English Tea Party: English Muffins

Well, we’re finally at the end of our English tea party adventure.  Sad, isn’t it?

After I raved about the tea scene between Gwendolen and Cecily in my teacakes post, my sisters pointed out to me that the best scene in The Importance of Being Earnest is the muffin scene.  I admit, now that I think about it, that I agree.  And fortunately, that particular muffin scene is very relevant to this final post, since Julie and I definitely made English muffins for our tea party!

Instead of quoting from this scene, you guys have to watch it.  It’s hilarious!  Colin Firth and Rupert Everett are brilliant.  This scene is a continuation of the tea scene between Cecily and Gwendolen, when the women find out neither of their lovers are called Ernest.   You can expand the screen by clicking on the link at the top of the video that says "Colin Firth - Importance..." It will open a new window on the YouTube page.  Watch from 1:03 until 3:10. 

Don’t those muffins look delicious?  Here’s how to make them!  I got this recipe from Anna (who will be writing on here next week).  I have no idea where she got it from, but it’s an excellent recipe!

English Muffins

• 1 cup Milk (even better with buttermilk!)

• 3 Tablespoons Butter

• 2 Tablespoons Honey

• 1 cup Warm Water

• ¼ ounces, weight Yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)

• ¼ cups Cornmeal

• 5-½ cups Flour

• 1 teaspoon Salt

1. Combine milk, butter, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Warm until butter starts to melt, then whisk briefly. Remove pan from heat and allow liquid to cool to lukewarm.
2. Pour water into a mixing bowl and sprinkle with yeast. Stir gently with a fork. Set bowl aside for 10 minutes, or until yeast has dissolved.
3. Line baking sheets with waxed paper and sprinkle with a generous amount of cornmeal.
4. Pour cooled milk mixture into yeast mixture and gently stir until well blended. Add 3 cups flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth. Beat in remaining flour and salt until the dough is no longer sticky. Scrape the dough onto a floured surface and dust with flour. Flour hands and knead dough for 3-4 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes.
5. Roll out dough with rolling pin to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut the dough into circles (we used the lid on a chicken bouillon container, 3" diameter). Transfer muffins to prepared baking sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal. Cover with a dry, lightweight towel and let rise until doubled in height, 35-45 minutes. (You may have to wait longer than that, unless you put them somewhere warm)
6. When muffins have risen, heat a stainless steel skillet over medium-low to low heat (Be careful not to get it too hot – the muffins turn black fast!).  Carefully lift muffins from the pan and place on the ungreased skillet. Cook about 5-7 minutes (depending on how hot the pan is - for me the ideal was 5 minutes exactly) on each side until sides are brown (but not black!), using a spatula to flip them. Transfer to a wire rack to cool before splitting with a fork and toasting them.

Nutrition Facts: http://tinyurl.com/englishmuffinsnutritionfacts
Note: We did half recipe, which yielded 6 3" muffins and 3 2" muffins.

This is about the color you want

Poke holes with fork around the middle.  Then pry it apart.

Delicious toasted English Muffin

Also, I forgot to post our last butter recipe!  We made raspberry butter (a recipe I also got from Anna), and it was delicious!  I’m pretty sure it was everyone’s favorite spread.

Raspberry Butter
½ cup soft butter
½ cup raspberries, crushed
2 Tbsp. sugar

1.   Using a wire whisk on Kitchen Aid (electric mixer), beat butter on high speed until fluffy, up to 10 minutes. Scrape the bowl occasionally.

2.   Add raspberries and sugar.

3.   Continue to beat, scraping bowl occasionally with a rubber scraper, until well mixed, up to 10 additional minutes. Chill overnight.

Nutrition Facts: http://tinyurl.com/raspberrybutternutritionfacts

All three spreads

This butter is excellent on the muffins, as were all the other spreads.  It had a light tartness, but was mostly just creamy and sweet.

This concludes our English Tea Party series.  If you would like all of the recipes we cooked in one location, leave a comment below with your email address, and we will email you our full Tea Party Cookbook.

Also, just so you guys know, I totally messed up the order of courses on here.  Julie was leading everything in so well, and then I botched it.  Here is the order in which you should have your teatime treats:

1. Tea (you also have tea refills with each of the courses below)
2. Sandwiches
3. Muffins (with raspberry butter, pumpkin honey butter, and clotted cream)
4. Teacakes
5. Tea bread

The point is to just have small samplings of everything, and to work your way from lightweight foods to the heavier sweets. 

