Waste Not Want Not

This year has seen extremes of weather throughout the world and this has resulted in a reduction of the wheat harvest; this fact, coupled with the demand for wheat from China, has resulted in a huge hike in the price of wheat and consequently the price of bread. No doubt there will be a price war amongst the supermarkets as to who can have the lowest priced white sliced cotton wool bale, but if you have paid around £1 for a tasty white loaf you might be loathed to throw the stale bits away or feed the pigeons. In my childhood when people looked after the pennies a regular on the menu was Bread Pudding. So I thought I would pass on the recipe, its a very robust tasty item and ideal for packed lunches.


8oz stale bread
3oz suet (vegetarian is fine)
3oz sugar
6oz dried fruit (any combination you have sultanas, raisins, currents, cranberries etc)
1oz chopped peel or grated orange rind
2 eggs
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
a little pepper
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
a little milk


Soak the bread in cold water, overnight if possible or for at least 4 hours. Drain in a colander and squeeze the excess water out. Crumble with a fork. Add the dry ingredients except the bicarb.

Mix the bicarb with the milk. Add the beaten eggs and mix all together either using a wooden spoon or your hands until a fairly soft consistency is reached. Put in a baking tin, 8ins round or a small roasting tin, rough up the surface with a fork and bake at 220°C for 4o minutes. Cool in the tin and cut into portions. Also nice when eaten warm with custard. Ooooooo lovely

Walnut, Date and Honey Cake.

While I'm at it, this is a popular request too:

Walnut, Date and Honey Cake:

8oz (225g) self raising flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6oz (175g) butter (softened)
4oz (100g) light muscovardo sugar
3 tbsp clear honey
2 eggs, beaten
2 medium, ripe bananas, about 9oz (250g) total weight in their skins
4oz (100g) stoned dates
2oz (50g) walnut pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas 3/fan oven 140°C.

2. Line the base of a 2lb/1kg loaf tin.

3. Tip the flour, cinnemon, butter, sugar, 2 tbsp of the honey and the eggs into a large mixing bowl.

4. Mash the bananas and chop the dates (use scissors) and add to the bowl.

5. Beat the mixture for 2-3 mins using a wooden spoon or hand-held mixer until well blended

6. Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth.

7. Scatter the walnut pieces over the top and bake for an hour, then lightly press the top - it should feel firm. If not bake for a further 10 minutes.

8. Cool foir 15 mins, then lift out of the tin. When cold, drizzle the remaining honey over. Cut into thick slices

Chocolate and Beetroot Cake Recipe

For some reason or other, I have had several requests for this recipe, because I don't think people really believe that it exists. So here it is:

Chocolate Beetroot Cake:
200ml corn or sunflower oil
75g cocoa powder
180g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
250g caster sugar
250g cooked beetroot
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Lightly grease a deep 20cm round cake tin. Sift the cocoa powder, flour, and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and set aside.

2.Puree the beetroot in another bowl (I use a hand-held stick blender, but the recipes says do it in a food processor but I have not got one). Add the eggs 1 at a time, mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla and oil and whizz until smooth. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the beetroot mixture and lightly mix. Pour into the tin and bake for about 50 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the cake begins to darken to much cover loosely with foil.

3.Remove cake from oven and cool in tin for 15 mins. Remove cake from tin and cool completely. Dust with icing sugar.

4. Enjoy, but don't use your best white linen napkins for this, it stains horribly