Elderflower Cordial Recipe

This recipe is adapted from the one in Pamela Michael's Edible Wild Plants & Herbs.

Ingredients

Prepared Elderflowers
Sugar

Method

See here for pictures of the method.

Prepare the flowers by giving them a shake to remove insects, then snipping the flowers from the stems.
Put in a large saucepan with enough water to cover.
Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 minutes.
Strain and measure the liquid then add 400g sugar for every 750ml of liquid.
Heat slowly stirring to dissolve the sugar, then boil for 5 minutes.
When cool bottle and cork, or use screw on caps.

Dilute with sparkling water as a drink, or use to cook with gooseberries, rhubarb, plums or redcurrants, or use in fruit salad.

Keeps well in the fridge for several months.
Can be frozen in plastic bottles.

Rhubarb Schnapps Recipe

This recipe is adapted from the one in Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking.

Ingredients

1kg rhubarb
300g granulated sugar
1litre vodka (cheapest you can find)

Method

See here for pictures of the method.

Chop the rhubarb into 2cm pieces
Mix in a steralised jar with the sugar and vodka
Leave in a cool dark place for between six weeks and six months, shaking well occasionally.
Strain and bottle.
Serve neat or with fizzy water / wine.

Makes about 850ml

Rhubarb Chutney Recipe

This recipe is adapted from the one at the thefoody.com, as recommended on the grow your own forums.

Ingredients

1500g rhubarb
1500g dark brown soft sugar
900ml vinegar (malt)
425g sultanas
75g chopped dried apricots
40g root ginger
30g salt
30g garlic
1 chilli
2 tsp peppercorns
3 lemons, peel only

Method

See here for pictures of the method.

Finely chop the rhubarb and garlic.
Crush the root ginger and place it with the peppercorns and lemon peel in a piece of muslin and tie with string.
Place all of the ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
Simmer gently, stir frequently, until the mixture thickens.
Remove the muslin bag.

Pot in steralised jars.

Makes about 3kg
Leave for 3 months to mature before using.

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam Recipe

This is taken from the 1995 edition of the "Good Housekeeping" Cookery Book.

Ingredients

1.1kg (2.5lb) rhubarb (prepared weight), chopped
1.1kg (2.5lb) sugar
juice of 2 lemons
25g (1oz) root ginger
100g (4oz) preserved stem ginger, chopped

Method

See here for pictures of the method.

Place the rhubarb, sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl in alternate layers, cover and leave overnight.

Next day, peel and bruise the root ginger slightly with a rolling pin, and tie it in a piece of muslin. Put the rhubarb mixture in a preserving pan with the muslin bag, bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Remove the muslin bag from the pan, add the stem ginger and boil for a further 5 minutes.

Test for set, and when setting point is reached remove any scum with a slotted spoon, pot and cover.

Makes about 2kg (4.5lb)

Crystallised Ginger Recipe

This is taken from The Complete Book of Small-batch Preserving.
See here for pictures of the method.

Ingredients

250ml Thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger
125ml Granulated sugar
175ml Water
Extra Granulated sugar

Method

Place the ginger in a small saucepan and cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and then repeat once with fresh cold water.

Combine the ginger, 175ml of water and 125ml sugar in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and then simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until all the liquid has evaporated. It's best to watch it for the last 10 minutes in case it scorches.

Put a layer of extra sugar in a dish and tip the ginger in. Toss it until all pieces are coated. Dry in a 200 degree F oven for an hour. Let stand at room temperature for 1 day to finish drying.

Crystallised or preserved ginger keeps almost indefinitely in a sealed jar, in a cool dark place.

Makes about 250ml or 135g

Carrot Marmalade Recipe

image source wikimedia commons
This recipe is adapted from the one at the Carrot Museum website.

Ingredients

2.5 litres grated carrots (10 cups)
2kg sugar
6 oranges
4 lemons
1 tsp each of Allspice, cinnamon and ground cloves.

Method

Peel the oranges and lemons and remove as much of the membranes and pith as possible. Slice thinly.

Remove thin white membrane from the orange flesh and slice into small pieces.

Squeeze the lemons, add the juice to the carrots, orange flesh and citrus peel and allow it all to stand over night.

The next day, add spices and cook simmer for 2 hours.

Pot in steralised jars

Note on untested recipes

I have not tried this recipe, but plan to in the future. It would be good to hear from anyone who uses it.

Carrot Jam Recipe

image source wikimedia commons
This recipe is adapted from the one at the Carrot Museum website.


Ingredients

1 litre Chopped carrots
750ml sugar
Three sliced lemons
One tsp cinnamon
half tsp cloves

Method

Add all the ingredients into a saucepan, and simmer slowly at a gentle heat. Stir the ingredients constantly to begin with.

After about 20 minutes, the carrots should begin to soften, and the jam will become thick. To make the jam smooth, put everything in a liquidiser and blend for a few minutes.

Pot in steralised jars.

Although the jam can be used immediately, the flavour improves after a few days.

Makes about 1 litre

Note on untested recipes

I have not tried this recipe, but plan to in the future. It would be good to hear from anyone who uses it.

Carrot and Almond Chutney Recipe

This recipe is adapted from the one at the Chutney Recipes Blog.

Ingredients

1.25kg carrots
85g grated ginger
250ml white wine vinegar
150ml water
juice and grated rind of 2 lemons
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground ginger
2 large chillies
3 tbsp flaked almonds

Method

See here for pictures of the method.

Grate the carrots and mix with all the other ingredients, except the chillies and almonds, leave to stand overnight.

Bring to the boil and simmer for twenty minutes, then boil hard for ten to fifteen minutes or until thickened.
Finely chop the chillies and add them and the almonds to the mixture.

Pot in steralised jars.

Makes about 1.2kg (2.6lbs)

Citrus Syrup Cake

I made this cake last week, partly to use up some of the citrus flavoured sugar syrup left over from making candied peel. This recipe was adapted from one of Nigel Slater's published in the Observer magazine, I used less polenta and more ground almonds than originally suggested, I assumed that polenta is only really used for extra texture so this shouldn't make too much difference. The cake did need about an additional 30 mins baking at the second stage, so maybe the polenta also absorbs some of the moisture. After baking I poured over as much of my left over citrus syrup (heated up) as I could manage, about 250ml, this made the finished cake very moist and sticky, to the extent it was best eaten with a fork. No one complained.

Ingredients

210g butter
210g unrefined caster sugar
100g almonds
3 large eggs
175g ground almonds
100g ground polenta
a level tsp baking powder
finely grated zest and juice of a large orange

Method

Using a non-stick, loose-bottomed cake tin about 20cm in diameter, line the base with a piece of baking parchment. Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 5. Put the kettle on.

Beat the butter and sugar in a food mixer till light and fluffy. Put the almonds in a heatproof bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover them. Leave for 5 minutes, then pop each nut out of its skin, squeezing between thumb and forefinger. Discard the skins.

Break the eggs into a small bowl and beat them lightly with a fork. You just want them lightly mixed. Pour a little of the beaten egg into the creamed butter and sugar, beating thoroughly, then slowly continue adding and beating till all the egg is used up.

Finely chop the almonds. Add the chopped and the ground almonds to the egg cake mixture. Stir the polenta and baking powder together then add it gently to the mix. Lastly, mix in the grated orange zest and juice.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, then turn the heat down to 160C/gas mark 3 and continue cooking for a further 30 minutes, covering the surface with tin foil if it is browning too quickly. Remove from the oven but leave the cake in its tin.

Spike holes into the top of the cake (still warm in its tin) with a skewer, pour over the hot syrup and leave to cool.

For the syrup:

a large, juicy lemon
a large orange
100g golden caster sugar
2 tbsp liqueur, such as limoncello

To make the syrup, finely grate the zest from the lemon and orange over a measuring jug. Cut the fruits in half and squeeze their juice into the jug, then top it up to 250ml with water. Pour into a saucepan and add the sugar. Bring to the boil and keep at a rapid bubble until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid has reduced to about 175ml. Remove from the heat and add the liqueur.

Serves 8.

The cake was, as I mentioned before, very moist and sticky, but I have to agree with what Nigel Slater said last week:

I don't really mind a moist undercrust - pastry or cake sodden with juice being a good thing in my book.

I think the mixed citrus taste worked well and the polenta gave it a good bit of bite. We had one slice with a cup of tea while it was still warm, and some more for pudding later in the evening.
I'm tempted to make it again soon, not least as I have more of that syrup to use up.

Chocolate Covered Candied Peel Recipe

After making Candied Peel last week I was keen to try doing some baking with it, so I mulled over the possibilities. It felt a bit early in the year for Pannettone (I will try this recipe, as it can be done in the breadmaker) and the same with Christmas pudding. I thought about just making some flapjack and adding the peel instead of the usual mix of raisins and chopped apricots. But, in the end I succumbed to the inevitable and dipped it in chocolate.
When searching for recipes I was spoilt for choice, it seems everyone who has ever made candied peel then feels the need to coat it in chocolate.
I expect there are a few reasons for this:

1. because you can, and it's an excuse to use chocolate.
2. because candied peel by itself, although delicious, can get a bit sweet if you eat too much of it, and dipping it in a bitter chocolate enables you to eat more of it while feeling like you are eating a delicacy rather than just devouring a jar of candied peel.

So, I was won over, after some reading up (and worrying about the intricacies of 'tempering' chocolate - far too time consuming for something that won't last more than a few days) I settled on the following:

Ingredients

About 25 long (5cm) strips of Candied Peel (Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit)
50g (half a bar) Lindt 70% cocoa dark chocolate

Method

Break the chocolate into a pudding basin over a small saucepan of simmering water and wait until it melts.

Holding the candied peel at one end, dip and twist into the molten chocolate until about two thirds are covered.

Allow drips to fall back into the basin, then lay out to dry on a wire rack over greaseproof paper.

Makes: 25

These dried with a matt finish, no doubt because I didn't go to the trouble if tempering my chocolate, and looked extremely tempting. The mix of sweet and citrus peel with the bitter dark chocolate works very well. These were meant for a birthday present on Tuesday, but I don't think they'll last that long.

Candied Peel Recipe

This is taken from Elise Bauer's Simply Recipes blog.

Ingredients

Citrus Peel (lemon, grapefruit, orange, lime)
Granulated sugar
Water

Method
See here for pictures of the method.

Grapefruit skins are much thicker than other citrus skins. Cooking them a while in boiling water helps loosen up the white pithy part so it is easier to scrape off.

Scrub the outside rinds thoroughly to remove any dirt. Put rind in cold water, bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Drain and repeat this process two more times. Drain, rinse with cold water, and scrape away the pithy white part of the peel. Slice into strips.

For each cup of rind, prepare a sugar syrup of 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of water. Put rind in syrup and cook slowly until syrup is completely absorbed - several hours. Stir occasionally and watch carefully near the end of the process.

Cool the peel and coat the strips with granulated sugar.
Dry overnight on a rack.

Marmalade Cookies Recipe

After the success of my first ever batch of marmalade I was soon itching to make something using it - having it on toast in the morning just wasn't enough.
I had got an image in my head of something soft and sweet with bits of lovely tangy marmalade in it, perhaps a cake or biscuit. After some searching, and almost going for Margaret Hickey's Golden orange & walnut flapjacks on the BBC Good Food website, I found a recipe for Marmalade Cookies on the Supercook website.
I've adapted it below:

Ingredients

175g (6oz) plain flour
50g (2oz) ground almonds (I used oatbran instead)
100g (4oz) caster sugar
75g (3oz) butter, cut into small pieces
1 medium egg, beaten
3 tbsp orange marmalade

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/ 350ºF/ Gas Mark 4. Grease and line 2 large baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Sieve the flour into a bowl and stir in the ground almonds (or oatbran) and sugar. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add the egg and marmalade and bring the mixture together to form a soft dough. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Divide the mixture into 16 pieces, and gently roll each piece into a ball. Place on the baking trays and press down to form rounds approx. 5cm (2 inch) in diameter.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. Allow to cool on the baking trays, then transfer to a wire rack.

Makes: 16

I found the dough very sticky (I was probably over enthusiastic with the marmalade) , so used some plain flour when rolling it into balls.
These were pretty ordinary soft biscuits, until you bit into a piece of marmalade when they were delicious. Lovely with a cup of Tea, and a great way to get two doses of marmalade a day.

Marmalade Recipe

This is taken from the 1995 edition of the "Good Housekeeping" Cookery Book.

Ingredients

1.4kg (3lb) Seville oranges
juice of 2 lemons
3.4 litres (6 pints) water
2.7kg (6lb) sugar

Method
See here for pictures of the method.

Halve the oranges and squeeze out the juice and pips. (membranes can be scraped out into a sieve over a bowl)
Tie the pips and any membranes into a muslin.

Slice the orange peel and put in a preserving pan with the fruit juices, water and muslin bag.

Simmer gently for about 2 hours until the peel is soft and the liquid reduced by half, remove the bag and squeeze out any liquid.

Add the sugar, stirring gently until dissolved.
Bring to the boil and boil the mixture rapidly for about 15 minutes.

Test for a set and when setting point is reached, take off the heat and remove any scum.

Leave to stand for 15 minutes, then stir to distribute the peel.
Pot in steralised jars and cover.

Makes about 4.5kg (10lb)