Blueberry Milk

Milk is a meal in one for a toddler, a delicious snack for a school child and an enjoyment for a busy adult on the go. It’s great on it’s own, but even better when flavoured, but I’m not condoning the consumption of store-bought flavoured milks. Far from it! They are all filled with chemical additives, some of which are so dangerous to health, I’d even go as far as to say they are killers. I cannot understand how they are allowed to be added to food products, but maybe it’s a conspiracy to keep the gullible public sick and dying…. Ho hum! Go figure…

Anyhow, I have a fun, easy flavoured milk drink for you. No processed cordial from the store, no added chemicals. Just good plain fruit syrup. It’s homemade, natural, healthy, and you can feel assured that it’s okay for the kids, even if it does have sugar in it. When they are on the go, they need the energy.

What you need to do is make up the blueberry syrup, keep it in the fridge or serve immediately with your favourite milk, be it cow’s milk or some other nut milk that is your preference. So simple, and totally fresh and delicious.  

This fruit syrup can be made with other fruits such as cherries, strawberries, raspberries etc.

Ingredients: To make enough syrup to mix with a litre of milk.

2 cups blueberries, preferably fresh, but frozen will do if you can’t get fresh.

1/2 cup sugar

350ml water

Method:

In a small saucepan, heat the blueberries, sugar and water over a medium heat until the mixture comes to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. The syrup will reduce and thicken slightly. Remove from the heat, strain through a fine mesh strainer, bottle and refrigerate.

To Serve:

Whisk together ¼ cup of blueberry syrup with 1 cup cold milk.

October Fruit and Vegetables

The days are growing shorter, autumn winds are blowing and the harvest is being brought in from the orchards and fields. October is sometimes thought of as the ugly sister of September, but the reputation is not deserved. Summer, when orchard and vine are exploding with juicy, sun filled abundance, may be passed, but the warm months have helped breed new things for autumnal abundance, some being uniquely enjoyable. This year the apple trees are especially heavy laden with succulent fruit, ready to be made into jams, preservers and beverages. Wild mushrooms are abundant and squash and pumpkins are ready early for Halloween.

Americans think of pumpkin as something you put in a pie and serve at Thanksgiving. Europeans know it primarily as a savoury ingredient. In this case, the old world and the new both have it right. Pumpkin is delicious in sweet pies, but it can be put to good use in all manner of savour dishes as well. The simplest is to cut the pumpkin into pieces, removing the seeds and strings from the central cavity and steaming or baking the pieces for serving with a little butter as a vegetable. Some care needs to be taken with cooked pumpkin as it becomes fragile when cooked because of the high water content. This may be acceptable if the flesh is to be drained of excess water and served mashed. One of the nicest ways of preparing this vegetable is to roast it in pieces at low temperature for an extended time, which cooks them and simultaneously evaporates much of the water.

Some vegetables from summer are still available, especially in the early part of the month: beans, courgettes, peppers and aubergines from Europe, and beetroot, sweetcorn, sweet potatoes, celery, carrots and marrows are available in abundance.

Root vegetables are now coming into their prime. Look for parsnips, celeriac, Swedes and turnips this month to use in soups and stews as we progress into colder weather. There should also be a good selection of onions available in October. If you like to make pickled onions, now is the time to make them.

The last, but not the least, of the vegetables to be considered for consumption in October are spinach, chard and cabbages. These seem to come into their own as the days become shorter and the nights grow colder. Red cabbage is especially good when cooked with onions, pears or quinces.

Most of the berries of summer are now gone, but other fruit make up for their depletion. The apple season is in full swing, and with them come delicious pears and damsons, perfect for preserves and puddings. Autumn is also the season for nuts, with fresh walnuts being the first to be seen. They are never better than at this time of year, before the flesh has lost its moist, delicate freshness.

Figs are another October highlight, picked from the tree when fully ripe, they offer their incomparable sweet flavour for a short time before they become too soft. They are perfect torn open and savoured raw, but are also delicious baked with honey and feta cheese.

