Author: jadwiga49hjk

I love cooking and baking. I love trying out new recipes and currently am trying out many old favourites from my Polish cookbooks and family recipes. I am trying out many variations, often to make them easier but still delicious. I collect glass cake stands and china tableware, mainly tea plates, jugs and serving dishes, many of which I use on a daily basis. They are an eclectic mixture from the 20th & 21st century.

Orange Biscuits

This recipe for these very crisp orange biscuits was given to me by one of my cousins (British born like me) who lives in Wembley.  They are super!

You have the flesh of 2 oranges left over – to just eat whist baking or to use in something else – maybe the cabbage & orange salad – another super recipe from the same cousin.

Ingredients

  • 250g self raising flour
  • 150g butter
  • 120g caster sugar
  • Grated rind of 2 oranges
  • 1 egg seperated
  • 1-1½ tablespoons of milk
  • *
  • 30g caster sugar for sprinkling

Method

  • Rub the butter into the flour to make breadcrumbs.
  • Mix in the sugar and the fine grated orange rind.
  • Add the egg yolk and milk to make a firm dough.
  • Chill for 30 minutes.
  • *
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM5- 190°C.
  • Grease several baking sheets.
  • Roll out the dough thinly.
  • Use a 7cm diameter cutter to make rounds.
  • Brush the rounds with beaten egg white.
  • Lightly sprinkle the rounds with caster sugar.
  • Place the biscuits onto the baking sheets a little apart.
  • Re-form the the dough and repeat.
  • Bake for 8-9 minutes till golden.
  • Leave to cool for a couple of minutes before removing from the baking sheet and  placing them on a wire rack to cool.

 

 

Coffee Set – Elizabethan – Fleure bleue from the 1970s.

Leek Soup

This is a simple soup, which I make using vegetable stock although you can use chicken stock if you prefer.

Ingredients

  • 3-4 Leeks
  • 1 litre of vegetable stock (I use Marigold powder)
  • 125ml soured cream
  • 2 egg yolks
  • Butter to fry leeks
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • *
  • To serve – chopped chives or a little grated Gouda style cheese.

Method

  • Chop the leeks into fine rounds.
  • Fry the leeks gently in butter to soften then.
  • Add them to the stock.
  • Bring to the boil and put a lid on the pan.
  • Simmer gently until the leeks are soft.
  • Take the pan off the heat for a few minutes.
  • Purée the soup – a stick blender is good for this.
  • Season to taste.
  • In a small bowl mix the soured cream and egg yolks.
  • Bring the soup back up to the boil and then take take of the heat.
  • Add the soured cream mix and whisk in.
  • *
  • Serve with some chopped chives or around a tablespoon of grated Gouda style cheese.

 

Served in Soup Dishes by Midwinter – Spanish Garden – 1966 – 1982.

Chocolate & Raspberry Cake

I decided to make a chocolate cake I had not made for a while. Raspberry jam is used in the cake and in the butter cream. The best results are with a jam that is not too sweet – a slight tartness is best.

I used raspberry jam that was made by my friend in Leeds from raspberries that  were grown on her allotment.

Ingredients

  • 150g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 30g cocoa
  • 90g caster sugar
  • 120g butter
  • 4 level tablespoons of raspberry jam
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • 2 tablespoons of milk

Method

  • Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 5 – 190°C.
  • Grease and line the bottoms of 2 – 18cm diameter baking tins.
  • Mix the flour, baking powder and cocoa together.
  • Cream the butter, sugar and jam together.
  • Add the eggs bit by bit .
  • Fold in the flour mixture with the milk to make a soft dropping consistency.
  • Divide the mixture between the two tins.
  • Bake for 25 minutes.
  • When cold, sandwich together with the raspberry butter icing.
  • Dust the top with icing sugar to serve.

Raspberry Butter Icing

Ingredients

  • 60g butter
  • 2 tablespoons of raspberry jam.
  • 120g icing sugar.

Method

  • Cream together the butter, jam and around ¾of  of the icing sugar.
  • Add more icing sugar until the required consistency is achieved.

 

 

  • Coffee set – Greenway – by Hostess Tableware – 1960 – 1979
  • Designed by John Russell

 

Chłodnik- 5- with Gherkins

Here is another classic, chilled starter for a summer’s day.  It will be the last for this summer –  I will be looking out for more for next year!

