Rhubarb and Strawberry Jam

Finished jam 

This is my absolute favourite jam. Even if you don't like rhubarb you will like this, as the flavour is very subtle and somehow seems to bring out the strawberry-ness of the strawberries.

Ingredients

500g strawberries (not too ripe)

600g rhubarb

1.1kg sugar

1 packet pectin

Juice of one lemon

The pectin and lemon are used here as strawberries and rhubarb are both low in pectin and acid which are needed to let the jam set. You could also substitute the sugar for jam sugar and leave out the pectin but jam sugar is quite a bit more expensive. I have got a good set before using only lemon juice but I would try with pectin first unless you don't mind your jam being a bit runny.

This recipe made me 5 jars of jam but one was a large kilner jar.

I got my fruit from a market so spent £2.50 on it overall. The best thing of course would be for you to use homegrown fruit! I would encourage you not to use supermarket strawberries and they can be very expensive and sometimes a bit tasteless. If you have kids you might want to go to a pick your own strawberry farm. I did this last year and made the jam on the day which gave it an amazing fresh flavour. If you have lots of rhubarb available but not many strawberries (which may well be the case if you grow your own rhubarb which is very prolific!) then you can reduce the ration to 1:2 strawberries to rhubarb. This still has a great strawberry flavour if you use nice strawberries. 

Method

• Chop the rhubarb into approx one inch chunks although don't bother being precise as the rhubarb will break down in cooking. Wash it. 

• Place the rhubarb and sugar in the pan which you will use to boil the jam. Don't try and use a small pan for this as it will take ages and be difficult to stir! Leave the rhubarb in the pan with the sugar while you sterilise the jars (see previous post on plum chutney if you don't know how) and chop the strawberries so it's starts releasing it's juice.

•  Chop the strawberries into quarters (these will mostly stay whole through cooking) and add to the pan.  Add the pectin and lemon juice. 

•  Turn the hob up to high and stir to stop the sugar burning. In a few minutes the sugar will melt and the jam start to bubble. Bring it to the boil and stir occasionally 

• After about 20 minutes test the set of your jam but spooning a small amount onto a cold plate. Let the jam cool and then run your finger through the circle of syrup. If the jam wrinkles when you push it it is set. This is the only difficult bit of making jam but it is worth being patient and testing a few times or your jam will be very runny (I have to admit mine was a bit runny on this go as I was inpatient but it is still delicious). 
• Once setting point is reached take your jam off the heat and leave to cool until the jam is about 90 degrees (this is hard to do exactly without a thermometer but use your best guess). 
• Spoon the jam into sterillised jars which are still warm. The jam being hot will help keep it sterilised so don't leave it too long. Put waxed discs on to of the jam and seal the jars. This time I used a kilner jar for me as I use lots of this jam and wanted to have a big jar for the summer! Kilner jars are quite expensive but if you want to give a special present you might want to use one. I got mine from a charity shop for £1 and intend to reuse it but to buy new they cost about £3. 
• As for the chutney, get creative with your labeling if you want your jars to look pretty. I think that extra 10 minutes at the end is well worth it to package your beautiful homemade preserves.

•  Try this jam simply on toast, stirred into rice pudding, on porridge, with granola and yogurt....

Variations

Of course if you are a purist strawberry jam lover you could make this with just strawberries. 

The addition of vanilla is also a nice touch but remember to use natural vanilla essence or a vanilla pod (which you should take out before spooning the jam into jars). 

Cost

This batch of jam cost me about £4 to make (for 5 jars) but depends a lot on how much you spend on fruit!

A homemade bread lesson

I have recently got into making homemade bread and have since made about 10 successful loaves. I'm not sure if this qualifies me to teach others how to become master bakers but if you haven't made bread before I would strongly encourage you to give it a go. Its therapeutic, you can get great results without much practice, it's much healthier than eating bought bread (especially if you experiment with different types of flour) and its not at all expensive.


This basic recipe can be used with a variety of types of flour. This loaf was made with half strong white flour and half country grain flour but I will describe variations later.

