Cardamon Rose and Rhubarb Cake fit for a Queen !

Last year  .. youngest daughter snapped picking off the chocolate curls. 

The rhubarb is coming up in the garden and since the rain it's been going a little crazy.  For those of you who have bought my recipes book Prepped you might recognise this recipe .. and I have to admit it is one of my absolute favourite cakes to bake and to eat and one of the very first recipes I developed for Prepped.  I am planning on making this for my first ever clandestine cake meeting in Northampton next week and I shall be making it for the jubilee celebrations for my village. 

I think that there is something whimsical about this cake. Soft, feminine and pink, with floral notes and flower petals. It’s the centrepiece for a summer’s day tea party. It’s really quite simple to make. It’s the combination of flavours that really sets this one apart. The rhubarb jam adds the sour that tempers the sweetness, whilst the cardamom and rose entwine like tangles of roses on your taste buds.  A small slice with a cup of earl grey tea in a dainty china cup -  how perfectly English can you get?

Serves 8 - 10

Prep time 30

Cooking time 25 minutes

Suitable for freezing? Yes before filling or decorating

For the cake

250g butter or margarine (suitable for baking)

250g Cardamom Sugar ( this is sugar that has been infused with Cardamon for about 6 weeks just like vanilla) 

250g self-raising flour

4 large eggs

For the filling

400ml double cream

3 drops of rose essence

80 g icing sugar (sifted)

200g of rhubarb Jam

To decorate

150g Icing sugar (sifted)

50g of White chocolate curls

Edible rose / geranium petals

NB if you don't have cardamon sugar to hand add one level teaspoon of freshly ground cardamon. (No more as it is pretty strong!)

1 Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas mark 4.

2 Using a hand mixer or food mixer, cream together the butter or margarine and Cardamom Sugar Beat well until white and fluffy.

3 Add 3–4 tablespoons of flour to the mixture, then add the eggs. Adding the flour like this prevents the mixture from curdling. If it does, just keep adding flour a little at a time, beating the mixture to ensure it is evenly distributed. Continue mixing and add the rest of the flour,

4 Divide the mixture between 23 cm round cake tins and bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes, until firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.

5 Once fully cooled you can make the filling. Whip the cream and rose essence and icing sugar until thick.  Spread the jam on the base of one cake and the cream on the other and sandwich together. Mix the icing sugar for the topping and make into a viscous mix about the consistency of custard.  Pour this over the top of the cake and sprinkle the top with the white chocolate curls before decorating with edible flowers.

TIPS & USES

• Keep your eggs at room temperature. They get more air in them and you get a lighter batter.
• If you don’t have Cardamom Sugar to hand, grind about 10 cardamom pods in a pestle and mortar to release the good seeds inside. Discard the green husk and grind the seeds well into a fine powder.
• Oven temperatures vary, so after 20 minutes take a peek. Don’t do it before, though, or the blast of cold air can deflate your cake!
• Whenever you grease your tins use a piece of kitchen roll to spread a fine layer of margarine around the edge. To prevent a greasy film from forming on the cake, put a tablespoon of flour in the greased tin and proceed to tap it around surface.

William Sitwell’s Book A History of Food in 100 Recipes - Interview

I predict that within six months no self respecting foodies bookshelf will be without William Sitwell’s Book A History of Food in 100 Recipes sitting in a prominent position on their book shelf  .. having been well thumbed ..  Why?  Because it is fabulous, witty, informative, unique and incredibly readable as well as being a really beautiful object in it’s own right.

Descended  from a long line of writers William is acknowledged as one of the UK’s best food writers and as the editor of Waitrose Kitchen, there is not much he doesn’t know about the British food scene. 

He is A list. 

He is also local and in Northamptonshire he is known as a genuinely approachable chap. I’ve heard first hand about the invlauable support and advice William gave to village entrepreneurs as they set up a local food market and that William helped the school recently to get their recipe book project off the ground. I’ve been out and about on numerous occasions as William has been there supporting his local food scene and a neighbour I was chatting with just last week enthused that “William is  just so passionate about local food  he is always going out of his way to help wherever possible .. he is very much  be part of our community” she said adding “we are so proud of him!”

