Tag: allspice

Bread and butter pudding

My mind has gone. I felt it fading away about two months ago but it’s really gone now. Bye bye. I can’t read anything and am starting to do things like order 5 of the same thing on Ocado when I only wanted 1 and leaving the iron on.

When I was just newly up the duff I was reading Bring Up The Bodies and although I didn’t really understand what was going on, there was no doubt that I was genuinely reading it, enjoying the, you know, atmosphere, if not actually taking on board any content. But then, like the bloke in Flowers for Algernon, I gradually ground to a halt, got stupider and stupider, more vague. I read fewer pages every night until my Kindle battery ran out and I just didn’t bother to recharge it.

And that was the last literary thing I read. Now I read newspapers and Twitter and that’s it. I can’t even really concentrate on films. It’s not forever, I know, but it is annoying. It happened with Kitty, too, but things were easy then. I just sat about humming to myself, eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and ordering things off the John Lewis website. Now, with nothing to read and nothing to think about all I do is obsess over when this will all be over and I don’t have to be pregnant anymore – or ever again.

I am constantly struck by the pitifulness of the pregnant woman-with-toddler combination. Whenever I saw them in the playground I always used to think “Oh god, you poor cow.” And now it’s me. Yesterday, as I pushed Kitty’s buggy through the freezing rain I was brought to mind of a character in The Mayor of Casterbridge*, the tedious Thomas Hardy novel, (which I hope for your sake you have not bothered reading): little Fanny Robin, pregnant out of wedlock by a scoundrel soldier and forced to walk for miles and miles through the snow, 8 months gone. I think that’s what kills her. Or maybe she dies in childbirth. Anyway, it’s grim and I dwell ghoulishly on poor Fanny Robin as I am forced, bookless, to focus inwards.

It will do that to you, being pregnant – it makes you selfish, self-pitying, green-eyed. It makes you covet things – slimness, agileness, more help or the life of the woman whose children are all at school.

This is an inappropriate introduction to my recipe today, which is for bread and butter pudding – probably the antithesis of all this stark moaning. If stark moaning were a foodstuff, it would be a bad cheese sandwich from a motorway service station. Bread and butter pudding on the other hand, is the food equivalent of a really brilliant wedding speech.

I am not going to provide you with completely exact quantities for this because your pudding dishes will all be different and it’s a very simple thing to make, so being very precise doesn’t matter and you can judge things by eye yourself. And if I say that, you know it must be true.

This is based on Delia Smith’s recipe, so if you can’t handle the vague quantities thing (and I wouldn’t blame you), do seek hers out online.

So here we go, Bread and Butter pudding.

Some white bread
butter
currants
sultanas
ground cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg or all three
some mixed candied peel might be nice? But don’t go out specially for it
3 eggs (ok you really DO need 3 eggs here)
double cream
milk
50g sugar
some lemon zest if you have it

Preheat your oven to 180C

1 Generously butter your pudding dish. Then start buttering slices of white bread on one side, cutting them in half – rectangles or triangles, up to you, (crusts on) and arranging them in the dish.

2 You ought to be able to get about two layers of bread in here, and between the two layers, throw in some currants and sultanas and a sprinkling of spice or spices. Be generous. I used only Allspice, but a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg would be lovely as well.

3 Repeat this on the final layer.

4 In a jug beat the three eggs and then add to this the sugar, lemon zest then the double cream and milk in a ratio of about 2/3 double cream to 1/3 milk and mix.

NOW – this is the bit where you have to judge for yourself how much cream and milk you need. You don’t want the egg-and-cream mixture to be slopping over the sides, but you want the top layer of bread to be soaking up the mixture from the underneath. Err on the side of caution and add less than you think you need – you can always top up the cream and milk afterwards.

Stir all this round and then pour over the bread. Give it a small jiggle. Mix some more cream and milk together and slosh over if you think it needs it.

5 Finish this off with a sprinkling of granulated sugar, if you have it, then shove in the oven for 30-40 mins. The eggy mixture ought to be just set.

Eat with custard or more cream, while staring into space.

*Fanny Robin is not, of course, in The Mayor of Casterbridge but in Far From The Madding Crowd – I TOLD you I’d lost it…

 

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Gingerbread cupcakes

Goodtoknow TV

Free & easy recipe video: Watch new how-to recipe videos with goodtoknow and Woman’s Weekly see all videos >

Fill the house with the sweet, spiced scent of gingerbread cupcakes as they come out of the oven. Decorated with vanilla buttercream and a cute gingerbread man, these cakes make lovely food gifts.