Ingredients

450g flour
300ml water
7g salt
5g yeast

The length of the ingredients list is testament to how simple making a loaf of bread is. It also highlights the difference from shop bought loaves which will have all manner of chemicals added!

You can use any normal table salt for this recipe.

Method

• If you are using normal dried active yeast (not easy bake yeast) you will need to reactivate it first. Do this by mixing 5g in a mug or small bowl with 50g tepid water (one third boiling to 2 thirds cold) and half a teaspoon of sugar. When measuring water weigh it don't use a measuring jug as this is more accurate. Leave the yeast for 10 mins while you weigh the other ingredients.
• Weigh the ingredients into a bowl, it is easiest to do this with electric scales. Remember that as you have used 50g water to reactivate the yeast only add 250g tepid water to the mixing bowl. Mix the salt in. 
• When the yeast is frothy on top, add it to the other ingredients and mix in the bowl.
• Turn the dough (which will be a bit sticky at this stage) onto a clean surface

Kneading

One method of kneading is shown in my video below:

This is a traditional method which uses the hell of your palm to stretch the dough. This method is fine for most dough but can get a bit  messy if your dough is sticky.

An alternative method is shown in my video below:

This is useful for stickier doughs or at the end of your kneading when you want to get the dough into a good shape.

Using your preferred method (or a mixture), knead the dough for 10 minutes. Scrape out or clean your mixing bowl (it doesn't have to be pristine) and coat the bowl with  a little olive oil to stop the dough drying out. Then fold the dough into a ball and put it in your mixing bowl and cover in cling film.

Leave the dough to rise until it has doubled in size (this depends on the temperature of the room but will probably be between 1 and 2.5 hours). To speed it up put the heating on!

Knocking back  

When the dough has doubled in size, turn it gently onto your work surface and pull, push and knock it into a flat oval shape. Then take the 'corners' of the dough and fold it into the center from several points, prodding the corners down. Then turn your ball over and shape it as shown in my video below:

Proving

Place your ball onto some oiled greaseproof paper and place your mixing bowl upside down on top to keep it moist. If your mixing bowl isn't very big the dough might tough the sides as it rises so you might want to cover it in oiled cling film instead.

Once again leave the dough until it has regained it's original size (about one hour). It is better to under prove than over prove at this stage so if you're not sure leave it for less time. 

Baking

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and have a baking tray in the hot oven. Put a dish of water in the bottom tray (the moisture helps get a good bake). When your dough is ready transfer it (this is where the baking paper helps!) onto the tray. After 10 mins turn the oven down to 200 degrees. Bake for another 30 minutes.

The timings will vary slightly depending on your oven. This worked in mine which is not fan assisted so you might want to take the time down a little. 

Once the bread has come out of the oven leave it to cool on a wire rack and don't eat straight from the oven as it will give you tummy pains!

Try eating with cheese and the plum chutney from April's post. I did and the chutney has had a couple of months to mature now and was delicious.

Variations

There are endless variations to making bread as you know! Another version I have tried is 50% rye flour, 25% white flour and 25% wholemeal flour which is great with smoked salmon and very filling. If you find the rye to dense then you can reduce the quantity and replace it with white flour. Rye flour can be a little harder to find and is a bit more expensive but I found the dough easier to work with. 50% wholemeal and 50% white loaves are also good. Adding walnuts and raisins is also yummy if you want to add a bit more to you bread. I'll include some other varieties when I have tried them!

Cost

As there are very few ingredient in these loaves they work out very cheap to make. You can get flour for as little as 80p for 1.5kg and yeast is very cheap (especially if you buy a tin instead of sachets which I do as  don't like throwing any away). More specialist flours are a bit more expensive but the loaves you make with still cost you under a pound which compared to the prices charged at artisan bakeries etc is very good.

A nice loaf like this with some homemade chutney (see previous post) and some good cheese would make a great offering to take to a dinner party.

Raspberry vinegar

Now that the weather is getting warmer I'm feeling more tempted by salads, and my absolute favourite is goat's cheese and beetroot. I therefore decided to try out a recipe for homemade raspberry vinegar as I thought the fruity sharpness would be great in that sort of salad. The recipe is really straightforward and you could easily make it in bulk if you wanted to give some to friends. The vinegar is dark red and syrupy when it is finished so looks very pretty in clear glass bottles.