I think it is fair to say that he is one of our local food hero’s. So I was really truly delighted when I was sent a review copy of the book by the publishers, Harper Collins and William asked if I would like to catch up with him at home for the BBC Kitchen Garden Show.

Isobel deciding she was peckish halfway through our interview!

From the moment I got my copy of The History of Food in 100 Recipes I couldn’t put it down.  I sat up in bed reading until my eyeballs could take no more, making notes in the margin.  From bread making in ancient Egypt, cheesecakes in ancient Greece all the way to to the invention of the Kenwood chef and Nigella’s cupcakes each chapter is a story in it’s own right.  I had so many questions and I was very much looking forward to catching up with William to ask about how it all came together.

Of course things never go according to plan and my childcare arrangements fell through at the last minute.  I was so disappointed  ..  I reluctantly  spoke to William expecting to have to rearrange.. but he laughed and said bring the children  along .. really it was ok .. even the dog.

I wondered if he had any idea of the utter chaos he was inviting in?  On the way over I pulled over and give my three children and the poor dog a really stern talking to.  They had better be on the VERY best behaviour I said. Or else.

As it was the children fitted straight in.  William's gorgeous children are the same age as mine and before we knew it the girls were tacking up the pony and off they all went to play. 

It turned out to be one of the most interesting interviews I have ever done  ….  if you listen to the Interviews below you will smile  (- it is unedited on Audio boo). Between chickens, phone calls, the dogs, my daughter ringing the church bell, ponies, burning tomatoes in the aga, and the house being decorated we did actually get in a really great conversation about this brilliant book, and the radio show is on this Sunday at 10am on BBC radio Northampton.

Certainly the challenges of interviewing William alongside five children under the age of 10 and two rowdy dogs means that I can confirm that William is really everything a food hero should be. Taking life in his stride William is a genuine champion of local, British and seasonal food, is passionate about his community: he is also hard working dad who was genuinely devastated to burn his tomatoes he forgot about and took the time to feed my hungry five year old halfway through the interview and has written a brilliantly different recipe book. 

This History of Food in 100 Recipes is a seriously lovely looking book, meticulously researched, full of the most interesting stories about passionate foodies . Whilst I'll admit that I have always found history to be a somewhat dry and dusty subject William brings it all to life.  It is colorful, delicious, funny in places, easy to read and yet there is serious depth to it .. I love it .. so I’ll say just one last thing.  It really is absolutely the best book I’ve read in years  so if you only buy one recipe book this year make it this one and keep it at the front of your bookcase.

listen to ‘William Sitwell interrupted !’ on Audioboo

The original Books William bought at the auction at Sothebys

listen to ‘William Sitwell ’ on Audioboo

The first copy!

Northamptonshire Food and Drink Show

Oh my feet are killing me!  I've been on them all day  .. and it's year sine the last show when I met Sophie Grigson.. I can hardly believe this twelve months has flown by .. just flown by!

So today I did my first cooking demonstration today at Holdenby House of the Northamptonshire food and Drink show and for some insane reason I have offered to help out and demo Cake Pops tomorrow. (I was persuaded by Caroline pictured left in pink next to Amanda on the right in the photo's below .. they are the beauty and brains behind this fantastic event)

I was rather nervous about doing a demo .. in fact I have had no sleep for days .. I kept  dreaming that I cut my finger off during the demo  .. and you'd never believe just how relived I was not to find my finger on the chopping board !  All ten fingers still intact  and actually  I quite enjoyed it .. in the same sort of way that you can enjoy and exam if you know the subject.. !