Ingredients

  • 3 -4 gherkins
  • Spring onion – green parts or chives
  • 500ml of yoghurt
  • Handful of dill
  • Gherkin liquor and cold water
  • Salt & Pepper & Sugar to taste
  • *
  • Hard boiled eggs to serve

Method

  • Chop the gherkins into small pieces.
  • Chop the spring onions or chives into small pieces.
  • Chop the dill into small pieces.
  • Thin down the yoghurt with gherkin liquor and water to suit.
  • Mix with the chopped gherkins.
  • Add dill and spring onions or chives.
  • Adjust the seasoning to taste.
  • Chill in the fridge for several hours.
  • *
  • Sprinkle with chopped hard boiled eggs to serve.

 

Served in Royal Doulton – Carnation – 1982 – 1998

Pear & Ginger Cake

Having recently made a lovely apple cake loosely based on an English Victorian recipe I thought I would adapt it using pears and ginger.

Ingredients

  • 4 pears (Conference are good) – peeled & cored and cut into rough 2.5cm chunks
  • 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
  • 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
  • 230g of plain flour
  • ½ tablespoon of baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon of salt
  • 125ml of sunflower oil
  • 200g granulated sugar
  • 2-3 drops of vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs

Method

  • Pre-heat oven to GM4 – 180°C.
  • Use a 22cm loose bottom tin with a cake liner – (like a huge bun case).
  • Mix the pears, ginger and sugar in a small bowl.
  • Leave whilst you prepare the cake mixture.
    *
  • In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
  • In another bowl whisk the oil, sugar, vanilla extract and the eggs until they are thoroughly mixed.
  • Add the flour mixture to the oil mixture and mix thoroughly.
  • Place half the cake batter into the cooking tin.
  • Place half the pear mixture and juices on top of the cake batter.
  • Cover with the rest of the cake batter.
  • Place the rest of the pear mixture evenly over the surface of the cake.
  • Bake for 60 – 65 minutes – cover and maybe another another 10 minutes if not done.
  • Leave to cool in the tin before turning it out.

Served on Burleigh Ware, Burgess & Leigh Ltd, Blue Mist, stoneware tea plates from the 1930s.

Variation

Having made this, I thought about the French dessert Poire belle Hélène, which has a chocolate sauce poured over poached pears.

I made the cake again and when it was cool, I drizzled a chocolate sauce made from 40g of melted dark chocolate and 20g of butter over it.

Tea plates by Midwinter – Queensbury from the 1970s.

Chłodnik – 4 – Cucumber

This chłodnik is a simple cool starter for a hot summer’s day.

 

Ingredients

  • Half  a cucumber
  • Spring onions – green parts or chives
  • 500ml of yoghurt
  • Handful of dill
  • Lemon juice and cold water
  • Salt & Pepper & Sugar to taste

Method

  • Part peel the cucumber length-ways to give stripes.
  • Chop the cucumber into small cubes.
  • Chop the spring onions or chives into small pieces.
  • Chop the dill into small pieces.
  • Thin down the yoghurt with lemon juice and water to suit.
  • Mix with the chopped cucumber.
  • Add dill and spring onions or chives.
  • Adjust the seasoning to taste.
  • Chill in the fridge for several hours.
  • Sprinkle with chopped chives to serve.

 

Served in Soup Dishes by Midwinter – Spanish Garden – 1966 – 1982.

Asparagus Soup

 Asparagus officinalis was popular in Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.

It was called sparagus in Medieval Latin  – szparag in Polish and was known as sparrow grass in some parts of England.

Nowadays asparagus is cultivated in Western Poland – you will find both green and white asparagus for sale.

Ingredients

  • 500g fresh asparagus (green)
  • 1.5 litres of vegetable stock (can be from cube or concentrate – Marigold powder is good)
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 125ml soured cream
  • 2 egg yolks
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Method

  • Cut the tips off the asparagus spears.
  • Cut the very dried ends of the stalks off and discard.
  • Cut the stalks into several pieces.
  • To a large pan of stock add the stalks and butter and bring to the boil.
  • Turn down the heat, put a lid on the pan and simmer gently for around 10 minutes until the stalks are tender.
  • Take a little of the hot stock out of the pan.
  • In a smaller pan, poach the asparagus tips lightly in the stock so they still have a bite.
  • Add the liquid back to the pan with the stalks.
  • Take the large pan of stalks off the heat, cool slightly (to avoid hot splashes).
  • Use a stick blender or similar and purée the stalks carefully.
  • In a small dish mix the soured cream and egg yolks together.
  • Add the soured cream mixture to the puréed soup.
  • Bring back up to just before the boil and use a balloon whisk to mix it all together.
  • Season if necessary (often not needed – depends on the stock).
  • Add the asparagus tips.
  • Serve immediately making sure there are tips in each serving.

Hazelnut Meringue & Apricot Cream

Although I  have been using this recipe for many years I just cannot remember where I got it from.