Ingredients

500g raspberries
300ml cider vinegar
Granulated sugar

This amount will give you a small batch to start with so unless you have mountains of raspberries to use and nothing to do with them (I would suggest making raspberry jam if this is the case) then I would try it small scale first to check that you like it and have occasion to use it. The vinegar does keep for about a year so I think I'll be making some more when I run out.

Of course ideally you would use raspberries from your garden or allotment but as you will see from the time of year I didn't! Doing trial runs with small quantities however means that when you do have an excess of produce you will know exactly what to do with it and will have all the 'kit' handy. Raspberries are in season in the UK from July to November as there are summer and autumn varieties.

You will also need:

Jelly bag or muslin (you can get these in cooking shops for a few quid)
Sterilised glass bottles with caps (sterilise in the same way as the jars in my homemade chutney post)
A  funnel

I used a couple of glass jars that had posh lemonade in that took 350ml as they were a nice shape and colourless to let the pretty colour of the vinegar show. If you were making a large batch you could use wine bottles.

Straining the fruit vinegar through a jelly bag

Method

• Crush the raspberries lightly with a wooden spoon in a large bowl
• Add the vinegar
• Cover the bow and leave in a cool place for 4 days
• Pour the contents of the bowl through a scaled jelly bag (this means you pour boiling water through it first)
• After half an hour squeeze it to get most of the juice through then discard the raspberries

Adding the fruit vinegar to sugar in a pan

• Measure the liquid and add 225g sugar for every 300ml

Bringing to the boil

• Bring to the boil over a low heat, stirring gently for about 10 minutes

Bottling

• Remove from the heat and leave to cool before bottling through a funnel

If you are giving the fruit vinegar as a gift, cut out a circle of brown paper using the rim of a large mug as a template and secure it over the bottle cap with some pretty wool or rustic looking twine. Fill out a label and stick it on the bottle. 

I used some of my first batch drizzled over an avocado, beetroot and goat's cheese salad and found that nothing else was needed in the dressing. The vinegar could be mixed with a little oil however.

Avocado, beetroot, goat's cheese and lettuce with homemade raspberry vinegar

Customised t-shirt

Just a quick post on something 'craft-y' as I've been veering towards the food and drink theme lately.
This is a quick way to cutomise a plain t-shirt to make something personalised and original...

'Boyfriend fit' grey t-shirt

What you need

A plain t-shirt
Some pretty material
Some cardboard (e.g. cereal packet)
Some thread which matches the colour of the material
A needle
An iron
Some scissors (pinking sheers if you have them)
Sewing machine (optional)

This could also be a clever way to cover a stain or hole in an old t-shirt or you could buy a cheap t-shirt like I did. A loose fitting t-shirt looks better for this laid back look.
The material I used was from an old summer dress that I don't wear any more. You could go for this approach or buy some really nice fabric you like the look of. You will only need a 'fat quarter' or 250cm material if that so even luxurious fabric won't be breaking the bank.

Instructions

Step 3

1. Draw the shape you want your pocket to be on the back of the cardboard and cut it out to make a template
2. Iron your material (or a section of it)
3. Draw round the cardboard template on the back of your material with a biro pen (you don't want the ink to show through it)
4. Cut around the shape with an extra cm or so around the edge
5. Iron the pocket shape with the extra cm of fabric folded under so there is a sharp crease
6. Sew along the top line of the pocket (with a sewing machine if you have one)
7. Pin the fabric to the t-shirt in the desired place (a tape measure or ruler may be useful here)

   

   Step 7

8. Sew carefully round the edge of the pocket, leaving the top of the pocket open. Take care not to sew through the back of the t-shirt! You can use a sewing machine here as well if you prefer.

And there you have it! A half hour project that you can wear with pride!

Simple chutney - spiced plum

Making a simple chutney is a great way to start if you fancy doing some preserving. You don't need any specialist equipment and if you don't get it perfect the first time you will still have a delicious chutney. I will post on jam later on as this is a bit more difficult as you need to get the setting point right or you will have a very runny (or stiff) jam.

