Raspberry Swirl Fairy Cakes

Yes, I know most people now refer to this size of cake as a cupcake but I don't really like the name. They often used to be called buns too but that sounds more like a bread roll. 

Anyway, fussiness aside, these little cakes are just yumptious. 

It starts with the creaming method, with the basic sponge recipe. 

6oz Self-raising flour
6oz unsalted butter
6oz caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 pack frozen raspberries, defrosted and minus the juice

Topping:
100g white chocolate (from a bar or chips)
50ml natural yoghurt

Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and light. If your butter is too hard, pop it into the microwave in blasts of 5 seconds at a time until it's easy to beat.

Sieve in the flour and egg gradually, together. I find this better than doing the egg and then folding in the flour. It means you don't get any lumps and you keep the air in all the way through the mixing. I usually do it in about 3 or 4 goes, beating well in between and ending with a good beating until there are lots of nice big air bubbles. 

Add the raspberries and just fold in gently. Don't try to get them thoroughly mixed in as you'll ruin your fluffy mixture, and break the raspberries up too much. It's nice having big pieces of fruit in a mouthful.

Spoon the mixture gently into paper or silicone cases, on a baking tray, and bake at 180CFan for 10-12 minutes.

Allow to cool and either eat as they are or add the topping, which everyone seems to love. It's very quick and easy to whip up.

In a small bowl, break up the white chocolate and melt in the microwave in short blasts of about 10 seconds at a time. When melted, stir well and add the yoghurt. Mix well til even in texture. It's easiest to put on the cakes after it's cooled for about 20 minutes, as it thickens.  It firms up to be a nice thick topping, cooling at room temperature. Add sprinkles if you wish, or a few extra chocolate chips. I happened to have some popping candy in the cupboard which was a bit of fun. 

Cakey Catering

A close friend recently organised a special event in a local primary school, inviting teachers from all over Devon and Somerset to come along and be inspired to teach bible stories creatively to school children. Claire has been exploring this area for the past year, running a bible story club within a school in cooperation with a local Vicar. She's been busy gathering resources and ideas to share with others and pulled together this event to showcase it all. 

She wanted to provide plenty of cake, tea and coffee on the day and asked me to cater. My first paid catering job! I didn't even go looking for it, so it was rather fun that it found me. 

The event was on a Monday so I spent the day before baking away, preparing lots of cakes and cookies and even some fruit salad as a healthy option. 

I made Nigel Slater's Black Banana and Chocolate Chip Loaf, which is a favourite with Andy and I, and one person who ate a slice said it was the nicest cake she had ever tasted! All credit to Nigel for making such a scrumptious recipe for us all to replicate. If you'd like to try it yourself, click here. We leave out the hazelnuts because we don't like nuts in cakes. I also didn't have any chocolate chips (or rather I'd forgotten that they now live in a pretty jar), so I used a big block of dark chocolate instead, chopped well. 

I also whipped up a quick batch of little plain scones on the day to make into Cream Teas, and a huge quantity of Oatie Crunchies, a favourite family biscuit recipe that I've adapted and am saving for my recipe book.

Then I did some plain little fairy cakes with some defrosted frozen raspberries stirred in, with a yoghurt and white chocolate topping, oh, plus popping candy just because! I love these little cakes. They are so delicious and moist. I believe them to be perfect as the are, without any icing but felt I should make an effort.

Everyone else I know has said the topping makes it go from really good to amazing, so I will share the complete recipe despite my own opinion! Even my Mum and Andy who really don't like sweet icing ate it all up while I scraped mine off. One friend even took my discarded icing to add to hers! 


Then, although I really had enough cakes by now I felt like doing something a bit different to use up some defrosted bags of mixed berries that I had. The day before Andy and I had volunteered to help at our church's stall at a school fete. We hold our church meetings in a primary school and set up a special Smoothie Station serving a selection of freshly made smoothies. There were quite a few bags of ingredients left over so we were encouraged to bring a load home. 



