Food & Drink

New Stour & Avon, July 30, 2021 Food & Drink Cooking...

As a child, my sister and I spent a lot of time with my grandma, and she used to take us blackberry picking. I can’t remember where we used to go, and Wimborne has changed so much, so many new houses. My grandma had a circle of friends from the church and there seemed to be an endless supply of cooking apples, runner beans etc. I think there was a sort of free trading thing going on, as my grandma was a really good needlewoman and I think she maybe did repairs, made clothes etc in exchange for produce!! Anyway, back to blackberries! Once we had them back to her flat, she taught us how to make blackberry and apple crumble. An easy dish to make, but lovely to eat, a sort of comfort food, or you can jazz it up for a dinner party. Now I am a grandma, so I took my granddaughter blackberry picking last year, and the ones that didn’t end up in her mouth were used to make a crumble. She knows that crumble is one of grandad’s favourites, and she wanted to help me make it. She’s nearly three, as she constantly reminds us, and is trying to decide between a scooter and a bike for her birthday, although she has told me that she could have both! She loved weighing up the ingredients and then rubbing in the fat to the flour. Then helped to layer the crumble and the fruit.

with Martha Legg

Ingredients: 6 or 8oz Self Raising Flour (It depends on how much crumble you want, my husband likes a lot of crumble.) 3 or 4oz Margarine 3 or 4oz caster sugar. It’s basically half fat and sugar to flour, so you can make more or less depending on how much you want. I also sprinkle some cinnamon in, to bring out the flavour of the apples. Then rub the fat into flour to resemble breadcrumbs, stir in the sugar and the cinnamon. It’s difficult to gauge how much fruit, sometimes it depends on how much you have got, or your preference. I peel and chop the apples and leave the blackberries whole. In an oven proof dish, approx. 8 inches round and deep, (up to about 4 inches, but it doesn’t matter if its deeper, but you don’t want the layers of crumble too thin.) I always put a layer of crumble in first and then put in the fruit, then another layer, etc ending up with a crumble layer. Cook in the over on 180 degrees until the top is golden brown, you can serve it with cream, ice cream or custard. Delicious! And grandad loved it!

The Great Dorset Chilli Festival moves to a new venue in the Blackmore Vale

The much-loved Great Dorset Chilli Festival takes place on 31 July & 1 August, at the new venue of Stock Gaylard, near Sturminster Newton. The specialist food festival celebrates the world of chilli peppers, from chilli plants and chilli sauces, chilli cheese to chilli chocolate; and includes plenty of food shopping and crafts for family members who might not like the hot stuff. Listen to live music, including the mariachi band, whilst enjoying international street food for lunch, perhaps with a beer, cider or cocktail. Highlights of the festival include the chilli-eating competition which takes place each afternoon, cooking demonstrations and talks, and the chilli cook-off competition which sees teams compete to make the best gallons of chilli. On the Saturday, teams will be asked to cook a “chilli verde”, which is a green pork, chicken or vegetable chilli. On Sunday, teams will be cooking the traditional red chilli. For ticket information please see the website!

New Stour & Avon, July 30, 2021 Food & Drink This is how summer is meant to taste

Nothing speaks summer more than a zesty lemon cake, this recipe is perfect for summer picnics, afternoon teas or just to enjoy with a cup of tea. Lemons are very high in vitamin C and although a citrus fruit, they are technically a berry.

Lemon Meringue Cake Ingredients 335g margarine 335g caster sugar 6 free range eggs 335g self-raising flour A drop of milk 1 lemon 200g unsalted butter 400g icing sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Lemon curd 1 meringue nest

Method Preheat your oven to 170c Line 2 round 7” cake tins at the bottom and around the sides Cream together the margarine and caster sugar until pale and fluffy Gradually add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each one until fully incorporated Gently fold in the flour, taking care not to beat out all the air you have created in the earlier beating process Zest one lemon and add to the cake batter along with a drop of milk, gently mix Bake for approximately 30-40 mins until golden brown, and the sponge bounces back when gently pushed down with one finger, please note oven cooking times vary from oven to oven Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out to finish cooling on a wire rack To prepare the buttercream, mix the butter, vanilla extract and icing sugar together, if you have a mixer put it on a fast speed for a good five minutes to achieve a pale and fluffy buttercream To achieve a really zesty lemon cake I like to cut each half of the sponge into two, so that I have four circles of sponge, you can just assemble keeping to the two sponge halves if preferred but using four will give you extra layers of the luscious lemon curd. Spread the buttercream on top of one circle of sponge, then top the buttercream with lemon curd, place the next circle of sponge on top and repeat with the third circle of sponge. Finally place the fourth circle of sponge on the top and spread buttercream around the sides and over the top To decorate, pipe swirls around the edge or leave with just the already spread buttercream and spoon lemon curd over the top and finish with a generous sprinkling of the crushed meringue nest.

n TOP TIP Once you have zested your lemon, chop the lemon into pieces and put in a jug of water with ice cubes, some chopped cucumber and mint leaves for a refreshing summer drink. Recipe from Sadie Smith, award-winning baker and cake designer at Cake by Sadie Smith in Wimborne.

Enford

Farm Shop

Durweston DT11 0QW Home reared and locally produced meats, game, deli, fruit, veg, free range eggs and lots more. Follow us on Facebook for all our latest meat pack deals and what’s in fresh that week. Fresh 昀sh van in the car park Wednesdays 9.30am-2pm Half a pig approx £100 Chicken feeds etc available Open Wednesdays to Saturday 8.30am-4pm. Outside shop with self service for essentials 8am-8pm open daily 01258 450050