This chutney is delicious with cheese or cold meats and makes a lovely present when packaged up nicely.

Ingredients

How it should look at the start of step 4

1kg plums

300g onions

1 garlic clove

400ml malt vinegar

400g brown sugar

100g raisins/sultanas/other dried fruit if you have it

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

1cm gated fresh ginger

salt and pepper to taste

5 jam jars with lids 

Wax discs 

In an ideal world you would use fruit from your garden (or your neighbor's) but if this isn't feasible I would suggest buying your fruit from a market which tends to be much better value, reduces packaging and supports local business.

The wax discs can be boughts online, from cooking shops and sometimes from supermarkets. These are inexpensive and well worth buying to help your preserves keep longer.

How it should look at the end of step 4

Method

1. Soak jars in hot water for a few hours until the labels peel off easily, wash the jars thoroughly.
2. Place the jars in a 100 degree centigrade oven until hot or microwave (this sterilises the jars)
3. Meanwhile, quarter the plums and remove the stones. Finely chop the onion and mince the garlic.
4. Put the plums, onions, garlic, half of the vinegar and the spices in a large pan and simmer until soft.
5. Add the dried fruits (if using), sugar and remaining vinegar.
6. Stir over a low heat until the consistency of thick jam.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste.



How it should look at the end of step 7

8. Spoon the chutney into the sterilised jars while still hot. Fill up to about 1cm from the top and place a wax disc waxy side down so that it covers the top. Screw on the lid (using a tea towel to protect your hands as it will be hot!).

Finished chutney

Chutney improves with keeping so keep your jars in a dark place for a few weeks before enjoying (if you can resist!).

Presenting your jars

One of the nicest things about making your own preserves is packaging them beautifully and giving them as gifts. 

Firstly, make sure the jars and nice and clean, a sticky jar will ruin the effect!

Second, write the name of the jam and month and year it was preserved on a pretty label and stick it on the jar.

Lastly, make a fabric top for your jar using an old checked shirt or pretty patterned bit of fabric.

You will need to cut a circle quite a bit bigger that the jam lid then you can cover the top of the jar and secure using an elastic band and some rustic looking string.

Variations

This chutney is a good starter but the same principles can be applied to many different types of chutney. All you need is to make sure you have the right proportion of fruit and sugar to preserve the chutney and give it a good flavour. 

This recipe can be used as a starter but you ca experiment by varying the 1kg fruit and tweaking the spices to your taste. Apple makes a good addition to many chutneys including this one. Rhubarb is a good base for chutney if you have it growing in your garden but needs other fruits to give a more distinctive flavour such as dried apricots. 

I suggest finding some good value fruit and then googeling recipes until you find one you fancy!

No guilt berry crumble

The other night I had a desperate craving for a pudding but all I had was some vanilla ice cream and a few store cupboard essentials. I was determined not to head out and buy a pudding after I'd eaten (a slippery slope I fear) so whipped up some mini crumbles in 10 minutes all out of ingredients I had in my cupboard. These mini puddings will satisfy your sweet tooth without leaving you feeling guilty and bloated...

Ingredients

Frozen berries / whatever fruit you have around

1 tbsp oats

2 tbsps white flour (plain or self raising)

1 tbsp butter or margarine

2 tsps sugar (I prefer brown)

Amaretti biscuits (optional)

Vanilla ice cream or cream to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade
2. Blend the butter, four and oats together in a bowl with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. If it feels a bit dry and powdery add a little butter, if it is very moist add a little flour
3. Stir in the sugar and 3 amaretti biscuits (if using, I just happened to have them in the cupboard)
4. Place the fruit into little glass or ceramic ramekins and sprinkle the crumble topping on top. Don't press the crumble down too much or it will be too hard when it comes out of the oven
5. Sprinkle a little sugar and oats on the top
6. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and the top is browned. Serve with ice cream and a tea spoon!

