Afternoon delight: the recipes

Entertaining | 8 Nov 2011

From left: honey and mustard baked ham and beetroot salad

Honey and mustard baked ham

Serves 10-15

Ingredients: 2-3 kg unsmoked gammon joint (soaked overnight in cold water), 1 large onion, quartered, 1 large carrot, halved lengthways, 8 black peppercorns, 3 bay leaves, 2 star anise, 30 cloves, 3tbs English mustard, 4tbs honey

Method: Place the soaked ham in a large pot with the onion, carrot, peppercorns, bay leaves, star anise and six of the cloves, and cover with fresh cold water. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat, and simmer for 20 mins per 450g. Skim the surface of froth occasionally. Once cooked, remove the ham from the stock and allow to cool for 10 mins. Carefully peel away the skin, leaving a layer of fat. Score the surface in a diamond pattern, and stud each diamond with a clove. Place the ham in a roasting tin. Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Combine the honey and mustard and spread generously over the ham. Bake for 30-45 mins, basting occasionally, until the surface is well browned and caramelised. Serve hot or cold.

Beetroot salad

Serves 4

Ingredients: 300g cooked beetroot, 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped, 2tbs lemon juice, 5tbs crème fraiche, 1tbs fresh dill, chopped, salt and black pepper

Method: Peel and dice the beetroot and place in a bowl with the onion, lemon juice, crème fraiche and dill. Mix to combine thoroughly and season to taste with salt and pepper.

For this month’s Entertaining Issue (W*153), we laid the table with some tantalising teatime titbits. In a bold, David Hicks-inspired setting, we served up everything from Welsh rarebit to chocolate cherry cake. Here we reveal the recipes.

Chocolate cherry cake

Serves 16

Ingredients: 300ml cherry beer (or any dark beer if cherry is unavailable), 300g soft brown sugar, 250g unsalted butter, 250g plain flour, 100g cocoa powder, 1tsp baking powder, 1 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1/4tsp salt, 3 eggs, 100ml sour cream, 100g glacé cherries

Method: Line a 20-25cm springform tin with baking parchment (If you prefer to use a 2.4 litres Bundt tin, brush the inside with melted butter). Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Pour the beer into a medium sized saucepan with the sugar and butter and place over a low heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved. Remove from the heat. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarbonate and salt, and set aside.

Take a large bowl, crack in the eggs and whisk together with the sour cream. Whisk the beer mixture into this, add the sifted dry ingredients and then the cherries. Beat until thoroughly combined and pour into your prepared tin (the mixture will be fairly liquid). Bake for 45 mins to 1 hour, until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the tin before inverting carefully onto a serving plate

Crumpets

Makes 8-10

Ingredients: 250g plain flour, 1/2tsp salt, 1tsp sugar, 7g dry yeast, 175ml water, 175ml milk, vegetable oil for cooking

Method: Place the flour in a large bowl with the salt, sugar and the yeast and stir to combine. Heat the water and the milk together over low heat until they are just warm and pour into the flour. Mix well together to a batter with the consistency of single cream. Cover and leave for an hour until the batter has a light, bubbly texture.

Brush a non-stick pan and some cooking rings with oil. Place the rings in the pan to heat, over a medium flame. Stir the batter, and spoon into the rings, to about halfway up the sides. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the crumpet has set and the surface is full of holes. Carefully remove the crumpets from the rings, turn them and cook for a minute or two more, so that both sides are golden. Continue to cook all the batter, re-oiling the pan and rings for each batch. Serve warm with butter and jam, honey, or anchovy relish.

Battenberg cake

Serves 8-10

Ingredients: 175g plain flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4tsp salt, 175g softened butter, 175g caster sugar, 1tsp vanilla extract, 3 eggs, 1tsp red food colouring, 6tbs apricot jam, 350g marzipan, icing sugar for the marzipan

Method: Prepare a 20x20cm cake tin. Cut a 20x30cm piece of baking parchment, fold in half, and make a pleat in the middle, approximately 5cm tall, in order to divide the tin exactly in half. Line the base of the cake tin with the parchment. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Place the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat together until soft and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, adding a tablespoon of the reserved flour with each egg, to prevent curdling. Beat in the remaining flour in two stages. Weigh the batter, remove exactly half, and spoon it into one side of the tin. Add the colouring to the remaining batter, beat in thoroughly, and spoon into the other side. Smooth down the surface. Place in the oven for about 25-35 mins, until well risen and firm. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then run a knife around the sides and turn onto a wire tray to cool completely. Place one sponge on top of the other and trim the browned edges so both sponges are the same size. Cut in half lengthways, to make four long rectangles.

Warm the apricot jam and brush onto the long side of one of the sponges. Stick this to another sponge in the contrasting colour. Continue to assemble the cake in this way. Sprinkle a board with icing sugar and roll out the marzipan to a 20x40cm rectangle. Brush the long sides of the cake lightly with jam and place on top of the marzipan. Wrap the cake in the marzipan, leaving the ends exposed, and turn the cake so it sits on top of the marzipan seam. Trim the ends.

Welsh rarebit

Serves 4

Ingredients: 50g butter, 50g plain flour, 250ml Guinness or strong beer, 250g grated mature cheddar, 2tsp English mustard, 2tbs Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, 4 thick slices of bread

Method: Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Gradually stir in the Guinness, to make a smooth, thick sauce. Add the cheese, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce, and stir until well combined and the cheese has melted. Season with black pepper and remove from the heat. Toast the bread on both sides. Arrange on the grill tray and spoon over the cheese mixture. Cook under a hot grill until brown and bubbling.

Devilled eggs with crab

Ingredients: 8 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled, 3tbs mayonnaise, 1tsp Dijon mustard, 3tsp fresh lemon juice, 3-4 splashes Tabasco, 150g white crabmeat, flaked with a fork, 1tbs fresh chives, finely snipped, salt and black pepper, cayenne pepper, to serve

Method: Cut the eggs in half lengthways and place the yolks in a bowl. Mash the yolks with a fork and add the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice and Tabasco. Mix well. Add the crabmeat and the chives and combine thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon or pipe the yolk mixture back into the white halves. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper and serve.

Shortbread

Makes 12

Ingredients: 190g plain flour, 60g rice flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 180g butter, softened, 80g caster sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method: Line a 20x20cm baking tin with baking parchment. Sift together the plain and rice flours, and the salt, and set aside. Beat the butter with the sugar and vanilla until well combined, then add the flour and mix until you have a stiff dough. Press the dough into the tin evenly. Cut into 12 fingers and prick all over with a fork. Leave to rest in the fridge for 30 mins. Preheat the oven to 160ºC and bake the shortbread for 45 mins to 1 hour, or until light golden. Allow to cool in the tin. Re-cut the lines between the shortbread fingers while still warm.

Afternoon delight: the recipes

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