Quinces are another top choice for October, especially for jam and jelly making. Pomegranates, coming from the Mediterranean, are also abundant now. They may be one of the hardest fruit to eat, but the succulent pits are delicious in both savoury and sweet salads.

July Fruit and Vegetables

Summer is now well entrenched and, as far as fruit and vegetables are concerned, we are in our seventh heaven; Nature truly spoils us this month with a luscious array of colourful produce. Whole ranges of tomatoes, courgettes, sweetcorn and other quintessential summer vegetables are available in copious quantities.

July sees a glut of tomatoes, which although they are not one of the UK's great crops as we don't get enough sun for them under normal conditions, those grown under' plastic' give the Mediterranean tomatoes a run for their money while the weather is good. All sorts of tomatoes are available: the beef tomato, which is great for salads and cooking, cherry tomatoes, wonderful in salads and pastas, and plum tomatoes, too tough for eating raw, but with solid flesh and good flavour that make them perfect for curries and sauces are the best to look for.

Summer is also salad season, and July is one of the peak months for salad ingredients: lettuces, cucumbers and spring onions as well as the ubiquitous tomato. To complete any salad, a dressing made with the new season garlic, which should now be available from France and Italy, puts the finishing touch.

The two other vegetable stars of July are sweetcorn and peas, a couple of vegetables that are not worth buying fresh any time other than now. I can't think of any vegetable more delicious than peas straight out of the pod or a mealie cob picked from the maize field, boiled and served with butter soon after picking! Both of these vegetables, when picked, are packed full of sugar that can make them additively sweet. But that sugar doesn't last very long. These vegetables continue to act as if they were still 'alive' after picking, using their sugar as food or converting it into starch. Sugar loss can be as high as 40% in 6 hours, which leads to a drastic drop in sweetness. The solution is to buy directly from a farm where they are picked daily, or even more frequently, or to pick them yourself and cook them immediately, where possible. If you can't cook them on the same day as picking, refrigeration storage will slow the rate of sugar loss.

Summer fruits are at their best in July, with mountains of berries and stone fruits just begging to be used. With the wonderful weather to begin the month, the English strawberries are ripening under the warm sunshine and the first raspberries are appearing with their succulent combination of acidity and sweetness. This is the time to use these berry fruits, for jam-making, baking, fruit salads or just enjoying them one berry at a time straight from the bush if you should be so lucky. July is probably the best month for making jams and preserves. The cheapest way to buy, which is important for jam makers, is by going to a 'Pick Your Own Farm', or if you don't have one in your area, is to find a farmer's market, where the quality will be good and the prices reasonable.

Cherries, peaches and nectarines should also be making a good showing this month, but choose these fruit carefully as they are picked while under-ripe to help them withstand the long journey they make to grace the shelves of our stores. sometimes they don't ripen; a trick to get them to ripen is to store them in the fridge in a paper bag. Some supermarkets sell ripe-picked stone fruit at a premium price; they may deserve the premium, but sometimes not. Less than perfect fruit can be used for puddings and preserves.

Of the fruit that is available in July, apart from our own previously mentioned berries and stone-fruit, much of the best fruit comes from more southerly climes. Melons are in good supply, succulent and sweet, making them suitable for fruit salads and for serving with cold meats, hams and spicy sausages.

A fruit that is available most of the year, but at it's best in summer is the mango, which come from Pakistan and India. If you are lucky enough to live near an Asian food store, they may have boxes of this delicious fruit from a source of their own at a more reasonable price than you may find in your local supermarket.

Summer Fruit Charlotte

Chill out this summer with this cool light dessert;

it needs time to set but is definitely worth the wait.

Ingredients:
100g caster sugar
250g strawberries, sliced
175g raspberries
1 pack sponge fingers
2 sheets gelatine
500g Greek yoghurt
2ml vanilla extract
a few extra berries for garnish

Method:
Place 75g of sugar in a small pan with 100ml water. Heat gently, stirring until dissolved. Add the strawberries and raspberries to the pan. Take off the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Strain into a shallow dish, reserving the fruit.

