Wakes Cakes

Wakes week was a festival celebrated in the autumn to cheer up people before the long dark winter nights drew in. At fairs there would be merry go rounds, hawkers and stalls selling ribbons, gingerbread and Wakes Cakes.

The recipe for wakes cakes (which are crisp and more like biscuits) differed from village to village, this is a general recipe from England from the 19th century.

Ingredients
12oz flour
8oz butter
6oz white sugar
1 beaten egg
½ teaspoon baking powder
3oz currants
1/2oz caraway seeds
grated rind of 1 lemon

Method
1 Grease baking trays well.
2 Beat together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy.
3 Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, beating well after each addition.
4 Sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixture.
5 Add the currants, caraway seeds and lemon rind.
6 Carefully bind together with the hands to make a stiff dough.
7 Roll the dough out on a floured board with a floured rolling pin.
8 Dip a 2½ cutter into flour.
9 Stamp out as many rounds as the dough will allow.
10 Sprinkle the rounds with sugar if required.
11 Transfer the dough onto the prepared baking trays.
12 Bake at 190 degrees centigrade/gas 5 for 10 – 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
13 Cool on the trays for a few minutes on a wire cooling rack.
14 Transfer onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Store in an air tight tin

Courgette And Basil Charlotte

This wonderful recipe hails from the county of Warwickshire in England and comes from the end of either the 19th or the early part of the 20th century.

Ingredients
1 medium white loaf sliced
150ml olive oil
30g butter
salt
pepper
250g courgettes quartered lengthways and sliced into chunks
200g cherry tomatoes halved
2 handfuls fresh basil
zest and juice 2 lemons

Method
1 Brush 6 dariole moulds with a little of the oil.
2 Take the crusts off the bread and brush lightly with the oil.
3 Line the moulds carefully with the bread making sure there are no gaps.
4 Lightly fry the courgettes in the butter until just tender.
5 Drain and mix with the tomato halves.
6 Whizz the basil with the lemon zest and juice and enough of the rest of the oil to make a thick sauce.
7 Add to the courgettes and tomatoes and stir well.
8 Season well to taste and divide the mixture equally between the dariole moulds.
10 Place on a bread lid on and press firmly.
11 Brush with oil.
12 Bake at 200 degrees centigrade/gas mark 6 for 15-20 minutes until golden.

To serve Turn on to a plate and serve with some new potatoes and a leaf salad with fresh herb dressing.

Serves 6 people