Home Education

Make Gingerbread Cake - The Victorian Way

Mrs Crocombe shows how to make one of her favourite recipes - a cheap and delicious Gingerbread Cake.

She includes the recipe and method so you can make it yourself.

Duration/Time: 6:41

INGREDIENTS:

• 500g flour
• 10-15g ginger
• 200g brown sugar
• 500g black treacle
• A little warm milk
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 3 small eggs (or two large)
• 200g butter (salted, or add a generous pinch of salt to compensate if unsalted)

METHOD:

Start by creaming the butter (stirring or beating the butter until it is a smooth, creamy and a uniform texture).

Then, add the sugar and spice, ensuring you mix them in well.

Beat the eggs briefly before also adding to them to the mix.

Add flour a little at a time, mixing well between each handful.

Pour in the black treacle as you go. A little warm water can be used to get the last of the black treacle out of the bowl.

Then, add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to the warm milk before pouring it into the middle of the bowl and mixing everything together.

Once the mixture is smooth, line a tin with butter and brown paper before pouring the mixture in.

Place in the oven for about an hour at 180 degrees Celsius (an inserted knife or skewer should come out clean once the cake is cooked).

Once ready, turn out the cake and leave it to cool, then cut into small pieces to serve.

For decoration, try dusting with a little plain icing sugar or dipping the cake pieces in some fondant icing.

Make Chocolate Pudding - The Victorian Way

Mrs Crocombe shows how to make steamed chocolate pudding - a treat for the servants.

She includes the recipe and method so you can make it yourself.

Duration/Time: 3:56

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 eggs
• 150g butter
• 225g chocolate
• 150g breadcrumbs
• 1/2 pint milk
• 120g caster sugar

METHOD:

Melt the butter and chocolate together, and then add the breadcrumbs and the milk.

Keep stirring it over the heat until it becomes thick.

Separate the eggs and cook up the yolks with the sugar, then combine this with your chocolate mix.

Whisk your egg whites and then fold them into your chocolate batter.

Line a pudding bowl with butter, and pour in your mixture.

Add a circle of baking paper on top, and secure some cloth over the top using twine.

You can bring up the edges and tie them into a handle.

Place it into a pan and fill with water until it reaches halfway up the bowl. Steam for about an hour.

Make Custard Pudding - The Victorian Way

Mrs Crocombe shows how to make a very good custard pudding - tasty and simple to make.

This recipe is so tasty and simple to make she is thinking of adding it to her notebook cookbook.

She includes the recipe and method so you can make it yourself.

Duration/Time: 5:10

INGREDIENTS:

• Brandy
• Orange flower water
• 750ml single cream
• Blackcurrant jam (jelly)
• Egg yolks from 4 large eggs (or 7 small)
• 5 sheets of gelatine, soaked in cold water

METHOD:

Take a quarter of the cream and heat it a little before adding the gelatine.

Whisk the egg yolks and add the remaining cold cream. Whisk again, then add the quarter of heated cream.

To thicken the mixture, place it in a pan and heat gently. Be careful not to curdle it.

Once the custard has cooled, add the brandy and a little orange flower water before stirring.

Line the mould with almond oil before pouring the custard in. Then, leave to chill until the custard has set.

To finish, gently heat a little blackcurrant jam to make a contrasting sauce.

Turn out the pudding from its mould and pour the sauce around the base of the custard pudding.

Cook Turkey - The Victorian Way

Mrs Crocombe shows how to make a very good custard pudding - tasty and simple to make.

This recipe is so tasty and simple to make she is thinking of adding it to her notebook cookbook.

She includes the recipe and method so you can make it yourself.

Duration/Time: 5:33

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 eggs
• 1 lemon
• 2 carrots
• 60g apple
• 1 tsp coriander
• half tsp ground allspice
• 1 whole turkey (deboned)
• 2 sticks of celery
• 4-5 pints of water
• 115g sausage meat
• 25g ground almonds
• 115g pistachio nuts
• 115g chopped suet/butter

METHOD:

Making the stuffing

Combine your suet/butter, apple, almonds, chopped pistachios, coriander, allspice and sausage meat.

Then add some lemon juice and the eggs.

Stuff the turkey

Once the turkey is full, you can sew up the bird to hold everything in place.

Wrap it in brown paper, then cover tightly with muslin cloth. Tie everything together with some string.

Add your bird to a pan and cover with water. You will need to boil for at least an hour and a half, but larger birds make take longer.

Once your turkey is cooked and cooled, remove the wrapping and string.