Dip the sponge fingers one by one into the syrup and use to line the base and sides of a 1 litre pudding basin, cutting the sponges to fit. In another pan, soak the gelatine in about 50ml cold water for about 5 minutes until soft, then warm gently until melted.

Place the yoghurt in a bowl with the vanilla extract and the remaining sugar, then beat in the melted gelatine. Place half this mixture in the basin, add the reserved fruit, cover with the rest of the yoghurt mixture and top with any left over sponge fingers. Drizzle any remaining syrup around the edges and chill for 4 hours.

To serve, invert onto a plate, remove the basin and top with some extra berries.

Fruit and Vegetables in June

The abundance of fresh food in June makes cooking a pleasure. This month heralds midsummer, with the longest day and plenty of sunshine. The promise of long summer evenings provides the ideal time for out door living and good eating.

June keeps up the good work that May began with asparagus remaining the star vegetable, with lower prices than May, but with quality every bit as good, if not better. I have noticed that as we approached June, the spears grew fatter and more succulent, all the better for pigging out on! Make the most of them as they don't last for much longer.

Jersey Royals, those gorgeous little spuds, are also still available, but make the most of them this month as they will also be ending their season at the end of this month. I use them often for a quick salad; boiled and covered in herb butter, they are the quintessential accompaniment of a grilled steak or chop on the braai or barbecue.

Broad beans are also continue in their availability; they are likely to be larger than they were in May so skinning them is a good idea. Use them for extra filling and nutritious salads and stews. Summer cabbages are also in their peak season, tender enough for a stir-fry. Cauliflowers are also available now, but are still a little on the pricey side; their price should come down as the month wears on.

New UK vegetables this month include courgettes and mangetouts, which should get steadily more plentiful as the month progresses. Think about using courgettes cooked on the braai, halved lengthwise and brushed with olive oil. You may want to try them in salads too, where they add a lovely nuttiness and crunchy texture. Salads are of course in vogue this month to accompany outdoor living with Baby Gem lettuces, tangy spring onions, crunchy radishes, cucumbers and lots of tomato varieties becoming widely available. Cherry tomatoes make such colourful additions to a green salad and there are also some delightful little berry tomatoes available now, which are no bigger than blueberries and just as tasty as their bigger cousins; give them a try some time.

Junes fruit basket begins its summer bounty this month. Apricots are starting to ripen, getting the orange hue that indicates good texture and flavour. Gooseberries are also coming along nicely with the best of this fruit arriving in about the middle of the month, but this year looks to be coming sooner because of the unseasonable warm spring. Among imports from the continent should be melons from Spain, including honeydew and cantaloupe, and peaches from Italy. Cherries are another June speciality, with the first supplies coming from Europe, to be followed later in the month by good fruit from British orchards. Raspberries also make a showing at the beginning of this month, along with red and black currants.

But the star among fruit this month, of course, is the strawberry. It is the quintessential summer fruit, forever associated with the Wimbledon tennis season. How could we ever do without strawberries and champers in this season of sunshine!

In recent years a lot of investment in money and time has been made in trying to find varieties that extend the season of this fruit. Some of the modern varieties have been developed to show resistance to disease and for long shelf life, sadly sacrificing flavour. Varieties have been created to look good, but as with any fruit, the proof is in the tasting. With the season progressing as fast as it does, the same variety can taste sharp one week and gloriously sweet the next.

There are three critical elements when it comes to proper strawberries with the perfect balance of sweet and sharp. The first and most important is the variety. It is rare to find a large variety, like for instance an Elsanta, that thrills; big it might be but size counts for very little. The small strawberries like the Mara des Bois, on the other hand, nearly always bursts with stunning flavour, is richly scented and totally bursting with the tang that a strawberry is supposed to possess.