I mixed up a batch of standard cake batter (6oz each of s.r flour, caster sugar and butter, plus 3 eggs, creaming method.) But I left out nearly 2oz of the flour to allow for adding a lot of cocoa, (it was 1 and 3/4 oz of cocoa.) It made quite a sloppy mixture which I then added the mixed fruit to. It was one bag of mixed fruit, defrosted and minus the juice and the strawberries. I don't really like strawberries in cakes unless they are fresh. I folded the berries in gently then divided the mixture evenly between two greased square sandwich tins (cm) and baked them at 180C for about 15-20 mins until the skewer came out clean. When cooled, I spread a layer of raspberry jam in the middle and it was served on the day with squirty cream. It's a deep, cocoaey cake with the added sharpness of the berries, and although it's yummy as it is, a little cream lifts it. It's not actually very rich, and it's delectably soft and moist. 

I've posted separately about the exact recipe for the Raspberry Swirl Fairy Cakes here. 

My wonderful Andy accompanied me on the day, and the extra pair of hands was much appreciated in keeping teapots and cafetieres all topped up, especially as the hot water urn wasn't in the same room as the serving hatch. 



Everyone seemed really chuffed to be given mountains of treats and proper nice cuppas and it was a real delight to serve them all. 

Love Susie 

Yumminess in Kingsbridge.

A dear friend has just moved to Devon, which is really delightful. 

She's now in Kingsbridge, which is even more delightful because it's only an hour away from me, and the town is on the Estuary, and full of wonderful gift shops, cafes, bakeries and delis. 

I visited for the day yesterday and we walked from their new house, with 6 month old baby Isaac in a sling, down the High st.

We were aiming for a particular cafe at the bottom, but wandering down the street took us ages as we wanted to spend so long exploring, popping into each lovely emporium that took our fancy.

The first was Mangetout, a really gorgeous Delicatessen and cafe. I've had cuppas here a few years ago with Andy's Grandma, so it was lovely to peruse their tasty treats for a while. 

I couldn't resist this beautiful packet of pasta. The colour and the design is so gorgeous. It may not be opened for a very long time, if ever! 



We also spent a little while admiring the pies and quiches in the window. I wish I'd bought a whole pile of them, they looked so good. 






We spotted these sweet little Shortbread delights, which were 50p each, and I bought us one each as they looked so enticing. They were filled with a soft vanilla cream and topped with nuts, and tasted like a really special custard cream. 

We nibbled them as we mooched down the street and they helped sustain us until our late lunch. 




There were all sorts of bakeries which we looked in but didn't enter, but I'll have to revisit them soon as I actually tasted some of their wares at Andy's Grandma's house later that afternoon. She lives in the next village and I popped in to say hello on the way home. She provided a very pretty platter of daisy-shapped soft shortbread with a cherry in the centre and some slices of soft lemon drizzle cake. She'd been out that morning to Kingsbridge to select some locally baked treats. Good Old Kingsbridge. If I was looking for a town to relocate to, this would be high on my list! 

The Greengrocer's even sold fresh herbs by the sprig! I bought a couple of kilos of apricots as they were at a decent price, and made jam the next day. 

I wish I could share photos of the lovely Cafe we ate at, but my phone had run out of power by then. But here they are if you'd like to try them out. It's called the Harbour House Cafe, and it's just gorgeous. You go all the way upstairs to a light and airy room and all the way down some outdoors steps if you want to eat outside in their lovely courtyard garden. I had a simple roll for my lunch but it was delectable. A homemade granary roll, warmed and crisp on the outside, with a filling of diced avocado, cucumber and tomato. It was so delicious, I went and bought myself some avocados from the local market across the road. Becky had a gorgeously craggy cheese and leek scone and a wonderful, huge piece of brownie and I've logged it as a place to go to again. They even did a Flat White, so Andy would be chuffed. 

Tangy Pink Plum Jam

Today we popped into our local farm shop to buy some raspberries and strawberries to enjoy eating in the garden, and I saw some lovely magenta plums that made me want to make jam.

I haven't made any jam yet this year and the urge suddenly took me. It's like this with greengrocers; I see lovely produce and want to make loads of stuff we don't really need. I love jam but don't eat a lot of it, so it's a great thing to make and squirrel away for present giving.

