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One of the things I love about visiting tea rooms in Yorkshire is being served a piece of Wenslydale cheese with a slice of fruit cake, its a fabulous combination and a real treat, if youve never tried it I can recommend it.



When I saw that Karen at Lavender and Lovage was hosting Best of British for the Yorkshire region, it was a no-brainer that I should make a traditional Yorkshire Barm Brack and serve it with a wedge of Hawes Wenslydale cheese. 

Yorkshire Barm Brack

550g/ dried fruit - sultanas, currants and raisins
225g /4oz candied peel, chopped
225g /8 oz glace cherries, halved
300ml/10 fl oz cold, strong, black "Yorkshire" or other tea
150g/5½ oz butter, slightly softened
150g/5½ oz soft, dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
225g/10oz all purpose/plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp black treacle/molasses
100ml/3 fl oz whisky
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
2 tsp lemon juice
110g/4oz ground almonds

1. Place all the dried fruits in a large bowl, pour the tea over, stir well, then cover with a tea towel and leave overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 170°C (160C Fan)/325°F/Gas 3.
3. Line a 22cm/8½" cake tin (I used a square tin) with greaseproof paper or baking parchment and grease lightly with a little butter.
4. Place both the butter and sugar into a roomy baking bowl. Cream the butter into the sugar until light, smooth and creamy using either a fork or electric hand whisk.
5. Mix the flour with the baking powder. Beat one egg into the creamed butter, then beat in a third of the flour. Repeat until all the eggs and flour are used up.
6. Finally, gently stir in the treacle, whisky, nutmeg and lemon juice to the cake mixture using a spoon or spatula.
7. Drain the dried fruits of the tea and add the ground almonds. Stir well then add to the cake mixture, again stirring gently until all the fruits are incorporated into the mixture. Make sure you do stir gently so as not to knock the air out of the mixture.
8. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and gently level the surface. Cook in the preheated oven for 2 - 2½ hours or until dark, golden brown.
9. Remove the cake from the oven and place on to a cooling rack and leave the cake to cool in the tin. Once cooled it is ready to eat. The cake keeps well when stored in an airtight tin. 

Its a lovely moist fruit cake, there is a hint of whisky flavour, not surprising given how much there is in it!  The black treacle and dark brown sugar also add a lovely depth to the flavour.  I probably had my oven a little too high as it was ready a little soon and is a bit more damp in the middle than I would have liked.  Its an easy recipe to make and definitely one to make again.


If you would like to enter the Best of British challenge which is sponsored for the first six months by New World Appliances  proud BRITISH manufacturers of kitchen appliances.  Each month, one entrant will be picked AT RANDOM to receive a £50 Amazon voucher.  And, at the end of the six month period there will be a regional showdown, with a judge to pick the best entry  New World Appliances have kindly offered £300 of Amazon vouchers for the overall winner, so if you enter every month you have 6 chances to win the grand prize!
We’ll be showcasing the entries both on the Face of New World blog and on host blogs and promoting the recipes through Facebook and Twitter, with all your entries fully credited back to your blogs. The full rules are posted on The Face of New World Appliances.

The Best of British Challenge has been organised by Karen Burns Booth of Lavender and Lovage and Fiona McLean of London Unattached.  Many thanks to them both for all their hard work.





Im also entering this cake for Alphabakes August 2012. as it is a Teabread for the letter T.  Alphabakes is organised by Ros at The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline at Caroline Makes.

Best of British - The Scottish Challenge!

We are lucky that New World Appliances as proud BRITISH manufacturers of kitchen appliances are sponsoring this event for the first six months.  Each month, one entrant will be picked AT RANDOM to receive a £50 Amazon voucher.  And, at the end of the six month period we will have a regional showdown, with a judge to pick the best entry (we are still working on who that will be and should be able to announce it shortly).  New World Appliances have kindly offered £300 of Amazon vouchers for the overall winner, so if you enter every month you have 6 chances to win the grand prize!
We’ll be showcasing the entries both on the Face of New World blog and on host blogs and promoting the recipes through Facebook and Twitter, with all your entries fully credited back to your blogs.
So, why not show what you think is the Best of British and join our challenge.
Rules:
 The full rules are posted on The Face of New World Appliances. However, here is a summary of what you have to do to enter:

• Post your recipe on your blog with a link back to The Face of New World Appliances AND to this post.
• Add the Best of British badge to your post.
• Add "Best of British" to your post or as a tag.
• E-mail bestofbritishchallenge@gmail.com with your recipe title, a link to your post and a photograph by Midnight of 15th July.
• If you post on Twitter, you can use #BestofBritish and if you mention @fionamaclean or @serialcrafter or @newworldapps, we will try and retweet.
• The round-up of entries will be posted on or before the 20th July on The Face of New World Appliances and here on my blog too.