I hope you guys learned as much as we did on our Victorian journey!  It was so much fun.  Seriously, guys, you should throw your own Victorian tea party right now!  Then come back and tell me what your favorite treat was!

P.S.  You know how we've been trying so hard to mimic clotted cream (first with cream cheese, and then by "harvesting underclots."  Ew...), and we're just not quite getting it right?  Julie pointed out to me before she left that they have jars of Devonshire Cream (clotted cream) imported from England at World Market.  So I went and bought some and finally tried it! 

What it looks like when you open it.

The verdict: It has the flavor of unsalted butter and the texture of thick whipped cream.  

For those of you who have tried it in England (or better yet, are native to the UK), does that sound about right?  The one I tried wasn’t fresh, so I’m sure it wasn’t quite the same (it had that after taste of preserved milk), but it’s the closest I can get until I can go to England again (whenever that is...).  Someday, I shall go to Devon and try real clotted cream!  Until then, my sad American substitutes will have to do.

Thanks for reading!  Harry Potter fans, tune in on Tuesday, July 5th, for the start of our Deathly Hallows: Part 2 celebrations! And don't forget to vote on the poll on the left sidebar!  Here's a sneak peek at some of the awesome food we're doing.  Can you guess what we're up to?

 

English Tea Party: Clotted Cream

Alright, friends. Here's the story. Clotted Cream is delicious. It sounds weird, it looks weird, and it's made in a weird way. All of that aside, it's amazing. I wish I could explain it better than that, but I can't. So, here's what Wikipedia described it as:

"Clotted cream has been described as having a "nutty, cooked milk" flavour,[1] and a "rich sweet flavour" with a texture that is grainy sometimes with oily globules on the crusted surface.[2][3] It is a thick cream, with a very high fat content (a minimum 55% but has an average of 64%) meaning that in America it would be classed as butter.[4] Despite its popularity, virtually none is exported, due to difficulty with its shelf life.[4]"

It's a basic essential for English tea time! Mary made it in a previous post and I had it when I was in England once. So without further adieu, here is the recipe!

Clotted Cream

(Source: Yahoo Answers)
2 parts whole milk
1 part heavy whipping cream

Combine ingredients and heat on the stove at the very lowest setting for 2 hours or until skin forms. Then leave it undisturbed on the stove overnight. In the morning, skim off the skin and its underclots.
For nutrition facts, click here.


Yeah...underclots. For some reason, that just sounds super disgusting. When Mary and I made it, we were skeptical as to if it was edible. We tried it, we liked it! I even put a good amount of it on my English Muffin and I wish we had more of it =(







The last picture is one of our homemade English Muffins with clotted cream and raspberry butter on one side and pumpkin butter on the other side. I hope you're looking forward to future posts! Don't let the strangeness of clotted cream deter you. Try it out! It's really great!

Treacle Tart

Treacle Tart is known well among Harry Potter fans.  It is mentioned in the majority of the books for a particular reason – Harry likes it.  In Order of the Phoenix, at the start of term feast, Rowling writes, “Harry was too used to their bickering to bother trying to reconcile them; he felt it was better use of his time to eat his way steadily through his steak-and-kidney pie, then a large plateful of his favorite treacle tart” (Rowling 210).  Harry points out that treacle tart is his favorite dessert – so much so that he can ignore Ron and Hermione’s bickering.  That’s pretty impressive.

Then in Half-Blood Prince, when Harry smells the Amortentia (a love potion that smells like whatever attracts you to a person) in Slughorn’s class, he mentions treacle tart again.  “They chose the [table] nearest a gold-colored cauldron that was emitting one of the most seductive scents Harry had ever inhaled,” writes Rowling. “Somehow it reminded him simultaneously of treacle tart, the woody smell of a broomstick handle, and something flowery he thought he might have smelled at the Burrow” (Rowling 183). 

So not only is treacle tart Harry’s favorite dessert, but he considers it a seductive smell.  “Okay,” I thought when I read that for the first time (and the ensuing 500 more times), “I have got to try that stuff.” Therefore, Treacle Tart was at the top of my list of things to make for this blog. 

You may be thinking, “That’s all fine and dandy, Mary, but what the [insert expletives Ron would use here] is a treacle tart?”