Currently though, I'm stockpiling preserves for a couple of events this Autumn. One is the Avonwick and North Huish Apple Fair, which Andy's parents help to run in their village each year. And the other is Devon Open Studios, as I will be opening my house to visitors for a couple of weeks and showing off my drawings and workspace. I will be serving cuppas and tasty snacks, and thought it might help with the costs of the fees if I sell a little home produce alongside it. 

I thought I should also start raising some funds to help with my dream of making a real book with my many many recipes for A Bouquet of Wooden Spoons a reality. I don't yet know how or when that is going to happen, but it's the end goal so saving some pennies for printing might be the best idea. If you'd like to buy a jar of this lovely Plum Jam they are £2.20 each, so let me know!


1kg plums
600g sugar
1 mug water


This recipe is for a really nice tangy jam. I don't like jam to be too sweet so I tend to use less sugar than many recipes. A lot of jams are equal parts fruit to sugar, so I leave at least a quarter out. This time. I left out more than a third. 

So, I started by washing and draining the plums, then slicing them into quarters so I could twist out the stones. I didn't use the stones at all as there is so much pectin in the skins of plums to help the jam set without them. If you are using really ripe fruit you might need the juice of a lemon to help reach setting point, but these were all under ripe, except for two riper ones I kept back to chomp on. 

Once all the fruit is in the pan, set it on a medium heat with a good splosh of water to stop the fruit sticking; about a mug full. Keep an eye on the plums and stir regularly. Simmer away until the fruit is soft and pulpy. Use a potato masher to help break up any large lumps. 



Add all the sugar and stir well on a low heat until fully dissolved. Turn the heat right up and bring to a rapid boil. Keep a close watch and stir very frequently, as plums really want to stick, and you don't want black bits in your pretty pink jam. 

After about ten minutes, when it's looking syrupy and possibly ready, do a plate test. Dribble a little of the hot liquid onto a plate and wait for a couple of minutes before pushing your finger across the surface. If there is any wrinkling, you know the jam will be able to set. 


Remove the pan from the heat and ladle into sterilised jars. Enjoy!

 

BWS Recipe: Chorizo and Chicken Pasta

This is an immensely delicious and very simple meal that I started cooking a few years ago, as a quick dinner when we were both getting home from work late, tired and ravenous.  We originally had it with just Chorizo but added the chicken as a treat one day and find it to be a worthy enhancement. 

When I fell in love with Chorizo and began to cook with it regularly,  I realised that it gives off a lot of fat when fried so I started to put chopped onions in with it to cook simultaneously, as they need a generous amount of oil to become soft and juicy. The onion and Chorizo marriage really makes this dish, in my opinion, giving a moist and flavoursome base to coat the pasta in, meaning no need for a sauce. It's just yummy.

It's quick to prepare and cook, and pretty healthy, really. There's no added oil. The seasoning all comes from the Chorizo too, perfectly salted and peppered.

Serves 2
Prep Time: About 5 minutes
Cooking Time: About 15 minutes. 

Ingredients

2 Medium Onions, halved and sliced. 75-100g Chorizo150g Spirali Pasta (or your choice)2 Chicken Breasts, diced
2 tbsp Garlic PureeFresh Veg (a handful each of baby sweetcorn, mange tout, brocoli)

Method

Peel and halve two medium onions from top to bottom. Slice thinly into semi-circles. These will separate out as you cook them. 


Cut the chorizo in half lenthways then slice across it, about the thickeness of a pound coin, into half-moons. This size means you can fork it in to your mouth without cutting up anything on your plate, and get a decent spread of chorizo through the dish. Quarter moons would also work well, but not too thin. 

Heat a large, deep frying pan on  a high heat with no oil. When hot, tip in all the onion and chorizo together and stir well. Turn the heat down to medium, and stir regular. The oils will be released from the chorizo to coat the onion and keep it from sticking or singeing. Add the chicken and allow to brown before stirring it. Cook gently for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is gently browned and very soft. Don't allow it to dry out, turn the heat lower if it's toasting it too much. 

Cook your pasta and add any fresh veg you would like - baby sweetcorn, mange tout or broccoli all work well. If you want to be able to just fork mouthfuls in, cut up your veg into bitesize pieces. Add them a few minutes before your pasta is finished cooking and drain well. 

Stir in the garlic puree to the frying pan and stir well.  
Tip the pasta and veg into the frying pan and toss well until fully mixed and the pasta is well coated in the chorizo oil. 