Well it has been a superb day, and promises to be the same again tomorrow.  There are over 70 local food producers, with cakes, jams, chutnesy, oils, burgers, sausages, bacon, wine, beer, fruit, vegetables, cury, spices and ice-cream and cheese  .. glorious cheese .. oh it's foodie heaven .. so if you are reading this tonight or early in the morning then come over to the show .. it's fabulous!

I think the highlights for me have been catching up with Henny from Cooking Gorgeous  - her aprons are quite simply the very best you can buy ... British made and a delight to cook in, and seeing Caroline and Steve from St Giles Cheese. Oh I love love love their shop  .. you guessed it .. it's on St Giles Street in Northampton and I shop there every week. ( Steve pictured above) 

It's such a great show ...  come if you can .. but I must dash now I have cake pops to get ready for noon tomorrow!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Afternoon Tea

I've been about and about fetching strawberries from Mr Troops to have for afternoon tea.. I love it - is just so easy and yet it has quaintness to it. Rose patterned china cups, cupcakes, dainty egg and cress sandwiches, Battenberg cake of course fresh scones with clotted cream, a large dollop of strawberry jam and a steaming pot of fresh tea. I love throwing my red checked tablecloth on the table and having the children come in from school to sit and tell me about their day whilst tucking in to this very British spread. The recipe doubles easily to make more ( I use it for my the topping to my plum cobbler recipe.) You can swap out the flavour at a moments notice, leave out the sugar and add 70g of parmesan for a savory cheese scone, thrown I a handful of sultana’s or add a teaspoon of fresh lavender for a delicious twist and serve with plum jam and a pot earl grey tea instead.

Makes 8
Prep time 5 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
Freeze Yes

Ingredients

225g self-raising flour
75g butter, chilled, cut in small pieces
50g Vanilla Sugar
¼ tsp salt
125ml buttermilk mixed with 2 tbs of freshly squeezed lemon juice ( ordinary milk will do)
3–4 tbsp milk
Extra flour, for dusting
Vanilla Sugar, for sprinkling
1 free range egg, beaten, for the glaze

Method
Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas mark 4.
Put the flour, butter, salt and sugar into a bowl. Mix well. Make a well in the centre and add the buttermilk. Bring the mixture together to form a dough. If the dough seems a bit too dry, add a little more buttermilk, a teaspoon at a time.
Turn out onto a floured work surface and use your hands to form a 2.5cm round. Cut out shapes from this, depending on your preference, and put them on a baking tray.
Glaze the scones with the beaten egg and bake for 18–20 minutes and sprinkle with sugar.
Cool on a wire rack. If you want to freeze these scones do so as soon as they are cool.
Note: Scones are best enjoyed the same day.


Linked recipe
You can turn an every day scone into something really special by replacing the Vanilla sugar in the recipe for Lavender sugar. 

A foodies Best friend

Down the village. I'm going down the village. For as long as I can remember this is what we say when we are going to Brixworth. Funny thing though .. we have to go up hill to get there. Throughout writing this book, and indeed through out my whole cooking life there has been a constant. Whilst boyfriends have come and gone and I grew up from charging about the village on my bike, to being here right now my local green grocers Troop and Son have been there. To be honest I couldn't live without them. Both Stephen and Ken and the staff that work there are always on hand with the freshest, most local seasonal produce.
Through out writing this book they have gone above and beyond to get me the most beautiful fruits and vegetables to use and so today I took a few snap shots and thought I'd share my thoughts.
Whatever you are cooking you can't beat having a local green grocer. Along with the local butcher they are a foodies very best friend.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Venison Burger with spiced Apple

Writing a recipe book for me is an adventure It’s exciting developing recipes and just this week I was kindly given some venison last week to develop a recipe with by Polly from Rutting Reds Venison near Daventry. It’s a delight to pick apples form the tree in my garden walk into the kitchen and cook them up to serve with local meat. The Venison is a treat - it’s tender, surprisingly juicy considering it’s a low fat meat and was so good it needed little adding to it at all. Aside from being utterly delicious venison is a healthy option because it is low in saturated fat and yet high in protein and iron. Ideal for people who want to watch their cholesterol but still have good red meat. Coupled with the slightly tart spiced apple it is a light fresh tasting burger and the apple compliments the rich natural flavor of the venison perfectly.