The second critical element is freshness. The shorter the time from plant to plate, the better the strawberry tastes. Time, even in relatively small doses, takes its toll. Only a couple of days away from the plant the fruit already become dull, the goodness dissipates and they all taste mediocre. In practice this means growing your own is best; if you can't do that then pick your own at an open farm or at least buy from a farm shop or farmers market where you can be assured that the fruit has been picked that very same day, or at most, the previous day. It's up to you how quickly you can eat them.

The third element is the right degree of sunshine - plenty of sunshine but not overly hot - as the berries redden to plump ripeness. A little rain is fine, but too much moisture swells the berries to an ungainly, watery mass, diluting the taste and encouraging the berries to rot.

Since there is little we can do about the weather, it makes sense to concentrate on flavour and freshness. As with all the best fruit, the trick to always enjoying good strawberries through the season is to choose the varieties that are at their peak as they ripen through the season.

Look for strawberries that are red from crown to tip, and as always, rely on taste rather than looks alone. Remember, even a strawberry that is a little sharp can be improved with a little sugar.

Fruit and Vegetables in May

As summer approaches, long warm days tempt us outdoors for braais, barbecues and picnics. May is a good month for veggie-lover. It's the first month to provide new and welcome produce for the year. There are two undisputed May champions: asparagus and new potatoes, particularly Jersey Royals. Both asparagus and new potatoes, which rank among the worlds great delicacies, may be expensive early in the season, but they are worth every penny for their unique flavour. Later in the month as they become more abundant their price comes down.

Asparagus should be bought, if possible, from a good supplier on the day of picking and eaten on the same day for the best results. Their hard, bright spears lose some of their lustre after even a day in the fridge. If you do buy more than you can eat in one day, keep them loosely wrapped in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. any less than perfect asparagus can be used in things like soups. pies and risottos.

When buying asparagus - or 'sparrow grass' as it was originally called - look closely at the individual spears and squeeze them if you can; they should be rock hard, like any good vegetable, with no sign of wrinkles, and a spear, when held by the end and shaken, should not be flexible enough to bend. The root-ends may be white, where sunlight was kept from them as they were hidden in the soil, but if there is too much white you will loose too much when trimming. The green tops of the spears should be really green, with no hints of the yellow or brown that indicates they are less than fresh. When you get the asparagus home, wash it well to remove any sand or grit that may still be attached to it.

Jersey Royals have a creamy texture and complex flavour that are have no equal and range in size from barely more then an olive to larger than an egg. Squeeze them between thumb and forefinger to check for freshness; if they dent at all, they are far from fresh, but don't be alarmed if the skin appears to be falling off; this is normal for this type of potato. Prepare them by washing only; they do not need to be peeled as the skins have flavour and nutrients. If they are gritty, soak them in warm water to clean them. Boil them whole or slice and saute them for delicious hot accompaniments to a main course or for cold salads.

While new potatoes and asparagus are the stars of May, it is also a good month for a lot of other vegetables as it's the beginning of summer where dining is concerned. Look out for the first sweet and tender broad beans that will be appearing now; it's worth the extra work to shell and skin them before serving, but the small fresh baby broad beans may not even need to be skinned.

Other interesting vegetables this month include spring greens, cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli, and towards the end of the month the first of the British grown garden peas should appear. Peas should be eaten as soon after picking as possible as their sweetness and succulence begin to wain soon after picking, so don't be persuaded to buy the Spanish imports: they have come so far and it may be days since they were picked before they grace your table. Coming into the stores should be baby leeks, which are great for steaming or stir-frying. British baby spinach will also become available this month, ideal for salads as well as cooking. Watercress will also be available to add crunch to salads and stir-frys. Spring cabbage varieties, will also be gracing the shelves this month. Radishes will begin to appear to grace your salads with bite and heat.

Apart from rhubarb, most fruits available this month are imported. May is a good month for mangoes and pineapples as well as the ubiquitous banana.