Tip into pasta bowls and enjoy! 

Half Hand-made Bread Rolls.

Using our fairly basic bread machine, we've been baking a nice dumpy little loaf of wholemeal bread every week for the past couple of years or so, for our church homegroup. We meet at Helen and Mike's house and before we pray or worship or bible study, we all sit down together to catch up round the table over a wonderful soup or stew cooked by Helen, with our donation of the bread.

A larger loaf than usual,which
decided to create this excellent
shape. We've had smooth, dumpy
little loaves and hedgehoggish
craggy ones. Always fun to see
what will emerge from the
machine. 

Other than that we don't eat a lot of bread, or use our machine at all. We really wanted to use it to make some dough and then shape it ourselves to bake in our oven. Some bread machines have a dough setting that stops at the dough-shaping stage automatically, but alas, ours does not.

A few weeks ago though, Andy decided he could figure out from the machine's whirrings and silences when it had finished all the mixings and kneadings and was ready to be shaped. So he set a timer and checked it regularly and was able to extract the lovely squidgy dough at just the right moment.

I particularly wanted to make tiny little wholemeal rolls to go with a soup starter for a very small dinner party I was hosting for my best friend's 30th birthday party. 

Rachael, Ally and Jodie enjoying thoop. 

Ally is vegetarian so I had planned a nice little menu that she would love, avoiding her most hated foods; mushrooms, anything sloppy, anything creamy, 'slimy' potatoes, aubergines and actually quite a lot of other quite innocently nice foods. After countless meals I have now cooked for Ally, I have a massive list of no nos to keep her tummy happy. 




Very pleasingly, the dough worked out beautifully. It was lovely to work with and I shaped each little lump into a funny mushroom, pulling the dough smooth and tight across the top and tucking the ends underneath. It proved well, in the gently warmed grill above the oven I was already using. I baked the rolls at 180C for ten minutes and they came out lightly browned, very tearable, cushiony soft inside, with a goldened bottom and hollow tap.


They were so cute, especially as they were just for the starter, with a little bowl of homemade roasted tomato and garlic soup. I finally had a reason to use my tiniest rosebud plates, that are the size of a coaster! 

The rolls worked out so well we decided we would do it again soon, and just a couple of weeks later Andy suggested doing white ones.

One warm Sunday we decided to do a lazy bbq indoors to eat outside. Andy wanted to try making hand-shaped hot-dog rolls and burger baps, so during the afternoon he got the dough started in the machine. 


If you'd like the recipes, the amounts are at the bottom of this post, but the length of times for mixing and heating will differ depending on the make and model of your bread machine. We're not quite sure how long ours does each bit for, so it might be best to just use the recipes that come with your machine. Or you could let it mix for a while with a dough hook in a stand mixer. It's all worth experimenting with. 

This time we baked them at a higher temperature, being bigger rolls, and we wanted a slightly crisper top. They went in at 210C for ten minutes and came out perfectly cooked. 

They tasted so wonderful, really yeasty, just salty enough, and not too sweet. White and fluffy inside, and deeply golden on top. The hot dog rolls were so soft, just perfect for cocooning a great sausage with mayo and tomato chutney. 

The burger baps were ideal for holding everything in; the perfect width for our burgers and yummy packaging for everything that should go into a burger, except we didn't have any lettuce. So we had smoked bacon, melted Vintage cheddar, sliced warm tomatoes, mayo, tomato and onion relish, and of course a first class beef burger.


We're not really fans of seedy tops or floury coatings, so ours were completely plain, but you can add the extras if you feel like it. We're pretty set with these now. Not sure we'll ever be buying burger baps or hot dog rolls again unless we're desperate!

White
(Put the ingredients in in this order, without mixing.)
Makes a medium 750g loaf, about 6-8 large burger baps, 8-10 hot dog rolls or approx 30 tiny rolls.

260g water (same as 260ml if you are measuring instead of weighing.)
4 tsp olive oil
1.5 tsp salt
4 tsp sugar
1.5 tbsp dried milk powder
500g strong white flour
1 and 3/4 tsp dried fast action yeast


For the wholemeal loaf, use exactly the same quantities, just substitute the white four for Stoneground Wholemeal Flour.