You can then decorate with some mayonnaise with a small amount of gelatin added.

Add some pickled walnuts to some hatelets or skewers and adorn with parsley.

How To Make Gingerbread - The Victorian Way

Mrs Crocombe shows how to make some edible gingerbread decorations to hang on the Christmas tree.

She includes the recipe and method so you can make it yourself.

Duration/Time: 5:33

INGREDIENTS:

• 225g Flour
• 225g Butter
• 2 tsp Cloves
• 2 tsp Ginger
• 2 tsp Allspice
• 60g Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp Pounded Mace
• 1 tsp Caraway Seeds
• 1 tsp Coriander seeds
• Quarter of a Beaten Egg
• 170g Treacle (or Molasses)

METHOD:

In a large bowl, add the treacle, egg, sugar, ginger, allspice, mace, cloves, coriander and caraway seeds.

Mix it well together and then add the melted butter. Stir in the flour and mix until you form a soft dough.

You can either make the dough into small cookies or biscuits by patting a the dough into a discs on a baking tray.

Cook in a moderate oven (around 180 Celsius, Gas Mark 4 or 350 Farenheit) until golden brown.

Make Nesselrode Cream - The Victorian Way

Mrs Crocombe shows how to make a Victorian Christmas favourite and ideal winter dessert- Nesselrode Cream.

Nesselrode is like a blancmange or set cream and is an ideal alrernative to plum pudding.

She includes the recipe and method so you can make it yourself.

Duration/Time: 5:33

INGREDIENTS:

• Lemon - The peel of 1 lemon
• Water - 100ml / 3.5floz / half cup
• Caster Sugar - 200g / 7oz / 1 cup
• Chestnuts - 200g / 7oz (cooked)
• Gelatine - 9 leaves or 3 tbsp powder
• Double cream - 565ml / 20oz / 2 1/2 cups
• Vanilla – essence/extract (or a split pod)
• Candied peel - 60g / 2oz / 1/3 cup chopped
• Cherries - 60g / 2oz / 1/3 cup dried & chopped

METHOD:

Start by greasing your mould with almond oil.

Boil the water with 100g / 3.5 oz / ½ cup of sugar and add the chestnuts.

Reduce by a third. Add the chestnuts, and simmer for 5 mins.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little before passing the chestnuts through a sieve. Cool thoroughly.

Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water until soft.

Put half of the cream in a pan with the rest of the sugar (reserving 1 heaped tbsp for later), as well as the vanilla and the lemon peel.

Bring to a low simmer. Add the gelatine sheets, having squeezed out the water, and mix.

Simmer for 5 mins to infuse the flavours and strain into a jug.

Whip the remaining cream with the reserved tablespoon of sugar until you obtain soft peaks.

Put the chestnut puree into a cold bowl, add your infused cream and gelatine mixture and mix well.

Now fold in your whipped cream, and finally your dried cherries and peel.

Pour the mixture into your mould and set in the fridge for at least 6 hours before turning out.

Make Christmas Cake - The Victorian Way

Mrs Crocombe shows how to make a delicious and traditional Victorian Christmas cake.

She includes the recipe and method so you can make it yourself.

Duration/Time: 6:13

This Christmas plum cake is based on a recipe by Charles Francatelli, who was Queen Victoria's chief cook from 1840 to 1841.

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 eggs
• 680g butter
• 680g currants
• 680g candied peel
• 680g plain flour
• 450g caster sugar
• half pint of brandy
• 225g ground almonds
• Zest of four oranges
• 450g dried chopped cherries
• 15g ground spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg)

For the almond paste:

• 3-4 egg whites
• 450g caster sugar
• 225g ground almonds
• A little orange water

For the icing:

• Lemon Juice
• 6 egg whites
• 680g icing sugar

METHOD:

Preheat your oven to 160ºC, 320ºF or gas mark 3.

Line a large cake tin with butter and greaseproof paper.

Soften your butter, then combine with the sugar, flour and eggs gradually.

Incorporate the cherries, currants, candied peel, ground almonds, spices and brandy until you have a thick mixture.

Pour this mix into your lined cake tin and place in the centre of the preheated oven.

Bake until a skewer comes out clean when placed into the centre of the cake.

This will take around six hours, but keep an eye on it.

Once your cake is out of the oven, remove it from the tin and leave it to cool on a wire rack.

Make the almond paste:

Mix the ground almonds, caster sugar and orange water together in a bowl.

Slowly add in the egg whites, and mix until the mixture comes together into a dough.

You may not need to use all of the egg whites. Keep an eye on the mixture consistency so it does not become too thin.