Fruit and Vegetables in April

April heralds the blossom of spring. With the daffodils in full bloom, buds bursting on the trees and the days growing longer, it makes for an exciting month of change with longings for the outdoors, alfresco meals and the first braai or barbecue of the year.

Where vegetables are concerned, nothing much changes from the supply situation of March: Broccoli, including the purple sprouting variety, carrots, leeks, new potatoes and sweet potatoes are regularly available. Cauliflower may be available and English spinach will become available as the month progresses. Another vegetable that appears now is Asparagus, but not the local variety, which is only available in May. Imported varieties of asparagus may be available from as far afield as Peru, but the one to look out for is the superior quality Spanish asparagus, which are invariable available from early April. Good courgettes and chicory are also available now, both great components of salads. Another salad vegetable not to be forgotten this month is delicious watercress, which can also be used in cooked dishes.

A dark green leaf with a distinctive peppery, pungent flavour, watercress is an incredibly versatile and healthy vegetable, which can be included in recipes instead of spinach. Look for dark, green leaves and avoid any that are wilting or yellowing. Often eaten raw in salads, watercress can also be cooked. It takes very little cooking and is often used in soups and sauces, in cheese or egg dishes, or served with fish, such as salmon, or as a filler in pies and tarts.

Fruit supplies in April are dominated by imports. Oranges are past their best, although still available, but other citrus fruits are good, for instance you may be able to use grapefruit in place of oranges for some recipes. Lemons and Limes are also still available.

The main UK fruit of the month, although not truly a fruit, but considered as such, is the first of the outdoor rhubarb, which makes a great accompaniment with apple in crumbles and sweet pastries.

Fruit and Vegetables in March

A lean month, often wild and windy, March should herald the approach of spring with its promise of good things to come.

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March, so the saying goes, comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. The weather may not always bear this out, but the vegetable markets usually do: this is the in-between month, too late for many of winter’s glorious root vegetables and brassicas, too early for the fresh, cheering arrivals of spring. It’s often a case of making do if you’re a stickler for home-grown produce, or of relying on imported produce. There may still be good root vegetables around, though you should check carefully for signs of softness that can indicate a spongy, watery interior; parsnips in particular may be good. Potatoes, of course, should be fine whether from the UK or abroad; new potatoes from Cyprus are especially good choices now.

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Curly kale, a member of the cabbage family, is a good choice among greens, as are broccoli imports from Spain. At the beginning of the month, spinach is likely to come from overseas, but UK crops will start appearing as March heads towards April. In the absence of a wide vegetable choice, don’t forget the humble onion – tasty small new crops should be coming into the market, and enliven just about any dish. Bake or braise them on their own, or use them in dishes like Caramelised Onion and Feta Tart or Onion Soup. Finally, take advantage of the wonderful leek, which is one of the months few vegetable stars.

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Leeks are a member of the allium family, which also includes onions and garlic, but they have far less smelly qualities that may cause a tricky situation for people who worry about what their breath smells like after eating. Most leeks sold in March are grown in the UK, though you might find some imports from France, especially the ‘baby’ leeks, which are hardly worth the price they command. As the home-grown leeks get to the end of their season, which they do in March, they can be so large that the core becomes tough and woody, making them inedible. Those that still stand up to cooking will probably have an unusually strong flavour. Look out for small to medium specimens without too much of the green tops as these are best in March. The green tops are not suitable for eating, but make good ingredients for soups, stews and stocks.

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Leeks have a reputation for being difficult to clean. Some recipes may suggest removing the green tops and cutting a slit down the centre of the leek before running water into the separate layers, but most leeks come into the market today free of grit in the edible white sections and can be cleaned just by cutting off the green part. Small leeks can be successfully grilled or stir-fried, but generally speaking they are better cooked in a moist environment – steaming, poaching, braising or cooking in a casserole or stew – as well as using them in stocks and soups.