South Devon Delights - Valley View Cafe

South Devon holds many delights for food and nature lovers and I have just been enjoying two particular treats this Bank Holiday weekend; South Devon Chilli Farm, which I have blogged about separately here, and Valley View Cafe in Loddiswell.

We first visited the Valley View Cafe during the Mother's Day weekend, back in March, with Andy's lovely Grandma. We needed somewhere nice for lunch between Kingsbridge and Avonwick, and this was ideal, being geographically helpful and also somewhere Doreen had not lunched before, so a bit special and a nice change.

The Cafe is next door to a farm shop of excellent quality, Aune Valley Meats. The site is just outside of Loddiswell, overlooking the river Aune and its surrounding rolling hills and dense woodlands. There's plenty of parking and it's a quiet spot high above the road, with the gorgeous view really enhancing the entire experience of eating there.

The meat is, as you may have summised, sourced through the butchers and all very locally produced. The Cafe itself is run by young couple Amy and Richard, who have created an extremely tasty menu from wonderful produce on their doorstep. They are helped by a number of very warm, friendly and efficient staff who make sure you enjoy your visit, and the food is very quick to arrive.


The light and airy cafe is decorated beautifully in pale creams and greens and fresh whites, with a gently vintage feel without being at all flowery or flouncy. This is not a girly cafe, I promise. 

The Specials board is full of tempting ideas, and the regular menu is a host of reliably pleasing meals, so packed with yumminess you might take a while deciding on which one option to choose. And yes, one is enough, I promise!








I have learned the hard way that choosing a different meal from Andy means I will get food envy of whatever arrives next to me. Nowadays we usually go for the same thing to avoid one of us tyring to nick too much of the other's meal! The first visit we both settled on the Hot Roast Beef Baguette. Now, that, as a name, may not sound that exciting, but we were helped in our decision by a couple who were sitting next to the menu board. Their food arrived just as we were weighing up our shortlist, and I asked what it was they'd ordered as it looked amazing. It definitely helps to see what it looks like before you order! Hot Roast Beef Baguette it was for us that day, and Hot Roast Beef Baguette it was for us this second visit too. As Valley View is not that local to us, I had a yearning for this fantastic feast based on my memory of last time and I couldn't bear to try anything else, although I know it must all be scrummy. I actually opted to not have the bread element, although Andy did, and I went for extra chips because their chips are the best in the world. Not exaggerating. Super crisp, very golden brown, perfectly seasoned, skin on, thicker than a french fry but not as chunky as a chip shop chip. Seriously, best ever.

So, you really have to eat it to fully understand the yumminess, but basically, here it is: These chips, in a cute little metal bucket, on a big board. A halved, hard boiled egg, so orange inside and just a little soft. Sprinkled with paprika, seasoning and some sort of delicious crumb we didn't identify. Leaves dressed in tangy apple juice and balsamic vinegar, slices of soft, tender dark brown beef under melted sheets of Smoked Applewood Cheddar and a sweet red onion marmalade. And a trio of tiny little metal buckets containing a wonderful coleslaw, an amazing lightly spiced paprika mayo and a plain mayo, perfect for chip-dipping.

Every little particle is so jolly good that our boards were clear and empty and we left with cosy grins on our faces. I would have taken more photos of the food, but sorry, I was too busy relishing every mouthful. 

I really hope we get to go again soon. I think it has already become our special eat-out place for a treat, and the question is really, will we ever be able to resist the HRBB long enough to try anything else on their menu? Andy, I will if you will!

South Devon Delights - Chilli Farm

This last weekend we were visiting Andy's parents in South Devon and had been thinking it was about the time of year we should decide what Chillis we'd like to grow this year. Last year was our first foray into the wonderfilled world of Chill growing, afrer an inspiring visit to the South Devon Chilli Farm just a few miles down the road from Loddiswell.

We first visited the Chilli farm last summer and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, spending a couple of hours there, taking it all in.

