O Level English Literature update: the short story collection

Short stories are not as popular as they used to be... in fact I can think of just a couple of modern collections I have read in the last few years (by Ian McEwan and Sebastian Faulkes I think). For some reason we didn't study any poetry for O level (no Shakespeare either... more on that in due course), but instead read this collection of short stories compiled especially for the exam board in 1977.
I enjoyed rereading Notes For a Case History by Doris Lessing - a story of a young woman who aims to rise about her working class roots but doesn't quite succeed. And An Old Woman and her Cat is the timeless tale of an independent old woman who falls between the cracks of the welfare state. Her adopted cat fares slightly better... but not for long. Re-reading these stories reminded me that I used to love Doris Lessing's writing, especially her science fiction series Canopus in Argos... my copies have long since been taken to the charity shop alas.
I also loved re-familiarising myself with two Jazz Age stories from F Scott Fitzgerald. But why did it take me so long to read The Great Gatsby? I must have been 30 before I read it for the first time.
I enjoyed re-reading Winter Cruise by Somerset Maugham, a lively tale of a middle-aged woman who finds love on a cruise... I never progressed with any other of his novels as far as I can remember.
Interestingly, William Sansom is a writer I am planning to discover. He is best known now for his stories of WW2 London (he was a fireman during the Blitz) and featured in The Love Charm of Bombs, a fascinating account of writers in wartime London by Laura Feigel, which I greatly enjoyed

O level English Literature revisited...

Many Septembers ago I embarked on O level English literature. After seeing the wonderful production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible at the Old Vic last year, I thought it would be fun to revisit these books over the course of an academic year.

 

Some have remained great favourites of mine. I re-read The Old Wives' Tale every few years... and My Family and Other Animals has remained a firm favourite over the years.

 

Firstly I am re-reading the collection of short stories Four Modern Short Story Tellers, containing tales from F Scott Fitzgerald, William Sansom, Somerset Maugham and Doris Lessing. I will report on progress. Wish me luck!  

Two recent cakes that have gone down very well

I have been quite busy baking recently.  Here are two recipes that went down well with my testers: the St Mary’s Finedon choir and my ex- NCT working mums’ group. They are both extremely easy.  Enjoy!

Torta Caprese – a delicious Italian chocolate cake which is gluten free. The recipe is courtesy of Sophie Grigson – one of my favourite food writers (along with her mother Jane).

 

Line the base and sides of a 23 cm spring form cake tin with baking parchment and pre-heat the oven to 180 C (slightly lower for a fan oven like mine).

Process 200g of dark chocolate in a food processor until finely chopped. I used an Aldi version with 50% cocoa solids… no need to spend a fortune.

Separate four eggs. Beat the yolks with 175g caster sugar in a large bowl using a Kenwood Chef or electric mixer until the mixture is pale and thick. Fold in the chopped chocolate, 250g ground almonds and 200g of butter which has been melted and cooled somewhat and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Whisk the egg whites in a Kenwood Chef – or with a hand electric mixer until they form stiff peaks and fold into the chocolate mixture.

Spoon into the prepared cake tin and bake for about  50 minutes until just firm. Cool in the tin. Dust with icing sugar before serving with a blob of crème fraiche or single cream.

 

Banana and fruit cake

This recipe was torn out of a newspaper where it was entitled “a picnic cake”… I can’t credit the source. It is delicious.

 

Line a 20cm spring form cake tin or 1kg loaf tin with one of those clever baking parchment liners (from Lakeland or John Lewis). Preheat the oven to 180 C (slightly lower for a fan oven like mine).

Beat together in a Kenwood Chef three ripe bananas (mashed); 225g SR flour; 100g soft margarine (I swear by Stork); 2 eggs; and 150g caster sugar until very light. Then stir in a total of  225g of mixed dried fruit. I used 50g of cherries, 50g of mixed peel and the rest a mixture of cranberries, currents and sultanas… just use whatever you have.

Spooj into the prepared tin and bake for about an hour until a metal skewer poked into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from the tin and dust with icing sugar once cool.

 

Easy strawberry and mango jam - using frozen fruit

This is one of the best jams I have made so far. Simply defrost a 500g pack of Tesco frozen strawberries and a 500g pack of Tesco frozen mango chunks and add to a large pan. Heat gently then add 1kg of jam sugar (the kind with pectin added) and the juice and rind of two limes. Bring to the boil, stirring all the time and simmer until setting point is reached.