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For fruit, there’s essentially nothing but imports to rely on. Oranges from Morocco remain a good buy as do exotic travellers from the southern hemisphere such as mangoes, passion fruit, and pawpaw or papaya. Grapes are another good bet, especially the green South African varieties, which are available in March. And don’t forget about the end of the season’s forced rhubarb.

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Fruit and Vegetables in February

This is the shortest month of the year, but the soil is beginning to wake up, bringing the promise of a welcome variety of vegetables to the new season. This said, where fruit is concerned, February is best for imports like apples, grapes and lychees from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The other star of the month is oranges, increasingly from Morocco, rather than Spain. Moroccan navel oranges can be almost as good as their northern counterparts, even if somewhat smaller, but are sweet with flesh that makes them perfect for eating as a sweet snack and for using in salads.

This is also the month to make marmalade. Seville oranges are around just briefly and should be grabbed when you see them. They are undoubtedly the best to use for marmalade. Satsumas and clementines are not as good as in January as they tail off in quality as the month wears on.

Among home grown fruit, forced rhubarb is coming into season and should be grabbed when you see it; used not just for fools and crumbles but also for jams, cakes, pies, tarts and muffins, and for the bases of sauces to go with game and fish.

February looks much like January where vegetables are concerned. Any type of cabbage continues to be a good buy. Root vegetables also maintain their quality, with parsnips being particularly good this month. Carrots and onions are mainstays for soups and stews, as well as leeks and potatoes. If you can find it, Swiss chard is a wonderful vegetable with a flavour similar to but even better than spinach. Although most people think that you can only use the leaf, which is steamed or wilted just like spinach, but the stems make a great vegetable served on their own, but require more cooking than the leaves. Use the stems for a great tempura or crunchy salad.

February also sees the arrival of beans, mange tout, peas, celery, new potatoes and vine tomatoes from the Mediterranean. Salads may not be at their best, but these imports can be used for great stir-fries, and to see us through the winter, excellent broccoli will be coming from Spain.

Fruit and Vegetables in January

After the excesses of the holiday season, January in the UK is a quiet month in the kitchen; most families are reeling financially after splurging at Christmas and the kitchen cupboards are a bit bare. However, as the winter gets colder, it’s now that warming foods are needed - spicy foods to give a warm glow to the tummy.

Even if you are a bit skint after the festive season, if you know what to buy and where to get a bargain, the post-Christmas slow period is one of the best months of the year for shopping and cooking, especially if you are a citrus lover, since oranges simply don’t get any better than navel oranges from Spain and clementines and satsumas follow close behind and may even surpass their larger relations in sweetness and flavour. Kumquats are more of an acquired taste, but if you like them as much as I do, this is the best month to buy them. Any fruit from the southern hemisphere is likely to be good, since the depth of our winter is the height of their summer and the harvest is coming in down there. Big juicy grapes and apples from South Africa should be in top condition, as well as fruit like bananas and lychees. Fresh cranberries will also still be available after the Christmas festivities; I like to buy and freeze them for use in cooking and baking. Also look out for dried fruits such as dates and prunes; dried in the autumn, they should now be at their most tender.

While foreign produce dominates the fruit shelves, natives dominate the vegetables. Root vegetables began their season in the autumn, but they are at their best now and should be taken full advantage of for baking, roasting, mashing, soup and stews. Parsnips, turnips, swede, sweet potatoes, celeriac and carrots; these are all highly versatile, most of which can be used as alternatives for potatoes, or additives to mash potato. These vegetables take particularly well to a small but lively addition of something sharp, such as citrus, vinegar or mustard, or piquant such as spices or chillies. Celeriac, with its incredible sweet, nutty taste, a little like celery, may be the least known of these vegetables and certainly deserves a wider following.

