Welcome back!
This week on our live demonstration we returned with two dishes full of history and emotion. Alison was joined by Vivian Maeda who is argubly the best thing to happen to Scottish Food Education since Sliced Bread. Vivian is so incredibly passionate about food and education and more specifically helping young children learn the very essential life skill that is cooking.
Irish Apple & Bramble Cake (Recipe below the live stream) is as much a part of Alison's soul as cooking in general. She says "Irish Apple & Blackberry Cake evokes strong memories of growing up in Ireland for me, my mum would without fail make one every Friday afternoon, to me it just smells like autumn. The first time I remember making one that could rival my mum’s was when I was at Cookery School at Ballymaloe (With deepest thanks to Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe House), and ever since that point it is a recipe that I have returned to and adapted every autumn. Irish Apple & Blackberry Cake is incredibly rustic, cooked on an ovenproof dish. This cake is not the smart restaurant style dish that is immediately pleasing to the eye, but sometimes the best tasting dishes that evoke the most emotion don’t look the prettiest."
Vivian & Alison then talk about foraging on the Scottish Seaside and produce a dish synonmous with Colstoun and the Famous Colstoun Pear, Pear And Samphire Salad. Alison talks about foraging in East Lothian and the natural larder that we are lucky to call home.
We hope you enjoy the live stream and we look forward to hearing from you all on the 19th September at 12:30GMT for the final show in our first series.
Irish Apple & Bramble Cake Recipe:
Ingredients:
225g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
110g cold butter
140g sugar plus 2 tbsp
1 egg
120ml milk, approx.
2 large cooking apples
2 handfuls of brambles
Method:
Mix flour and baking powder. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the texture of breadcrumbs. Add 140g of sugar, beaten egg and enough milk to form soft dough, the mix should be quite wet and will be lumpy.
Butter an ovenproof plate and spoon half of the mixture over it, not quite to the edge.
Peel, core and chop up the apples, place them on the dough on the plate with 2tbsp sugar and the brambles.
Spoon the remaining dough onto the apples and spread to cover the fruit.
Bake, in a moderate oven, 170°C fan, 180°C conventional for approx. 45minutes, or until cooked through and nicely browned.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with sugar, allow the cake to cool slightly before serving with softly whipped cream.
for more information on our day cookery courses follow this link https://www.colstoun.co.uk/the-cookery-school