I make the meringue in a nest shape and fill it with apricot cream when I have many people to eat it in one sitting.

Otherwise I make little meringues with 1 tablespoon of mixture on baking sheets.  These can be stored for ages and served with the apricot cream in individual dishes when required.

Ingredients

  • 4 Egg whites
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 75-100g chopped roasted hazelnuts
  • *
  • 1 tin of apricots in syrup
  • Around 200g of yoghurt cheese
  • Around 2-3 tablespoons of icing sugar

Method

  • Use the loose base of a baking tin 25cm in diameter.
  • Lightly grease the circle.
  • Cut a 25cm circle of greaseproof and stick it on the metal circle.
  • Place the circle on a large baking tray – one without sides is best.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM1 – 140°C.
  • Whisk the egg whites until stiff.
  • Add the sugar and whisk again till stiff.
  • Fold in the chopped roasted hazelnuts.
  • Using up to ½ of the mixture cover the circle on the tin.
  • Using the rest of the meringue put spoonfuls around the edge.
  • Bake for 50 minutes.
  • Turn off the oven and leave the meringue inside for 20 minutes.
  • Take out and leave to cool completely before filling.
  • *
  • Drain the apricots from the syrup
  • Purée the apricots – a stick blender is good for this.
  • Mix the apricot purée with the yoghurt cheese and some of the icing sugar.
  • Adjust the sweetness with icing sugar – you do not want it too sweet.
  • *
  • Put the meringue nest onto a serving plate or stand.
  • Pile the apricot cream into the centre of the nest.

 

 

Coffee set – Elizabethan – Lace – 1966 – 1982

 

Chłodnik – 3 – Beetroot & Cucumber

This chilled soup is a refreshing start to a meal in summer.

Beetroot concentrate is used in this easy version.

Ingredients

  • Half  a cucumber
  • Spring onion – green parts or chives
  • 500ml of yoghurt or 300ml soured cream & lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons of beetroot concentrate
  • Handful of dill
  • Lemon juice and cold water
  • Salt & Pepper & Sugar to taste
  • *
  • Hard boiled eggs to serve – ½ egg per person

Method

  • Part peel the cucumber length-ways to give stripes.
  • Chop the cucumber into small cubes.
  • Chop the spring onions or chives into small pieces.
  • Chop the dill into small pieces.
  • Mix the yoghurt or soured cream & lemon juice with the beetroot concentrate.
  • Thin this down with lemon juice and water to suit.
  • Mix with the chopped cucumber.
  • Add dill and spring onions or chives.
  • Adjust the seasoning to taste.
  • Chill in the fridge for several hours.
  • *
  • Serve with quarters of hard boiled eggs and a sprinkle of chives.

 

 

Served in Tapestry  by Royal Doulton – 1966 – 1988

Chłodnik – 2 – Beetroot & Gherkin

Chłodnik means coolant and it is a refreshing start to a meal in summer.

This classic version is usually make with botwiny for which I cannot find a good translation into English.

Botwiny are young beetroots with the stalks and some leaves still attached. In Poland you can buy bunches of these for sale or you can pick them early from your garden or allotment.  Here in England I have not see them for sale so if you want them you will have to grow them for yourself.

If you do have some you use all the parts – the roots, stalks and the leaves otherwise you just use cooked beetroot.

The classic version uses soured milk but unless you have access to this then Greek style natural yoghurt or soured cream and lemon juice are good alternatives.

I use beetroot concentrate which is convenient and very tasty.

 

1 tablespoon of beetroot concentrate to 250ml of yoghurt is a good proportion.

Ingredients

  • 250g of cooked beetroots
  • 3-4 gherkins
  • Spring onion – green parts or chives
  • 500ml of yoghurt or 300ml soured cream
  • 2 tablespoons of beetroot concentrate
  • Handful of dill
  • Lemon juice and gherkin liquor and cold water
  • Salt & Pepper & Sugar to taste
  • *
  • Hard boiled eggs to serve – ½ egg per person

Method

  • Chop the beetroot into small cubes.
  • Chop the gherkins into small cubes.
  • Chop the spring onions or chives into small pieces.
  • Chop the dill into small pieces.
  • Mix the yoghurt or soured cream & lemon juice with the beetroot concentrate.
  • Thin this down with lemon juice, gherkin liquor & water to suit.
  • Add the chopped beetroots, gherkins, dill and spring onions or chives.
  • Adjust the seasoning to taste.
  • Chill in the fridge for several hours.
  • *
  • Serve with quarters of hard boiled eggs and a sprinkle of chives or dill.

 

Served in Carnation by Royal Doulton – 1982 – 1998