If you have some plums, apples or pears in the fruit bowl that are going a little soft you can use these in combination with berries on their own. These fruits work well with a little cinnamon which is a natural sweetener so you can use less sugar. Raisins or other dried fruits can also be added.

I use little glass ramekins that you buy 'Gu' puddings in. These work really well!

To make a super healthy version, swap the flour for brown flour and use more oats, minimise the fat used and add margarine instead of butter. Half the sugar added and add a little honey or cinnamon to the fruit to sweeten it naturally. Serve with yogurt for a pudding so virtuous it can hardly be called pudding.

I like this recipe as it affords some portion control over pudding size, is very quick and doesn't require lots of special ingredients. Enjoy!

Super healthy homemade smoothie

I have recently been drinking a lot of homemade smoothies and am astounded about how quick and easy they are! I reckon this recipe takes me about 4 minutes in total...This version is also very cheap and doesn't rely on lots of fresh fruit so you can whizz one up at any time...

Ingredients and equipment

1 banana
A handful (80g) frozen mixed berries
A tablespoon of natural yogurt
100ml warm water
Food processor

Recipe

Put all the ingredients into the food process and whizz until smooth!

Notes

The frozen berries are great in this recipe as they make the smoothie cold without having to fuss around with ice. They are also much cheaper than buying fresh fruit (usually about £2 for 500g). Having said that, if you have any fresh fruit hanging around of course use it!

I have used warm water in this recipe as otherwise the frozen berries can make it too cold. If you prefer an ice cold smoothie however, use cold water. 

Nutrition

The berries in this smoothie provide one of your five a day and a good variety of vitamins and minerals. I use summer fruits which provides all the goodness of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and redcurrants. Bananas are higher in carbohydrate content but contain high levels of potassium and vitamin B6 so shouldn't be avoided even by the waistline watchers!

Natural yogurt contains stomach friendly bacteria and low fat options can be used if you want to reduce calories. 

The original recipe contains about 150kcals. 

Variations

I sometimes add a handful of oats (and a bit more water) to this recipe in the morning to make a super healthy energy boosting breakfast! This ups the calories a bit but gives you a good portion of fibre and the heart-healthy benefits of oats without the effort of making porridge.

My housemate likes to make this smoothie with just banana and milk instead of water to make it more creamy. She adds honey and cinnamon to give it  satisfying sweetness.

There are many other possible smoothie variations. For the mega calorie phobic readers, forget the banana and add fat free yogurt and some fruit juice to the berries, gym bunnies can add protein powder for a post-gym recovery drink and readers suffering from flu can add orange juice for an extra vitamin C boost...

Knitted cushion

With the sudden encore of frosty winter weather I have been unable to break my January knitting habit and therefore tried to direct my efforts to a useful project. I have seen a few patterns for cushion covers so thought I'd adapt one to make a quick and easy addition to my sofa....

The back of the finished cushion

The front of the finished cushion

This pattern can be adjusted to pretty much any kind of wool so I will avoid being too prescriptive here. The only thing is that you need to make sure you have enough wool to finish the project before you start.

Materials

Yarn and needles - I used just over one 100g skein of chunky double knit 'claret' coloured wool and 6.5mm needles. This made a 12 inch by 15 inch cushion. I think this project would work well with a finer yarn but will take a bit more time, you could also make a larger or smaller version.

Two skeins of 100g chunky claret wool

Cushion pad - You will need a cushion pad or stuffing to fill the cushion. A pad will make it easier to remove the cover if it needs washing.
Buttons - You will need four large buttons to fasten your cushion cover.
Tapestry needle and extra yarn - this is to finish the cushion as it is knitted in three parts.

Knitting Pattern

As I said, this is not really a traditional knitting pattern as it depends what size cushion you want to make. I will give you the pattern for my cushion however but you can adjust it accordingly. See my previous knitting post for more instructions on how to cast on etc.