  • Child friendly
  • Make in advance

That’s goodtoknow

Learn how to pipe the perfect iced-rose with our easy-to-follow video.

Ingredients

For the gingerbread cupcakes:

  • 75g unsalted butter, softened
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 125ml black treacle
  • 1 large egg (we used a Large Baking Egg)
  • 1 large egg yolk (we used a Large Baking Egg yolk)
  • 175g all-purpose flour, or plain flour
  • 1tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 1/4tsp ground ginger
  • 1tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2tsp ground allspice
  • 1/2tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4tsp salt
  • 1tsp baking soda
  • 125ml cup hot milk

For the buttercream:

  • 120g butter, softened
  • 200g icing sugar, sifted
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 2tbsp milk

You’ll also need:

  • 12-hole muffin tin
  • 12 cupcake cases

Method

  1. For the gingerbread cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 175˚C/350˚F/Gas Mark 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.
  2. In a clean, large bowl cream the butter with the sugar. Add the treacle and the egg and egg yolk.

  3. In a separate clean, large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt.
  4. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk.
  5. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the hot milk mixture.
  6. Spoon the batter evenly into the cases.
 Bake for 20 mins or until slightly springy to the touch.
  7. Allow to cool for a few mins in the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
  8. For the buttercream: Cream the butter in a clean, large bowl until smooth, gradually add the icing sugar and continue to cream until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the milk and cream until combined.
  9. Use a piping bag to pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes in an iced-rose design and decorate with a mini, edible gingerbread man.

By Ella Valentine Baking Eggs

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Nutritional information

Guideline Daily Amount for 2,000 calories per day are: 70g fat, 20g saturated fat, 90g sugar, 6g salt.

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Are you planning on making food gifts for Christmas this year?

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The Hummingbird Bakery gingerbread men

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Free & easy recipe video: Watch new how-to recipe videos with goodtoknow and Woman’s Weekly see all videos >

You don’t have to use a gingerbread man cutter with this Hummingbird Bakery recipe, but it’s so much fun to decorate each one individually! Leaving the dough to rest overnight makes the cookies better the next day.

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 400g plain flour
  • ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 2tsp ground ginger
  • 2tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground allspice
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 180g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 125g soft dark brown sugar or dark muscovado sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 125g black treacle

For the royal icing:

  • 1 egg white
  • ½ tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 310g icing sugar, sifted
  • food colouring, optional
  • gingerbread biscuit cutters
  • a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper

Method

For the cake:

  1. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
  2. Put the butter and sugars in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and cream on slow speed until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat in the egg and treacle, scraping any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
  3. Turn the mixer back down to slow speed and slowly add the flour mixture a couple of tablespoons at a time, stopping often to scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Once an even dough has formed, take it out of the mixer, divide into 3 and wrap each piece in clingfilm.
  4. Leave to rest overnight in the fridge.
  5. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3.
  6. Take the dough out of the fridge and leave to soften for about 10 minutes. Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the dough to a thickness of about 4 mm with a rolling pin. Cut out shapes with the biscuit cutters. Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking trays and bake in the preheated oven for about 10–15 minutes.
  7. Leave the cookies to cool slightly on the trays before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

For the royal icing:

  1. Beat the egg white and lemon juice together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk). Gradually start adding the icing sugar, mixing well after each addition to ensure all sugar is incorporated. Whisk until you get stiff peaks. If the icing is too runny, add a little more sugar. Stir in a couple of drops of food colouring, if using, and decorate the cookies.

This recipe is taken from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf and The Hummingbird Bakers
Photography by Peter Cassidy
Published by Ryland Peters & Small
Text © Tarek Malouf and The Hummingbird Bakers
Photography copyright Ryland Peters & Small

By The Hummingbird Bakery

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Nutritional information

Guideline Daily Amount for 2,000 calories per day are: 70g fat, 20g saturated fat, 90g sugar, 6g salt.

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Today’s poll

Which day of the week do you do the bulk of your food shopping on?

  • Monday 6%
  • Tuesday 5%
  • Wednesday 5%
  • Thursday 12%
  • Friday 17%
  • Saturday 16%
  • Sunday 6%
  • Different days every week 18%
  • In small bits all through the week 15%

Thanks, your vote has been counted!

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