The other great vegetable stars of the month include cabbages and their close relation, the Brussels sprout. These cruciferous vegetables are not just one of the best choices of the month, but are certainly among the cheapest. Tightly packed white and red cabbages are top choices for coleslaw or other salads, but the deep green Savoy is generally regarded as best if it’s going to be boiled, steamed or braised. Savoy has a somewhat shorter shelf life than white and red cabbage, both of which can be stored without refrigeration for a week or more. Their quality maintaining ability makes these good standby items when there are no other vegetables in the house.

Mother-in-law's Christmas Fruit Mincemeat

My Mother-in-law uses a different fruit mince for Christmas pies than I do,

so I nicked her recipe.

This recipe needs to be made up about a week before it is needed.

Ingredients:
500g raisins
500g saltanas
250g currants
250g butter
1ml nutmeg
375g brown sugar
150ml brandy
zest and juice of 1/2 orange
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
500g grated apples
15ml mixed spice

Method:
Mince all the fruit. Add all the other ingredients and mix well.
Place in a large sterilised jar and stir ecvery day for a week.

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Christmas Mince Pies

Christmas mince pies are sweet fruit pies traditionally served in the Christmas season.

The recipe can be traced back to the 13th century

when the Crusaders returned from the holy land,

bringing with them the idea for a dish sized pie containing

mincemeats, fruit, suet and spices, such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

The pies were originally associated with

the offerings of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

brought to the Christ child by the three kings from the east in the Christmas story.

The pies were oblong, representing the manger in which the Christ child lay.

Even though the pies were banned in puritanical times,

they were brought back in Victorian times

as the small, sweet pies with suet, fruit and spices

that we know today -

no longer containing any mincemeat at all.

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Ingredients:
Pastry:
125g butter
125ml caster sugar
1 egg
5ml vanilla extract
500ml flour
7.5ml baking powder
Christmas fruit mince, which can be bought in the supermarket or homemade.
icing sugar to dust before serving

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Christmas Fruit Mince:

Although my source recipe for Christmas Mincemeat suggested that this should be made about a month in advance and should not be kept for longer than 6 weeks, I usually make this up as much as a year or more in advance.

The longer it is kept, the more mature and boosie it is.

The traditional recipe contains currants, which I find a little to potent,

so I use blueberries or dried cranberries instead.

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250g cooking apples, peeled and cored

250g blueberries or dried cranberries, or a mix of both

250g raisins

250g sultanas

250g prunes

250g dried apricots

125g glace cherries

125g chopped mixed peel

125g chopped walnuts, hazel nuts, Brazil nuts or a mix of all three

250g suet, minced

500g Muscovado sugar

10ml mixed spice

125ml brandy or rum

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Method:

Clean and mince the dried fruit.

Mix in a large bowl with the nuts and the chopped apples.

Fold in the suet, sugar and spice.

Add the brandy or rum and mix into the fruit. Make sure the liquor is enough to cover all the fruit.

Cover the bowl with cling film and leave for 48 hours to allow the fruit to absorb the liquor and swell.

Stir well and store in sterilised jars. Seal well and put away until required for the pies.

Method:
Pies:
Cream the butter and the sugar until it takes on a creamy smoothness.
Add the egg and vanilla extract; beat well.
Fold in the flour and baking powder, a little at a time to make a stiff dough.
Form the dough, which will have quite a sticky constituency, into a ball and transfer it to a flowered board to knead.
Knead the dough until it takes on a more firm constituency.
Cover in cling film and place in the fridge to firm up for about half an hour to an hour.
Prepare a 12 holed tart baking tray but buttering it and dusting with flour.
Roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut out circles of dough with a biscuit cutter. Fill the depressions in the tray with the circles of pastry.
Put about a teaspoonful of fruit mince in each tart and cover each with a smaller circle of pastry than the bases or with a star of pastry. The tarts do not have to be sealed if you use the star shape.
Bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes or until the pastry starts to take on a bit of colour.
Transfer the pies to a wire rack to cool.
These can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container.
Before serving, warm them up by putting them in the oven again for 5-8 minutes.
To serve, dust them with a little icing sugar.