Friday 25 July 2008

North and South

So, you are a breast-feeding mother of an egg-intolerant baby, the summer is here and you are looking for something on which to pile clotted cream and jam, in the time-honoured tradition of the British summer holiday. Scones are out, simply because they contain egg, so what can you do? Well, when I have a problem I always seem to solve it by turning to regional English recipes! So for Zillah and her bakin' hubby I give you Cornish Splits, Singing Hinnies (from Northumberland) and Fat Rascals (from Yorkshire). Let us start in the beautiful south.

Cornish Splits
1 lb of plain flour
1 oz fresh yeast (or 1 tbs of dried yeast, but not fast acting)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 oz of lard
1/2 pint warm milk
Set oven to 400F or Mark 6. Mix the yeast and sugar to a liquid, add warm milk or set aside to sponge. (If using dried yeast follow instructions on the packet). Meantime, sieve the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the fat. Add the yeast mixture and the rest of the milk and knead well. Replace in the bowl, cover, put in a warm place and leave to rise until doubled in size. Knead again and shape the dough into small round buns. Put on a floured baking sheet, leave to prove again, then bake for 15 to 20 minutes until browned on top. It is tradition to serve these with black treacle and clotted cream "thunder and lightning"!


Now onto the gorgeous North East...
Sining Hinnies

These griddle are traditional in the North East and appear in Jane Grigson's English Food. Sophie Grigson made them on the telly the other day, and I've found the recipe online. Here's the link.

And finally, God's own county...
Fat Rascals
1 lb plain flour, 1/2 lb butter, 1 oz sugar, 1/4 lb currants, 1/4 tsp salt. a little milk and water, a little caster sugar.
Set oven to 400F or gas make 6. Rub butter into flour. Mix in the currants, sugar and salt. Mix well together. Mix inot a firm dough with a little milk and water. Roll out 1/2 inch thick. Cut into rounds with the top of a tumbler. Dust with white sugar, and bake for 10 minutes or so until golden brown. Serve with cream, jam butter or any combination of these!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

They sound delicious!!

Simone said...

I have just discovered your wonderful blog. There are so many recipes I want to try especially the Cornish Splits with black treacle and clotted cream! I can see myself spending lots of time going through the previous entries. This blog really is food for the soul.

Dulce Domum said...

Hi Sarah
Delicious indeed!

Hi Simone
Thank you for being so kind about my blog! Enjoy your splits and treacle, yumm-o!

Zillah said...

Thanks, DD, I will set DH to work! His family's variation on 'thunder and lightening' is golden syrup and clotted cream on toast - to be eaten every day for breakfast whilst on holiday in Cornwall!

Zillah