorkshire days, this classic northern recipe is perfect with a nice cup of tea!
Ingredients
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
4oz/125g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3oz/75g butter (cut into cubes and a little extra for greasing)
3oz/75g light brown sugar
3oz/75g treacle
3oz/75g golden syrup
2 tbsp milk
3oz/80g drained stem ginger, finely grated
1 egg (beaten)
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/160°C/320°F and line and grease a cake loaf tin.
Mix the spices together with the flour and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl.
Add the cubes of butter and rub together between fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Put the sugar, treacle, syrup and milk in a medium saucepan and heat gently, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved.
Turn the heat up but do not allow mixture to boil.
Add the stem ginger to the flour mixture and mix in to distribute evenly.
Slowly pour the syrupy mixture into the flour mixture, stirring as you go with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are combined and of a smooth texture.
Add the beaten egg to this slowly, and beat vigorously until combined and mixture now resembles a thick pancake batter.
Pour mixture into cake tin, filling to just below the rim, and bake in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes to an hour until it is well risen and firm to the touch. You can additionally check if it is cooked in the centre by inserting and removing a skewer which once pulled out should be fairly clean.
Once cooked, remove the cake from the oven, allowing it to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning it out.
If possible, store it in a cake tin, still in its lining, for 24 hours before eating to allow the flavours and stickiness to really set in!
Very cheesy cheese straws
If Welsh rarebits aren’t enough to satisfy your cheese cravings (and to be perfectly honest, can you ever have too much cheese?), try this recipe for incredibly moreish cheese straws. If you prefer them without heat, then simply leave out the paprika and cayenne pepper.
Ingredients
3oz/75g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
3oz/75g Cheddar, finely grated
7oz/200g plain flour, plus more for dusting
½ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
3½ oz/100g butter, chilled, plus more for greasing
1 free-range egg (white and yolk separated)
Preheat the oven to gas mark 7/220°C/425°F. Lightly grease a large baking tray.
Put the cheese into a mixing bowl. Sift in the flour and then add the paprika, cayenne and black pepper, and mix.
Cut the butter into little cubes and rub them into the flour mix with your fingertips, until the butter has disappeared into the flour and you have a crumbly mixture, then stir in the egg yolk to reach a dough-like consistency.
Next, still in the bowl, knead into a ball.
Dust your work top with plenty of flour to avoid any sticking, then carefully roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a roughly square shape about ¼ inch thick. You can square up the edges gently by patting with your hands.
Taking a sharp knife, cut the dough square into vertical strips about 1 inch thick, then cut sideways to halve the length. Twist each straw into a spiral pattern.
Gently place straws on to the baking tray, leaving a little space between each one as they will expand whilst cooking.
Whisk your egg white, then taking a pastry brush, coat the straws with this mixture.
Place the baking tray in the oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes. The cheese straws should be a very pale golden
brown when cooked.
The straws may be fragile once removed from the oven, so leave them to sit for about 5 minutes before you remove them.
About the Author
Trisha Ashley’s Sunday Times Top Ten bestselling novels have twice been shortlisted for the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance, and Every Woman for Herself was nominated by readers as one of the top three romantic novels of the last fifty years.
Trisha lives in North Wales, together with the neurotic Border Collie foisted on to her by her son and a very chancy Muse.
For more information about Trisha please visit her Facebook page www.facebook.com/TrishaAshleyBooks or follow her on Twitter @trishaashley.
Also by Trisha Ashley
Sowing Secrets
A Winter’s Tale
Wedding Tiers
Chocolate Wishes
Twelve Days of Christmas
The Magic of Christmas
Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues
Good Husband Material
Wish Upon a Star
Finding Mr Rochester
Every Woman for Herself
Creature Comforts
A Christmas Cracker
A Leap of Faith (previously published as The Urge to Jump)
TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
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Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com
First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Trisha Ashley 2017
Cover illustration Robyn Neild.
Cover design by Becky Glibbery/TW
Trisha Ashley 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.
The references to fat rascals in the book are a fictional narrative device and do not imply or indicate the publisher or author as having any rights to the fat rascal name. Fat Rascal is the registered trade mark of Bettys & Taylors Group Limited, and this book is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Bettys or any of their trademarks or brands.
Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781473526235
ISBN 9780593075586 (hb)
9780593075593 (tpb)
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