Treacle is typically referred to as golden syrup in England.  It is a mixture of molasses (sugar cane boiled twice), corn syrup (composed mainly of sugar), and some more sugar.  It is a very common sweetener in England.  It’s not all that common here in America, however, which makes it sort of hard to find in stores.  So in order to make treacle tart, I just used a really light molasses.  I, personally, like molasses just fine, so this suited me.  I’m a fan of gingerbread, and the main flavor in that is molasses.  But if you can’t stand molasses, you can still make this and like it.  Make a golden syrup out of 1/3 light molasses, 2/3 light corn syrup. That would be 3 tbsp molasses, 6 tbsp corn syrup for this recipe.

For those of you unfamiliar with tarts, I think of them as really short pies, with crust on the bottom, then a thin layer of whatever kind of tart it is, and either no crust on top, or just a little for design.  This is definitely applicable to treacle tart.

So here it goes.  I got this recipe from BBC, so it is definitely a legitimate British recipe.

First let's start with the crust, also known as shortcrust pastry.  I know many may be tempted to just buy two sheets of Pillsbury unbaked crust and then move on, but trust me.  This recipe is awesome and it’s not too much effort.  Just keep in mind that these measurements are for 6 oz of pastry, and you will need 12 oz for the treacle tart.  Don’t forget to double it! 


Shortcrust Pastry

·         125g/4oz/ ½ cup plain flour

·         pinch of salt

·         55g/2oz/ ¼ cup butter

·         30-45ml/2-3 tbsp cold water

Preparation Method

Before you begin, make sure your kitchen is no hotter than 70 degrees, or your butter will melt and the dough won’t work (the small chunks of unmelted butter are key to flaky crust).  Be sure your butter is fresh out of the fridge when you use it, too.

  
     1.       Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and add butter.

2.      Using a pastry blender (click here for a picture or refer to picture below) cut the butter into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs with no large lumps of butter remaining. Try to work quickly so that it does not become greasy.  (If you don’t have a pastry blender, click here to learn about other options).

Before I started blending

Finished cutting in/blending

3.      Using a knife, stir in just enough of the cold water to bind the dough together (I used 2 ½ tbsp out of the 3).  Don't over stir.  It may seem too dry, but it’s probably okay.  The way to tell if it has enough water is by picking up the dough in your fist and squeezing it.  It should be able to hold together once you unclench your fist.

4.      Cover the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 10-15 minutes in the freezer before using.  When you need it, take the dough out of the freezer, squeeze it into a ball, and roll it out on floured wax paper.  Roll it as thin and even as you can get it without tearing holes.

Alright, now that we have the shortcrust pastry taken care of, on to the tart! 

Treacle Tart

·         350g/12oz shortcrust pastry

·         135g/9tbsp golden syrup (reminder – 3 tbsp light molasses, 6 tbsp light corn syrup)

·         125g/9tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs - about 2 slices (Yes, you do have to tear bread into little tiny pieces.  Yes, it’s tedious. Yes, it's worth it.)

·         grated rind and juice of 1 lemon (have fun cleaning the grater/zester after you do this)

·         1 tsp ground ginger

·         egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water)

Preparation Method

1.      Roll out two thirds of the pastry and use to line a 25cm/10in pie plate or flan tin. (I used a 9” spring form pan.  It worked perfectly).

Roll it on wax paper.  Flip paper over and fit crust into baking dish.

2.      Warm the syrup over a gentle heat and add the breadcrumbs, grated lemon rind and 15g/1 tbsp of the juice, and the ginger. Pour into the pastry case.

Pouring in molasses.  This will be golden syrup for you.

Freshly grated lemon zest.

Try not to think about what it looks like.  It gets better, I promise!

3.      Roll out the remaining pastry case and cut into strips; use these to create a lattice design on the top of the tart.

4.      Fold any excess crust over the edges of the lattice. Decorate the sides of the crust with a fork, being sure to press the ends of the lattice well in.  Brush the pastry with the egg wash and bake in the oven at 190C/375F/Gas 5 for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.  Serve warm.

Egg wash

Pulling cooked tart out of the oven

Treacle tart out of the spring form pan

I read somewhere that Treacle Tart is supposed to be served with clotted cream.  Clotted Cream is a treat native to southern England, particularly Devonshire.  It is unpasteurized cream that is lightly cooked and often served with scones or desserts.  It has a thick, sweet, creamy consistency.  Sounds delicious, right? 