We took our time admiring the huge array of fruiting plants in the massive display tunnel and asked a passing member of staff a couple of questions about growing peppers. He was very cheery and knowledgeable chap who turned out to be the owner of the farm and he took us into the growing tunnels that aren't open to the public, to show us how they look after their thousands of plants. We got to see the long rows of elevated Chillis, all lined up in special beds with irrigation pipes built into the soil. He talked us through some of their processes and let us try one of the chillis straight from the plant. It was called Cherry Bomb and was one that Andy had shown a particular interest in on their website. I got the wrong end of the stick about which part to nibble and got a pretty fiery mouth as a result. I tried to play it down as Andy and the other chap were calmly enjoying the "mild and flavoursome warmth" of the red flesh. When it emerged that I had bitten straight into the white membrane where most of the heat resides everyone agreed I'd been very restrained, which was some comfort but I really wished I had a bottle of milk to relieve the burning.

We had fun perusing the gift shop which is stocked full of treasures; chilli chocolates, chilli chutneys, jams, oils, sauces, seeds, flakes, fresh chillis in season, gifts and kitchen items. 

We liked the look of some unusual pale yellow, milder chillis called Santa Fe Grande and took some home with us, along with some great tips for a yummy new recipe to try with some goats cheese. We also barbecued some cut in half lengthways, with the seeds and membrane removed and they were pretty special.

There are lots of little tasting stations around the shop and we treated ourselves to this Hot Apple Jelly last time. It's delicious and makes sausages even more amazing than they already are, if that's possible, esp with gravy.

Last year, we dried a lot of the Chillis we harvested and ground some down to make our own chilli flakes and added lots to our cooking. This year we'd like to preserve some in oil and maybe make our own chilli jam.

This time around we visited earlier, in late May, and bought younger plants so that we can enjoy seeing them grow and develop their white starry flowers and young pearly green fruit. We're not experts but we have a book and the advice from the South Devon Chilli Farm behind us.

The plant nursery has so many different Chilli plants for sale, all with a clean bill of health and looking very adorable to any broody chilli grower! This year we spent about ten minutes in total as we were on our way to the nearby Valley View Cafe for lunch. We decided on just one mature plant, a Chenzo, for our hanging basket by our front door. We had one of these last year, a really nice bushy, branching plant, not too tall, and full of fruits that darkened from green to deep black to fiery red.

Then we chose seven assorted baby plants; Demon Red, Twilight, Medusa, Pyramid, Trinidad Scorpian and two Prairie Fire, one of which Andy is going to grow on his windowsill as his little office pet. This one is a smaller, rounder little plant with tiny, pale yellow Chillis that point upwards in little clusters. Cuteness. They are all now potted on and we are going to keep a careful watch over them all in the hopes of lots of varied Chillis to come.

You don't have to spend a lot to enjoy growing your own Chillis, and you can also grow them from seed. The younger the plant the cheaper, so if you're passing soon, pop in and see what's available and have a soothing cuppa while you're at it.
If you have little children, you'll also be glad to know there's a play park.
July is the best time to see the display of Chillis but buying plants is best earlier in the summer, when they have the younger plants available and a greater choice. However, it's free to visit, so if you're not too far away go more than once!

Chills really are rather gorgeous and you won't believe some of them until you see them. I'm sure you'll discover your own favourite, whether it's based on colour, flavour or name, and you'll be away.

Fishy pastes inspired by Pirates of the Deep Green Sea by Eric Linklater

The Pirates of the Deep Green Sea is a marvellous book by Eric Linklater. Not a lot of people know that though, so don't worry if you've never heard of it. I never would have known about it if it weren't for my amazing Mum, who has a knack of unearthing some of the best treasures in the book world. 

There's nothing else quite like this book. Until you've read it for yourself you won't quite understand, but it IS amazing. It's a tasty concoction of adventure and fantasy with a healthy load of zany quirk thrown in, and a unique brand of imagination. 

Mum had a copy of this book that was so well-read she had to laminate it to help it survive its countless readings. One of my first deeds as a nearly grown-up was to catch a bus into Exeter and order my own copy from a bookshop (before internet shopping got so normal). Needless to say, it was not on the shop shelves and I had the delightful anticipation of waiting for it to come into store. This was shortly before I even had an email account and I remember the thrill of being phoned to say the book had arrived. 



