Jam and Cake
My diary in the Basinga Extra seems to be provoking some interest at last!
The Editor has received some questions from readers wanting to know more about the Paulet-Halt methods of
planting and showing, and I am beginning to feel like a female Alan Titchmarsh - so here goes!
I am asked by one reader, why do you plant your potatoes in buckets? Well on the farm here we have acres given over to potatoes of course, and these are looked after by our wonderful farm manager, but for the village show, I like to have a greater degree of control over what I am growing. A friend of mine suggested growing potatoes in buckets on the patio, and that well known magazine “Kitchen Gardener” states that “many exhibitors have moved to growing their exhibition potatoes in black polythene bags filled with peaty compost, with very good results on the show bench” (Jan ’06).
Keep those questions coming in, and meanwhile I will keep you up to date with our preparations here at Paulet Manor.
Sunday 24th June
Am up early as I think that I may have enough raspberries in the garden to make some jam (class74). The Best Kept Secrets of the Women’s Institute - Jams Pickles and Chutneys book from Chineham library explains that you shouldn’t pick fruit that is wet. The rain is bucketing down so go back to bed with a cup of tea.
I wonder what this pectin stuff is that appears in all the recipes, and where do you get it from? Must ask in Tescos next week. Wonder if the recipes work without it as I don’t think that the Paulet-Halt larder is that well stocked at the moment.
Lemon curd (class76) doesn’t need pectin and looks quite easy, but does suppose that one has some lemons. Prod Husband, who is pretending to be asleep, to ask for opinion. He grunts, rolls over and asks if I am sure I have enough clean jam jars to make all this stuff. Well, I ask you, if it wasn’t for him and his obsession with re-cycling everything we would have plenty.
Monday 25th June
Still raining. Decide to look out a recipe for Dundee cake. (Men and boys only class 72). Enquire brightly over breakfast whether man and boy fancy doing it. Son is reasonably keen. After all, as he points out, he did come 2nd with a lemon cake at his first attempt a couple of years ago. This has always been a bit of a sore point, due to the failure of my Victoria Sandwich the same year to impress the judges. Husband is more reticent, and says that if I buy all the ingredients, open the book at the right page and show him how to turn the oven on, he will think about it. I remind them both that they would have to do their own washing up and putting away, and I am told that I am very harsh.
Tuesday 26th June
Still raining.
Just look what it is doing to the dahlias!
Delia Smith states that you should make a Dundee cake a few weeks before you need it, so you can feed it. I thought that it fed you, but no matter.
Husband helps unpack the Tesco shopping, and his eyes noticeably brighten at the sight of the bottle of Whisky, until I remind him that it is for the Dundee cakes.
Wednesday 27th June
Ask Husband over breakfast when he is planning to make his Dundee cake. Get vague reply. Point out that I need some notice as it does take a long time in the oven.
Thursday 28th June
Ask Husband again about Dundee cake. Get same vague reply. Vow not to mention it again. Ever!
Sunday 1st July
Raspberries have at last dried out enough to pick. Unfortunately not enough to make jam according to the WI. Prepare vegetables for big family roast dinner, and pop to Tesco to see if they have any more raspberries. Return home to find kitchen in turmoil. Husband proudly shows me the results of his hard work (cake mixture in tin, and sink full of washing up). Tight lipped, I ask him when the oven will be available to roast the Sunday joint, and he replies, a little sheepishly, “about 3.30pm”.
Much later that evening
All agreed that Dad’s first attempt at a fruit sponge pudding was delicious, if not a little soggy, but this was tempered by the raspberry coulis sauce which we poured on the top.