For the front

• Cast on 40 stitches
• Knit in stockinette stitch (alternate rows knit and purl) until the work measures 2 inches
• Knit in garter stitch (basic knit stitch every row) for a further two inches
• Switch back to stockinette stitch for three inches
• Garter for two inches
• Stockinette for thee inches
• Garter for two inches
• Stockinette for two inches
• Cast off

For the back

• Cast on 40 stitches
• Knit in stockinette stitch for 7 inches
• Knit in garter stitch for 3 rows then knit an eyelet row:

1.  Knit 7 stitches then bring the wool forward to it comes out of the work towards you instead of out though the back if the work. 
2. Then knit 2 stitches together. 
3. Knit 7 stitches then bring wool forward again (step 1) and knit 2 together (step 2)
4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 twice more then knit to the end of the row 

• Knit in garter stitch for another 3 rows 
• Cast off
• Cast on 40 stitches again and knit in stockinette stitch for 8 inches
• Cast off

Finishing

Using tapestry needle two sew panels together

• Arrange the three panels so that the neat sides are facing inwards and the two back panels are overlapping
• Sew the three panels together so that they fit together like a cushion cover i.e. sew around the whole of the front panel binding it to the two back panels but do not sew the back panels together. There will be a small overlap of the back panels where you need to sew all three together

• Once the cushion is assembled sew on bright coloured buttons at the appropriate place on the 2nd back panel so that they can be used to fasten the cushion through the holes created by the eyelet row
• Stuff the cushion

Given that this project went well I'm going to give a cushion another go, perhaps using different colours. I'll let you know how it goes!

Homemade cake stand (with homemade cakes!)

Introduction

I saw this idea for a homemade in a 'Vintage Gifts' book and decided to try it as I have always wanted one. In this project you can choose your own plates and glasses to made a totally unique cake stand that you can use at tea parties to display (preferably homemade!) biscuits and cakes. I've included a very reliable cupcake recipe at the end which has been my favorite recently as you can whip it up in no time with minimal ingredients and fuss. I'm no star baker but these work every time!

Vintage cake stand

Sourcing your materials

Three pretty plates
Two glasses
Glue suitable for sticking glass and ceramic together

All the materials required for cake stand

The first place to look for materials for this project is in your own cupboards. Any mismatched or slightly chipped but pretty crockery that you no longer use can be used to make a new piece of homeware.

You will need three places for a thee tiered stand and two sherry or shot glasses. You can arrange the items together as you would when they are stuck together to see how they look together. I would suggest that a large plate, a side plate and a saucer sized plate.You also need to make sure that the glass is the right size and shape so that the whole rim is in contact with the plate.

If you don't have anything suitable at home, check out any local vintage fairs, markets or charity shops for unusual and good value pieces. I found sherry glasses in almost every charity shop I looked in! Ebay is also a great source as there are plenty of lovely bits for one or two pounds. I would not necessarily purchasing online however as you will not get to try out how the pieces look together and postage can be expensive.
Find a suitable glue at a hardware shop or online.

Cost

All in all, this project could cost a few pounds depending on how expensive the crockery you use is. This project cost me £3.50 all together!

Making the stand

1. Make sure all your materials are clean and dry or the glue will not stick well.
2. Cover your work area with newspaper
3. Spread glue sparingly on the base of the shot/sherry glass and place it in the center of the largest plate. The glue I used set quickly so be sure to read the instructions before you start.

4. Spread glue on the rim of the glass and place the center of the next largest plate onto it.

5. Repeat with the next level of the stand.

And your stand is now finished! Resist fiddling with it until the glue is completely set, then you are ready to load it up with cakes and boil the kettle for some tea!

Orange and poppy seed cupcakes

Ingredients

2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp hot milk
85g softened butter
85g granulated or caster sugar
Rind of half an orange
1 large egg
100g self raising flour

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade

2. Heat the milk on the hob or microwave and add the poppy seeds

3. Work the butter and sugar together until uniform and smooth

4. Beat in the milk, seeds and egg then add the orange rind

5. Sift in the flour using a sieve

6. Mix gently using a metal spoon retaining as much air in the mixture as possible

7. Spoon the mixture uniformly into cake cases

8. Bake for 20 minutes or until tops are golden and springy

Makes 12 small cupcakes.

Double the recipe to make 12 muffin sized cakes.

How cakes should look fresh out of the oven

The finished cakes and stand