A brilliant detail of this story is that all the Octopuses have exceedingly long names. To shorten an Octopus' name is quite an affront, unless you know them VERY well, so we all enjoyed the challenge of remembering their absurdly long names. One of the main heroes, and the Octopus with the shortest name, is Culliferdontofoscfoliopolydesteropouf. The others were much longer and I still go over them every now and then to check I still can.


It is often the simplest food within stories that makes us want to eat what the characters are eating. There are many food moments in this book that make you smack your lips. One of them is a mound of sandwiches, eaten on the open sea on a life raft after a ship has sunk, with carefully moderated gulps of lemonade. But one of the more unusual ones is a selection of fishy pastes that are provided in every under-sea 'motel' or "sleeping-shell". Within each of these shells there is a set of bunkbeds and a cupboard containing some whale milk, some rum, and stacks of little wrapped bricks of paste. The usual suspects were Bloater Paste, Shrimp Paste, and Lobster Paste. The cupboards and the sandy carpets are all maintained by Caretaker Crabs who are usually very sleepy and have a reputation for being lazy. Despite the lack of variety and the bare surroundings, something about these little bricks of paste made me peckish every time they were mentioned. I was never one for seafood, but I like the flavour of fish, and have enjoyed fish paste sandwiches in the past. So I thought this was one weird fictional food adventure I had to embark upon. 

I tried Shrimp paste first, but found the delicate flavour of the prawns were best left alone. I don't really have the budget to go out buying lobster on a whim, so I researched a bit about Bloaters. I had assumed that a Bloater was a type of fish, but it is actually the name for one way of smoking a herring. A Kipper is a smoked Herring, butterflied out flat. Whereas a Bloater is a smoked Kipper that is gutted but kept whole. So basically both should have a similar smoked herring flavour. 

I went and had a chat with the fishy van man who visits Cullompton every week, who told me all this, and also recommended I grill the Kippers. So I came home with a gorgeous, deep ochre Kipper, ready to be turned into those lovely tasty bricks of pate. 

If you'd like to see what the recipe entails, here it is:

Kipper Pate (Nearly Bloater Paste).

Kipper Pate

"Nearly Bloater Paste"
from Pirates of the Deep Green Sea by Eric Linklater

If you're wondering why I was inspired to make these fictional treats from a favourite childhood book, click here to read the explanation.

INGREDIENTS:

...................................................
1 whole kipper
2 tbspns half-fat soft cheese
juice of half a lemon
ground pepper
...................................................




Put the kipper on a piece of tin foil, flesh side up, under a hot grill, on the lowest shelf. 

Grill for about 5 minutes. The flesh should easily flake apart and retain a soft moistness inside. 

Allow to cool a little. When cool enough to handle, remove the whole spine by lifting from the tail and peeling up towards the head. It should take all or most of the larger bones with it, but you'll be able to clearly spot any that remain and pull them out easily. Don't be concerned about the hair-like bones that you may see between the flakes of flesh. They are very flimsy and unnoticable to eat.


Pull off the flesh, flake it roughly into a food processor and blitz well. Alternatively, put it in a mixing bowl and mash thoroughly with a fork. 

Add the soft cheese and plenty of pepper and mix well. Don't be tempted to add salt, as the Kipper is already pretty salty. Add a tablespoon of milk and gradually add the lemon juice, only adding enough to make it moist, not sloppy. If you prefer less lemon taste, just add a bit more of the milk and less lemon juice.

It's ready to eat now, but if you don't plan on eating it straight away, tip the mixture into a tub, or if you want to serve it prettily for a party, or just because, spoon it into a small pudding bowl or mug, lined with cling film. Press well down and seal over the cling film. Place the other half of the lemon, (wrapped in cling film so you can use it for something else) to weight it down. Leave in the fridge for a couple of hours then unfold the top of the cling film, turn onto a plate, and remove the bowl and cling film. Serve with crunchy toast or crackers, and whale milk or rum! ;) 

Use within 5 days. 

If you want a more authenticly Pirates in the Deep Green Sea little brick of paste, use an icecube tray, or mini silicon loaf moulds, but really, it's about the eating, and it's mighty tasty!


If you have moggies, ask them to do a preliminary clean of your fishy bowls for you. If you ask nicely, they should be happy to oblige.