The problem is, they don’t exactly sell unpasteurized cream in the grocery store.  Trust me, I looked. So I found a recipe for a substitute.   It’s not really a substitute, because according to my mom it tastes nothing like clotted cream.  It’s delicious in its own right, however, and we enjoyed it. It tastes like light whipped cream with a little bit of a cream cheese flavor. 

Substitute Clotted Cream

3 oz cream cheese

2 tbsp sour cream

1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 or 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat until the mixture holds its shape and looks like softly whipped cream.  Use right away or cover and refrigerate the cream until serving time.
Makes about 1 1/2 cups (we made a half recipe, which suited the tart perfectly).

Pseudo-Clotted Cream

 And now for the epic story of my adventures making the treacle tart.

The Story of the Me, My Mom, and the Treacle Tart

(For the following story, please keep in mind that I used all molasses, which made it stronger than it is really supposed to be.)

For those of you who don’t know or haven’t already figured it out, I live with my mom.  I learned 95% of my cooking skills from her, and we often cook together.  When I told my mom that I wanted to make treacle tart for the blog (and subsequently explained to her what treacle is), she said “Molasses?  That doesn’t sound good.” 

I wasn’t too pleased with her lack of confidence.  “It’s Harry Potter’s favorite dessert,” I protested.  “It has to be good.” 

Mom was unmoved by my plea to authority.  Neither she, nor anyone else in my family, likes Harry Potter.  She instead went off on a story from her childhood.  “When I was a little girl, my mother used to put blackstrap molasses in my milk every day, because she thought it would keep me from getting sick.  I got sick all right – of the molasses!  I’ve hated molasses ever since.”

I gave her my condolences for her unfortunate childhood and continued with my plans to make treacle tart.

As I began to make it, however, I started to have my doubts.  “It says fresh white bread crumbs,” I called out to my mom as I reviewed the recipe.  “Does that mean I have to tear slices of bread into little pieces?”

Mom laughed and said, “You wanted to make it.”

I was pretty concerned about the whole endeavor as I sat in a chair tearing a single slice of bread into little tiny bits.   

“The British are weird,” I said.  “Harry is weird.  Bread crumbs and molasses?  Who thinks of these things?”

“I know,” said Mom, while she too tore up a little slice of bread.  “Especially molasses.  I really don’t like molasses. When I was a little girl, my mother-“

“Yeah, I know, Mom,” I said.  “Blackstrap molasses in the milk.  You told me.”

“Well it was really traumatic,” said Mom with finality.  We continued tearing in silence.

When it came time to mix the molasses and breadcrumbs together, I gazed upon the lumpy brownish mixture.  It looked unappetizing and smelled horrifically strong.  At that moment, I struggled to accept the fact that I would probably not like treacle tart.  I didn’t have to like the dessert as much as Harry, right?  As I considered this, though, a part of my childhood curled up into the fetal position and started whimpering.  I think it’s the same part that still has a slight crush on the aforementioned fictional character.

As I laid the lattice work on the top of the crust, though, I felt a resurgence of hope.  At the very least, the tart looked nice.  I showed it to my mom, and she admired it as well.  “I might actually try that,” she said. 

But as I popped into the oven and thought I heard her muttering incredulously, “Molasses...”

Twenty-five minutes went by.  When the tart came out – What a glorious moment!

“Oh wow!” Mom exclaimed.  “It looks great!”

“Hm!” I said proudly. “See!”

“I don’t know if I’ll like it, though,” Mom warned.  “That blackstrap molasses-“

“Mom,” I groaned.  “Just try it.”

So we sat down at the table to partake of my curious creation.  I cut myself a nice 2 ½ inch wide piece, and then gave Mom a sliver about a centimeter wide.

“That size good?” I asked, pointing to her splinter of a slice.

“Yes,” said Mom.  “Perfect.”

Then we tried it. The first bite had a great texture – the crust was flaky and crisp, and the treacle portion was gooey and warm – but it did taste pretty molassesy.  I took a second bite, and while I could still taste the molasses, I also tasted the prominent zing of lemon!  It was a wonderfully surprising combination!  That, topped with the pseudo clotted cream, and I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

“Okay,” I said happily, “maybe Harry isn’t as crazy as I thought.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty good!” said Mom as she reached over to cut herself another piece.  

~~~

The treacle tart is gone now.  Mom ate more than half of it.  It was a delicious treat that we both enjoyed.  Through this experience, I learned two things above all others.  First, Harry Potter still is and forever will be awesome.  Second, traumatic childhoods can be overcome with an open mind and a little British cooking.

The End