Makes 4 burgers

Spiced apple

250g of cubed cooking apple

30g caster sugar

juice of 1 lemon

1tbs garam masala

Burger

500g minced venison

4 tbs Bread Crumbs

3 tbs Worcester sauce

Large pinch of salt

Salad to dress

Method

1 For the Spiced apple place all the ingredients in a pan and bring the liquid to a light boil very gently simmer for about 3 minutes. Don’t be tempted to over do it. You are looking for firm chunks’ not mush. The Apple will continue to cook even as you take it off the heat, so leave the lid on and the apples will soften further with out losing their shape.

2 In the mean time place all the ingredients for the burgers into a bowl and mix together well. Form into 4 equal sized patties by squeezing the meat together gently in the shape of a burger. Venison doesn’t shrink in the same way beef does.. because of the low fat content, so make your patties the right size for the baps.

3 Cook your burgers under the grill for about 2 – 3 minutes each side. I like mine rare ..but judge how you like your meat. – don’t keep flipping you burger – these are home made and need to be treated gently.. just cook one side and turn to cook on the other.

4 Place the burgers onto the baps, with a handful of salad - top with the spiced apple and serve immediately.

For more information about Rutting Reds go to www.ruttingreds.com

Harvesting the grapes at my Parents Vineyard

Yesterday my PR manager Katie Read and her family joined us to harvest the grapes from my parents Award winning vineyard Fleurfields. We had to contend with everything the weather could throw at us .. but it was a super day. Children, fun, laughter, dogs stealing hats, some sunshine, some rain, wellingtons, buckets and buckets of grapes and lots of delicious food cooked by my mother and we picked until you could literally not see another grape in the dark. - The pictures tell it all!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Ben, Sophie Grigson, and I

I am smiling. There are times when luck is with you. Having only ever met two famous people in my life, I have, this weekend, met both Raymond Blanc and Sophie Grigson. Luck does not mean that I don’t work exceedingly hard, but it can certainly give you a heads up in life.

Today I went to the Northampton food and drink show at Holdenby House where Sophie Grigson was giving a food demonstration. With over 20 books published she is considered to be one of our top food writers, having written for many years her columns have been published in both The Independent and the Times. It doesn’t get much better than that. Above photo taken by Sara Browne.

For me Sophie has a way that puts the food right at the front of what she talks about. Before herself comes the food. She is both highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic with a clear sense of communicating to her audience both on screen and in her books. She is one of my food hero’s, so I was nervous about meeting her. As a not even published author, I wanted to ask her if she would give me her opinion on my book when it is finished.

I ummed and arrred about how she might react to my request, playing various rejection scenarios out in my head as I approached back stage. I appreciate how busy she is, after all this was the end of a working day for her. Despite several people telling me how lovely she is I was quite concerned I would be interrupting her. Really, I need not have been the slightest bit nervous. Even though she did not know me from Adam, (no pun intended as Adam Grey was there in mid demonstration, ) she greeted me with warmth and genuine interest. Along with her adorable dog Ben, she put me at ease instantly. Thank goodness, she really is as lovely as people said she is.

What did strike me, aside from her relaxed demeanour and warm laugh, were her bright green eyes, glowing skin and her verve for both food, and life. There is an energy, which radiates around her. You could quite literally see the effect she had on people as they were exiting the demonstration. They left purposefully full of intention to buy the ingredients and get home to cook. That’s influence.

She is a leading food ambassador, a seriously successful author as well as being the sort of person you would want to phone up to tell good news to, because she really would be pleased for you. I was indeed cheeky enough to ask if she would have a look at Prepped before it is published.. and I asked if perhaps she would say something nice about the book for the cover. She fixed a wry smile and said yes .. of course …. as long as I actually do like it.

Now you can’t argue with that!

She inspires.