There are various ways of determining when this happens: the temperature will reach more than 105 degrees C if you like a more scientific approach. Alternatively add a spoonful of jam to a saucer that has been chilling in the freezer for a few minutes. If the jam surface wrinkles as it cools then it is set.

Once you have made jam a few times you will know when it is ready. The appearance of the jam transforms magically - looking glassy and mysterious, like church windows. Once ready add a slug of Cointreau (helps to preserve the jam and adds flavour too).

Pot the jam in the usual way. That is put six small clean jam jars and lids in a low oven for a few minutes. Lift them out carefully and put on layers of tea towel as they will be hot. Ladle in the jam - with the help of a jam funnel if you have one (available from Wilkinsons, Robert Dyas, Lakeland etc) until full to the top. Then put on the lid immediately and tighten. Allow to cool then store in a cool place. Once open store in the fridge.

Bubbling away...

Brownie pudding cake

This is by far the best of the all-in-one chocolate pudding recipes I have tried…. The sort that separates into a light sponge atop a gooey sauce on baking.

It is incredibly low in fat as it contains no eggs and just a little oil. You can use skimmed milk, of course. I am sure it will work with soya milk too, making this a lovely vegan or dairy-free treat.

This comes from my American cookbook “The  Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book” – so uses cup measures (240ml).

I have changed the recipe somewhat by adding a hint of coffee which accentuates the chocolate flavour.

Grease a deep 20cm round ovenproof dish with a little oil. Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C.

In a medium bowl mix 1 cup of SR flour; ¾ cup white sugar; and 2 tbsp cocoa. Stir in ½ cup milk; 2 tbsp corn oil; and 1tsp vanilla extract.  Stir in ½ cup chopped walnuts. The mixture will be very thick. Spoon into the prepared dish.

In a small bowl stir together ¾ cup soft brown sugar; ¼ cup cocoa powder; 1sp instant coffee; and 1 ½ cups of boiling water until well-blended. Pour over the cake mixture. It will look somewhat odd, but DON’T PANIC.

Bake for about 45 mins until risen and firm on top.

Serve with single cream and mini-eggs (as we did on Easter Sunday). It is also delicious with salted caramel ice cream.

A Good Northamptonshire Pudding

I was flicking through Florence White's Good Things in Britain (see Amazon link ) when I noticed a recipe for Northamptonshire pudding. Aha, I thought... this is a new one on me.

The recipe makes enough for a complete factory of clickers (local joke) so thought I would google for another variant. This one comes from the Northampton Museum's blog. Apparently they were given a Northamptonshire Federation of Women's Institutes' recipe book from 1933. This excellent pudding was contributed by the good ladies of Cogenhoe.

This is my modern variant...

Put 2oz stork margarine, 4 oz SR flour, 3 oz castor sugar and 2 eggs in the Kenwood Chef and whizz until light and fluffy. Stir in (by hand ) 1tbsp of raspberry jam.

Grease a 1pt pudding basin and put another 1tbsp of raspberry jam at the bottom. Add the pudding mixture and cover with a greaseproof circle and a foil cover secured with string.

Steam for 2 hours (I use a pasta pot), turn out carefully and serve with single cream. I do prefer this to custard on a hot pudding.

Spotted Dick for pudding

Have been quite under the weather. This cheered me up immeasurably... Spotted dick – from the Be-Ro recipe book 41st edition* 100 g (4 oz) Self Raising Flour pinch salt 50 g (2 oz) Atora shredded suet (I used veg version) 50 g (2 oz) caster sugar 50 g (2 oz) currants 50 g (2 oz) mixed peel 1 medium egg, beaten 4 x 15 ml spoon (4 tbsp) milk   1 Grease a 600 ml (1 pint) pudding basin. 2 Mix together the dry ingredients. 3 Add the egg and sufficient milk to produce a smooth dropping consistency. 4 Place the mixture into prepared pudding basin. 5 Cover with pleated greaseproof paper and foil and steam for about 1½ hours. 6 Turn out and serve hot with custard or syrup.

 

* Available via http://www.be-ro.co.uk/f_about.htm