The Best of British Challenge has been organised by Karen Burns Booth of Lavender and Lovage and Fiona McLean of London Unattached.  Many thanks to them both for all their hard work and to Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog for hosting the first month featuring recipes from Cornwall. Remember to check the round up on the 20th June.

Scotlands Food

There are so many fantastic food producers in Scotland.  We have high quality beef and lamb and game, incredible seafood and delicious dairy produce.  The varied landscape of Scotland has the right conditions to for all of these products and, despite some of the deep fried Mars Bar anti-food propaganda, Scotland has an excellent reputation for good food. 

I thought long and hard about what I should showcase for Best of British and toyed with a smoked venison salad or maybe some traditional baking.  In the end I decided to put a bit of a twist on a dish that is full of Scottish products and is popular in restaurants and at home for entertaining:  Cranachan.

Im not sure what that bottle says about us, there doesnt seem to be much Auchentoshan malt whisky left!  In my defence, we have had that bottle for quite a while... oh yes and some lovely Scottish Heather Honey, thick and fragrant.

Its also the start of the Scottish soft fruit season.  I visited a fruit farm in Fife last weekend, no raspberries there, but plenty of strawberries.  These raspberries come from Perthshire, the cooler summers in Scotland are ideal for raspberry growing.

Iced Cranachan with Raspberries (serves 4)

For the ice-cream
300ml milk
1tsp vanilla extract
 3 egg yolks
25g caster sugar
1 tbsp Scottish Heather Honey
1tbsp Scottish Malt Whisky
300ml 1/2 Fat Creme Fraiche

For the Oat Crumble
100g Scottish medium oatmeal (I used Hamlyns Oatmeal suitable for baking)
30g Scottish butter
50g demerara sugar

200g Scottish Raspberries

To make the ice cream
1. Pour milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the honey and heat until almost boiling.
2. Take off the heat and let it cool slightly.
3. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until thick and creamy.  Gradually whisk in the hot milk, then strain back into the pan.
4. Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
5. Do not allow to boil!
6. Pour into a chilled bowl and leave to cool in the fridge
7. Whisk the Creme Fraiche into the cold custard until evenly blended.
8. Pour into an ice cream maker and churn until frozen, alternatively freeze in a shallow container, whisking 2 or 3 times during freezing to break down the ice crystals and ensure an even-textured ice-cream.
9.  When the ice-cream is still soft, add half the oat crumble and mix well.

To make the oat crumble
1. Rub together the medium oatmeal and the butter until combined and resembling rough breadcrumbs.
2. Add the demerara sugar and stir through.
3. Heat the oven to 180C and spread the mixture on a baking tray.
4. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
5. Let the crumble cool.

For the Raspberry Coulis
100g Scottish Raspberries
25g icing sugar, sieved
1. Push 100g of raspberries through a sieve, collecting the juice in a bowl.
2. Stir in the icing sugar until dissolved.
3. Chill until ready to use.



I used some old fashioned Tala Castle Cake tins, lined with clingfilm, to make my little ices, but you could use a small glass or just add a scoop of ice cream to your plate.  You need to take the ice-cream out of the freezer about half an hour before eating.  Place the ice cream on the plate, using a dessert spoon add a pool of raspberry coulis on one side and place three raspberries in the coulis.  Add a little stream of oat crumble on the opposite side of the plate.

This is not an over sweet dessert, there is only a very subtle taste of whisky, but you could leave it out if you dont have it or dont like it.  They honey taste is to the fore and the different textures of the crunchy oat crumble and smooth raspberry coulis are delicious with the ice-cream.

I hope you will join us in the Best of British Challenge and make something from Scotland, it can be a traditional Scottish dish or a dish using Scottish produce.  I look forward to seeing what you make and good luck with the prize draw.



Scottish Cooking
Scottish Recipes
STV Scotland Food and Drink
Scottish Recipes Food and Culture

 That is to say, pumpkin in appearance, not taste. Although, thats an idea...!

•  3 ½ All purpose flour 
•  2 ¾ teaspoon baking powder
•  ¾ teaspoon baking soda
•  2 ¼ teaspoon salt
•  5 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 14 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 2/3 cups pumpkin puree

1.      Line cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 12 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
• 4-6 cups powdered sugar (depends on how sweet you like it)
• 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar
• 2 tsp. milk as needed
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Joeys Kicked Up Rockin Guacamole Recipe with Tomatillos + Lime

Apparently in some circles Joeys guac is famous. But lest I be considered indiscreet, we wont name names. Lets just say, this guac is rockin. The best guacamole this side of the Mississippi. (Thanks and xox to Will for styling the limes.)

Ingredients:

6-8 ripe avocados (depending upon the size)
3 tomatillos, chopped
2-3 ripe red tomatoes, seeded, chopped
1 small red or sweet onion, diced fine
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 jalapeño peppers, seeded, diced fine
1 big bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Sea salt, to taste
3-4 fresh juicy limes

My friend Chris sent me this sweet birthday card: