The first frosts have struck and left its tell tale signs of withered leaves and petals and along with the sting of cold comes the desire to eat hot puddings! Last night I cooked my sister’s Sticky Date Pudding and remembered why I had written the recipe down many years ago.

Cake

185 g dates – chopped a bit
250 ml water
1 teaspoon bicarb
60 g butter
2 eggs
185 g brown sugar
185 g SR flour
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Cook the dates in the water by simmering until they are thick then stir in the bicarb dissolved in a tablespoon of warm water. Leave to cool a little then beat into the other ingredients. Bake in a moderate oven – 180 degrees – until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Sauce

150 g brown sugar
150 ml cream
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Bring the ingredients to a simmer and continue until thick.

Top serve pour the sauce over a slice of cake – yum!

Of course this recipe does nothing for the waist line….

Most of my days are filled with writing my paper at the moment, but of course there are moments when I take a break and make jam or write about making jam! The blackcurrants were full and black and beckoning me to spend a moment in the kitchen. It is one of the simplest jams to make as it doesn’t need to be nursed into life, it just happens! Plenty of fruit acid there I guess.

Picking the currants is the first chore, and as pleasant as it is to be out in the garden with the birds singing and bees buzzing, picking out all the stalks and leaves that come with the fruit does take some time and patience. I have only one bush that is producing well, but one kilo of fruit is enough to make about 6 jars of jam which is plenty for the year.

To each kilo of fruit (or 2 lbs) add 750 mls (1 1/2 pints) of water and simmer until the fruit is cooked.

This will take about 10 minutes I guess, but be careful that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot when it thickens a bit. You know your there if it starts doing that!

Add 1.5 kg (3 lb) of sugar and stir to dissolve.

Now the jam needs to boil to reach the setting point, but I find that it is best to put the timer on to ten minutes as soon as the jam reaches boiling point as it will probably be ready at the ten minute mark, which is the minimum for making jam to ensure that it will keep for the year. To check for the setting point, dip your wooden spoon into the jam then lift it up on its side so that the jam drips off. When you see about 5 drops fall with the last one looking like jam stuck to the spoon, then it is ready! My recipe says that you can add apples or rhubarb to stretch the volume, but I never bother as it makes plenty anyway.

I do wonder though – do other countries have blackcurrants as well? Are they growing in the backyards of Canadians, Irish and South American people? Norway? (etc…)

• 3lb (1.350kg or take it to 1.5kg) zucchini
• 1 1/2 lb (675g or take it to 700g) onions
• handful salt
• 1 1/2 pints (3 3/4 cups) cider (this is the yummiest, but you can use white vinegar)
• 2lb (900g) brown sugar
• 1 dessert spoon (tbl) turmeric
• 1 dessert curry powder
• 1 dessert spoon mustard
• 1 dessert spoon mustard seed
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 fresh chilli, 2 dry or 1 tsp powdered chilli
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 pint (1 1/4 cups) vinegar (extra)

Thinly slice the zucchini and onions and sprinkle with a handful of salt. Stir gently through then leave the mix overnight, or at least a few hours. Drain the vegetables and lightly rinse. I usually use a colander and just run a bit of water through. Bring the mix to the boil with the vinegar and simmer gently for a few minutes. Add the sugar (this is the tasty soft brown sugar) and spices. Simmer this mix for about 10 – 20 minutes until it looks cooked through.

Blend the flour with the extra vinegar to a smooth paste, the balloon whisk is best for this. This needs to be added to the pickle to thicken it, and when you add it, stir rapidly to blend it in quickly to prevent lumps forming. Then its just a matter of allowing it to simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly to prevent sticking, and that’s it! Of course the spices can be varied to suit your taste, and I usually like to add at least one fresh chilli as it adds a dash of red to the jars which is enticing!

A few kilos of tomatoes landed on my doorstep, so I needed to find a home for them… The recipe I use involves a little guess work, but this one is very similar, so next time a bag of tomatoes lands on my doorstep, I’m going to try it out. I’ll add my recipe underneath, to compare.

• 2 kg tomatoes
• 3 green apples
• 3 onions
• 21/2 cups malt vinegar
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tabs salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• 1 tsp whole allspice

Chop up the tomatoes, onions and apples with the vinegar then simmer until they are well cooked and reduced to get rid of the excess water. Recipe says one hour. Then strain through a sieve which will need a bit of a push – I use the back of a ladle.

Return the pulp to the saucepan with the sugar, salt and cayenne. Tie the whole spices in a muslin cloth and bring the sauce to the boil again, reducing it until it is a good sauce consistency.

Bottle in washed and sterilised bottles, which needs 10 minutes in an oven at 150 degrees to achieve.

Then there is the recipe that I have used for years…

Chop up tomatoes and simmer to reduce to a pulp. Strain through a sieve and then return to the pan, measuring as you go. To each litre of pulp add…

• 2 0z salt
• 3/4 lb sugar
• 1 oz garlic
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1 pint vinegar

The garlic, cloves and allspice can be used as whole and tied in a muslin cloth, or added as ground spice and chopped garlic which is the way I prefer to do it as you get a stronger flavour in the sauce. Also, and here comes the complicating bit, you have to watch the amount of salt and vinegar you add – for example the tomatoes I used were very watery, so when I measured the juice it came to 3 litres, but I only counted it as two as I thought it would need lots of reducing to get the right thickness for the sauce, which it did. My notes say – no more than 3 cups of vinegar to 2 pints of pulp – so there is yet another confusing bit to the recipe! I also usually use a couple of green tomatoes for pectin, or a couple of green apples. 

So there it is – and why make sauce when it is so cheap to buy? Well it tastes like something, rather than just sweet and salty and so you don’t use anywhere near as much, and it has to be a much healthier choice! And what else do you do with all those extra tomatoes?

Firstly you need to give your apple a rinse, then chop them up roughly. As long as they are good quality and clean, you don’t need to worry about the core or any other bits, just chop them up whole. I chop off each end to remove the stem and the blossom scar sometimes, but really, it can all go in.

Cover the apples with water and simmer them until they are mush. Then they go into a straining cloth. I use cheesecloth which seems to do a great job of allowing just the clear liquid to flow through. This year I found my etching press was fantastic to tying the apples up to underneath! I just tie two opposite corners, then the other two to form a bag, then lift up and tie with another sturdy tie to the bars. Of course traditionally this was where the upturned stool came in handy, with each corner tied to a stool leg. Anyway, I find the closed bag a good option, and I let it drip into the pot overnight.

Now the juice is measured and for every pint (550 ml) add 1lb (450g) of sugar. Bring it to the boil and add a sprig of mint. While it is bubbling away chop up a good handful of mint. Keep an eye on the jelly, stirring to dissolve the sugar initially and then occasionally while it cooks.

To test the jelly, dip your wooden spoon in and then lift up to allow the jelly to drip off. When the jelly looks like it is holding together in a jelly blob after a few drips it is done. Let it sit for couple of minutes then remove the scum with a metal spoon. Stir in the chopped mint and let it cool a bit, stirring occasionally to distribute the mint. It is ready to bottle when it looks like it is settled throughout.

Some notes – the colour depends on the type of apple you use – red apples give a Rosy glow. The speed that it sets depends on the amount of pectin in the fruit, so the cooking apples are faster, but you can improve the eating apples set by using them when they are not quite ripe – a bit bitter to bite into! Small jars are best for this preserve as you only need to use a bit now and then, so keeping it fresh in small quantities is ideal. Yum!