Cooking Gingerly – puddings with a twist

COOKING GINGERLY

Warming and spicy – ginger is the perfect addition to comforting puds for colder months

Gingerbread & Butter Pudding

SERVES 6 50g stem ginger in syrup, fi nely chopped, plus 2 tsp of syrup from the jar 6 thin slices of day-old buttered white bread (crusts removed) 25g caster sugar 600ml milk 2 eggs A handful of dried fruit (optional)

1 Cut each slice of buttered bread into small triangles and place half into a 1L buttered oven dish. 2 Sprinkle with half the sugar and add the fi nely chopped ginger, plus optional dried fruit. Top with the remaining bread, butter side up. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and ginger.

3 Beat the eggs, milk and ginger syrup together and strain into the oven dish over the bread.

4 Allow to stand for 30 mins then bake in a pre-heated oven at 160C/Gas 3 for 45 mins or until set and golden.

Recipe courtesy of Opies, www.opiesfoods.com

THE LIST

Tala 20cm Sieve Stainless Steel

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Cole & Mason Saunderton Herb, Spice & Sprinkles Storage Shaker Unfi lled

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Apple & Ginger Pie

SERVES 12 (OR 6 VERY GENEROUSLY!) FOR THE FILLING 3 tbsp good quality ginger cordial 850g cooking apple Half a lemon, juice and zest 100g caster sugar Milk for brushing

FOR THE PASTRY 350g plain flour 175g cold butter, cubed Pinch of salt 100ml ginger cordial

1 To make the pastry, place the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and blitz until it looks like breadcrumbs. Alternatively, place the dry ingredients in a bowl and rub in the butter using your fingertips. 2 Add the cordial to the pastry crumb mix and blitz in the processor or stir in with a knife, until the mixture comes together and forms a ball. Wrap and chill for 20 mins. 3 Prepare the filling by quartering, peeling and coring the apples, then roughly slice them. Place in a large pan and add the cordial, lemon zest and juice. Bring to the boil, then cover the pan and simmer for about 5 mins or until the mixture is just soft but some apple pieces remain. Taste and add more sugar according to taste and the sourness of your apples! Set aside to cool. 4 Preheat the oven to 100C/Gas 6. Roll out half the pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is 3mm thick. And use to line the base of a 23cm pie tin, pressing the pastry into the base of the tin. Leave the excess pastry hanging over the sides of the tin. Place on a baking tray, line with baking parchment and baking beans and bake for 15 mins. Remove the baking beans and cook for a further 5 mins. Roll out the remaining pastry on a lightly floured surface then cut out a circle about 5cm larger than the pie dish. 5 Spoon the apples into the centre of the pie, brush the pastry edges with milk, then lay the pastry over the filling. Use a knife to trim off excess pastry, then use a fork to seal the edges and make a pattern. Roll out the reserved trimmings and use these to decorate the top of the pie. Brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar and bake on the baking tray for 30-35 mins until golden and crisp. Recipe courtesy of Belvoir Farm, www.belvoirfarm.co.uk.

DIFFERENT TASTES

If you’re not a ginger fan, you can replace it with the same quantity of a quality elderflower cordial which also works well with apple.

THE LIST

KitchenAid 2.1L Empire Red Food Processor

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Harts Price: £144.95

James Martin Apple Corer RRP: £8.00 Harts Price: £6.25

Zyliss Rolling Pin RRP: £19.00 Harts Price: £17.10

Sticky Gingerbread Bundt® with Toffee Sauce & Cornish Clotted Cream

Served with hot toffee sauce and clotted cream, this makes a perfect dessert when the weather gets chilly. It improves with age so bake it a couple of days in advance. It will also freeze for up to 3 months (without the sauce).

SERVES 10 FOR THE GINGERBREAD 250g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing 375g soft dark brown sugar 200g treacle 5 balls stem ginger in syrup, drained 50g ginger syrup 3 large eggs 250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 1.25 tsp bicarbonate of soda 2 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp mixed spice 280g natural yoghurt FOR THE TOFFEE SAUCE 115g unsalted butter 150g soft dark brown sugar 100g Cornish clotted cream

1 For the gingerbread, heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Generously grease a 10cup Bundt® tin with butter, then sprinkle with flour. Turn the tin upside down and tap out any excess flour. 2 Place the butter, sugar, treacle and ginger syrup in a pan and cook over a low heat for 3 mins, stirring until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little. 3 Very finely chop the stem ginger and place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk. Add the eggs and whisk on high speed for a few mins, until the eggs are light and fluffy. 4 In a separate bowl, sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice together. 5 With the mixer on low speed, pour the warm, syrupy mixture into the eggs and mix for 30 secs. Then add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Do not over mix. 6 Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently fold in the yoghurt with a large metal spoon or rubber spatula. 7 Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 45-50 mins, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely or serve warm. 8 For the toffee sauce, place the butter, sugar and clotted cream in a pan and heat over a medium heat, stirring, until the butter and cream have melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and pour into a serving jug. 9 Serve the sticky gingerbread with the toffee sauce and a generous dollop of clotted cream. Recipe by Becca Watson, courtesy of Trewithen Dairy, www.trewithendairy. co.uk. Photography Kate Whitaker.

THE LIST

Mason Cash Heritage 1L Jug RRP: £18.00 Harts Price: £14.40

Nordic Ware Star Bundt® Pan RRP: £58.00 Harts Price: £46.40

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CAKE BY THE OCEAN

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Mermaid by Samuel Groves Silver Anodised 11” Cake Tin Loose Base

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Eleanor Bowmer Batter Jug Shells Harts Price: £21.95

Eleanor Bowmer Rolling Pin Shells Harts Price: £24.95

BAKING BY THE SEA

Someone who might appreciate these sea-themed products is Maggie Richardson, also known as maggietheseasidebaker to her many thousands of Instagram fans. The retired midwife, who lives in Poole and made it through to week 4 of the Great British Bake Off 2021, provides the following tips: • Always read a recipe all the way through before starting, you don’t want to get half way through and fi nd it says “put in the fridge overnight” when you need it in an hour! • There are 2 things I always beat for longer than most people would – sugar and butter when making a cake and buttercream to decorate it. • I weigh my eggs – they should be the same weight as the butter, sugar and fl our for a sponge. • Finally, with all your baking, stray out of your comfort zone and try things you have never attempted before. You may surprise yourself. If all else fails with a cake, you can always use it to make trifl e!

EASY ENTERTAINING

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RAVE REVIEWS

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Le Creuset Cerise Stoneware Camembert Baker

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Le Creuset Deep Teal Stoneware Large 32cm Heritage Rectangular Dish

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