There is a little wooden cupboard in the kitchen we refer to as “the baking cupboard”. The door sticks. You gain entry only with a firm punch from the side of your clenched fist.
As the door springs open you are greeted by a whiff of vanilla and sweet spice, and the sight of white shelves stained with the tell tale rings from where the black treacle has sat. There is a shelf for flour: plain, self-raising, rye, baking powder and rice flour; and another with vanilla pods and a bottle of extract, candied peel, crystallised roses and violet petals. Then there are the tightly stopped jars of “bun spices” – cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and half a nutmeg that smells warm and old fashioned, like a custard tart.
It’s the top shelf that beckons on this cold winter afternoon. Almost out of reach (I have to stand on tip-toe) it is home to forbidden sweet stuff – golden caster and icing sugar, dark and light muscovado, treacle and maple syrup, and a green and gold tin of golden syrup. This is the shelf that brings warmth and hygge to this house, the scene of many a happy hour in which biscuits are baked, and a kitchen that is fugged up with steam, little rivulets of sweet joy running down the windows.
Maple and pecan steamed pudding
You will need a little more maple syrup to serve with this. Oh, and a small jug of double cream.
Serves 6
butter 150g
golden caster sugar 80g
soft brown sugar 70g
eggs 2
pecans 60g, shelled
self-raising flour 150g
salt a pinch
For the topping:
maple syrup 4 tbsp
fresh breadcrumbs 4 tbsp
To serve:
cream and maple syrup
You will need a lightly buttered 1.5 litre pudding basin.
Cut a piece of baking parchment or greaseproof paper to fit the bottom of the mixing bowl, then place it neatly in the bottom of the bowl. It will stop the pudding sticking.
Dice the butter, place it in the bowl of a food mixer, then add the sugars. Beat for a good 5 minutes until pale and creamy. Mix the maple syrup and breadcrumbs together, then put in the bottom of the buttered mixing bowl. Place a large pan of water on to boil. The water should be deep enough to come at least halfway up the basin.
Break the eggs, beat them lightly with a fork, then add, a little at a time, to the butter and sugar, beating continually. Process the pecans to fine crumbs in a food processor, then add them to the flour together with a pinch of salt, then fold lightly but firmly into the cake mixture.
Spoon the mixture into the pudding basin, smooth the surface, then cover the basin first with greaseproof paper or baking parchment, and secondly, with kitchen foil. Secure firmly with string or rubber bands.
Lower the basin into the hot water, cover with a lid and leave to steam for 90 minutes until the pudding has risen and is lightly firm. Remove from the water. Leave to settle for 10 minutes, then unwrap and slide a palette knife between the pudding and the bowl to loosen it. Place a plate on top of the bowl, turn the basin and plate upside down and shake firmly. The pudding should slide out on to the plate.
Serve with double cream and, if you like, more maple syrup.
Chocolate ginger biscuits
You could dip both sides of the biscuits in chocolate if you wish. You will need a further 50g.
Makes about 24 biscuits
plain flour 225g
baking powder 2 tsp
caster sugar 55g
soft brown sugar 55g
ground ginger 3 tsp
mixed spice 2 tsp
salt a good pinch
butter 110g
golden syrup 110g
dark chocolate 150g
pistachios 2 tbsp, shredded
Set the oven at 175C/gas mark 3-4. Place a piece of baking parchment on a baking sheet.
Put the plain flour, baking powder and the sugars in a large mixing bowl. Add the ginger and mixed spice together with a good pinch of salt.
Cut the butter into small pieces and rub into the dry ingredients as if you were making pastry, until it looks like soft, fresh breadcrumbs. Alternatively, bring to crumbs in a food processor.
Warm the golden syrup in a small saucepan then pour into the dry ingredients. Mix everything together with a wooden spoon, or your hands, until you have a ball of dough. Divide into 24 small pieces, then roll each into a ball. Lightly flatten each one then place, a good 5cm apart, on a baking sheet (you will almost certainly need to bake one or two trays at a time). Bake for 10 minutes. The biscuits will seem soft and pale at this stage, but remove them nevertheless, as they will firm and crisp as they cool.
As each tray of biscuits comes from the oven, firmly bang the tray on the work surface, it will help the biscuits to crackle attractively. Let them rest for 5 minutes, then transfer with a palette knife on to cooling racks.
Break the chocolate into small pieces. Put a small pan of water on to boil. Find a mixing bowl that will sit neatly in the top of the pan, without touching the water, and add the broken chocolate to it. Let the chocolate melt, without stirring, occasionally pushing any unmelted pieces into the molten chocolate with a spoon.
When the chocolate is liquid, switch off the heat. Dip each biscuit into the chocolate, coating one or both sides as you wish. Place on a parchment covered rack. Chop the pistachios and put a small pinch on each biscuit then leave till set.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @NigelSlater