Take your almond paste and roll it out until it is around 5mm thick.

Using your cake tin as a guide, cut out a circle to cover the top of the cake, and a strip to encircle the sides.

You can then place it over the cake, using jam or water as a glue if necessary.

Make the icing:

You can make the icing by mixing the egg whites and fine sugar together.

Add a few drops of lemon juice until the mixture becomes spreadable.

Cover the cake in this icing mixture and leave this in a dry place until it turns hard.

You can then decorate the cake by piping on some more icing.

If you want to keep it authentically Victorian we suggest writing a Christmas message onto your cake.

You can add a little food colouring to your icing to create an array of colours for your cake.

Make Christmas Pudding - The Victorian Way

Mrs Crocombe shows how to make a delicious Victorian Christmas Plum Pudding.

She includes the recipe and method so you can make it yourself.

Duration/Time: 5:54

This recipe comes from 'Modern Cookery' by Eliza Acton, who is understood to have been the first person to call it 'Christmas Pudding'.

INGREDIENTS:

• 75g flour
• 150g suet
• 150g raisins
• 3 small eggs
• 150g currants
• A pinch of salt
• 75g breadcrumbs
• 125g white sugar
• 50g candied peel
• half a tsp mixed spice
• 100ml brandy plus 50ml for serving
• 100g chopped apple (roughly one large apple)

METHOD:

Begin by adding all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and mixing them together by hand.

Pour in 3 small eggs and 100ml of brandy before stirring again.

Line your chosen mould with butter and fill it with the mixture using a wooden spoon.

Make sure every bit of space is filled, especially the bottom of the mould.

Cover the top with a wet, floured cloth and insert a fold in the material to allow space for the mixture to rise.

Steam the pudding:

Place the filled mould in a saucepan of boiling water, ensuring the water level is approximately half way up the mould.

Steam for around 4 hours. To serve, carefully turn out of the mould.

When serving, gently heat some brandy then pour this over the pudding before lighting for those festive flourishes.

Make Mince Pies - The Victorian Way

Mrs Crocombe shows how to make a delicious mincemeat and mince pies for Christmas.

She includes the recipe and method so you can make it yourself.

Duration/Time: 5:03

Mrs Crocombe has made enough traditional mincemeat to last the whole Christmas season and is using it to make mince pies.

If you would like to make mincemeat yourself, storing it in sterilised clip top Kilner jars will make it last a very long time.

RECIPE TO MAKE MINCEMEAT

INGREDIENTS:

• Salt
• 2 Lemons
• 900g Raisins
• 300ml Brandy
• 300ml Sherry (or Madeira)
• 450g Ox Tongue
• 900g Minced Apples
• 1 tbsp Ginger
• 1.1kg Currants
• 2 Grated Nutmegs
• 1 tsp Pounded Mace
• 450g Candied Peel
• 1.1kg Caster Sugar
• 900g Suet (you can use shortening as a substitute)

METHOD:

Combine all of the ingredients into a large container or bowl.

Give it a good mix until all of the ingredients are thoroughly mixed together.

You can store your mincemeat in sterilised clip top Kilner jars, or create some mince pies just like Mrs Crocombe.

Make Apple Hedgehog - The Victorian Way

Mrs Crocombe shows how to cook with apples and make a hedgehog shaped from apples.

No real hedgehogs are harmed when making this delicious apple dessert.

She includes the recipe and method so you can make it yourself.

Duration/Time: 4:15

Autumn brings with it an abundance of apples and this recipe makes use of them to create a delicious hedgehog shaped dessert.

INGREDIENTS:

• currants
• cherries
• two egg whites
• flaked almonds
• Light sugar syrup
•  
• two teaspoons sugar
•  
• Apple or apricot marmalade
•  
• Five or six good shaped apples

METHOD:

Peel and core the apples then stew them in a light sugar syrup.

Be careful not to overcook them because you do not want them to lose their shape.

Make the icing:

Mix two egg whites with two teaspoons of sugar and whisk until you can form peaks on the top.

Make the hedgehog:

Take the stewed apples out of the syrup and arrange them on a flat plate to form the body of the hedgehog.

Use the marmalade to fill in the gaps and hold all the bits of the apple together.

Next, layer the meringue icing over the hedgehog.

Use the sliced almonds to decorate the hedgehog and make the spikes.

Use some currants for the eyes and add a cherry for the nose.

Place the dish in the in a moderate oven until the tops of the almonds are nicely browned.

Enjoy your Apple hedgehog warm with some vanilla ice cream.