Old English Lake District Traditional Recipes

I hadn't  hard of these varieties of apples before. They include Nelson apples and Desmond.

I saw this on the menu many years ago at The Cross Keys Temperance Inn near Sedbergh, Cumbria. I hadn't heard of it before.

WESTMORLAND CRUNDLE

4 ozs of plain flour,

two eggs,

one pint of milk,

one tablespoonful of castor sugar,

2 ozs butter.

Pour  boiling  milk over flour and butter,cover, and let it go cold..   Beat  until smooth, add sugar and eggs and bake in a hot oven for 60 minutes.

Serve hot

Lake District lemon and spice cake

8 oxs self raising flour

8 ozs soft butter

8 ozs sugar

tsp cinnamon

tsp ginger

3 eggs beaten

juice of 2 lemons

Method

Set the oven to Elec 325F  or gas 3

Cream butter and sugar Add the dry ingredients and then beat in the eggs

Bake in the oven for an hour or until brown on top

Eat cold.

Cumberland Rum Nicky

Shortcrust pastry

8 ozs flour

3 ozs white fat

1 oz yellow fat

water to bind.

4 ozs currants

2ozs brown sugar

1 tbsp. dried ginger

2 ozs soft  butter

2 fl ozs rum

Set the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3

Mix all the filling ingredients in a  bowl and allow flavours to develop whilst you make pastry.

Add the filling to the pastry case and bake for approx. 35 mins depending on your oven. Eat hot or cold.

This is a link to the Scottish connection as Cumbria is on the border with Scotland and Tatie scones originate from there.

Lakeland Tatie Scones  ( tatty - potatoes)

8 ozs Self raising flour

6 ozs cold mashed potatoes

2 ozs Cheddar cheese grated

salt and pepper to taste

2 ozs butter

milk to bind together

set oven for elec 400F or gas 6

Rub butter into sieved flour

add all the other ingredients and mix well .

Roll out dough onto a board and cut scones into shapes desired , ...circles, squares etc.

bake in oven for 10 or 15 mins either side and serve hot with butter.

Buttermere Biscuits

8 oz. self raising flour 
4 oz. soft butter
4 oz. caster sugar
1 large egg 
2 oz. currants  
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all the dry ingredients together

Beat in the butter

Add a beaten eggs and mix together

Roll out thickly on board and cut biscuits in to your size of choice.

bake for 15 mins on Elec 350F or Gas 4  , or until cooked

We had this a few years ago near lake Consiton. My husband enjoyed it so much that we went back next night and he ordered it again 

Cumberland Hot Pot

1 lb of diced hogget or mutton

8 ozs Black pudding ( blood sausage )

1 large onion chopped

2 large carrots chopped large and chunky

1 turnip chopped

1 pint of stock

2 lbs potatoes cut into thin slices

Brown all the meat in a pan and put all the ingredients except potatoes  into a large casserole dish .

Layer the potato slices over the meat . Pour the stock over the mixture.

Cook very slowly for about 3 hours on Elec 150C/  300 F  or gas 2

Serve with pickled red cabbage

Cumberland Clap bread / Havver bread

Havver is the Norse word for oats so as the North of England was heavily Norse,  Havver bread is to be expected in this area.  Havver bread is a very large thin circular oat bread. Wheat does not grow well so far north so oats are a  good alternative.

6oz fine  oatmeal                   
salt to taste  

1 tsp baking soda
2oz flour
boiling water
One tablespoon melted butter

Mix the dry ingredients together and then mix the butter with some boiling water and bind together the dry ingredients. Add more boiling water if necessary.

Rollout the dough and cut into shapes as desired

Bake until crisp on  350F, 180C or Gas 4 for about 25 mins

Cumberland Rum Butter

Once again rum makes an appearance. There was a huge smuggling trade and also ships arriving in West of England ports brought rum too. Rum butter has been in Cumberland for centuries

8 ozs unsalted butter  softened

6 ozs dark brown sugar

10 tbs rum

Mix all the ingredients together and leave for 24 hours to infuse. Serve on scones, pancakes  or with rich puddings

I always do this on Christmas day to eat with a traditional Christmas pudding .

This is a very old recipe which has no amounts with it.

Lamplugh Pudding

This is considered to be a fore runner of a traditional Christmas pudding. The origins though are vague.

Ale was mixed with  spices and brown sugar then poured over dried fruit, lemon rind and oats. This made a fruit porridge. The consistency was as people wanted to to be.

This recipe appeared in 1859. It has a pastry base and is like a baked custard.

Kendal Pudding

Pastry to line a pie dish

2 types of jam

2 eggs

milk

2 ozs sugar

grated lemon peel

• Line a pie dish with pastry and cover the base with two  types of jam.
• Mix eggs, milk and sugar together and pour into the dish on top of the jam.
• Scatter lemon peel on top and bake in the oven on Gas 4 / Elec 350 F  /150 C for about 35 mins or until a knife put into it comes out clean

I found a very localised Lake District recipe yesterday. It comes from the village of Sawrey, Beatrix Potter's location .

It has a layer of pastry, a layer of Apricot jam, a layer of rhubarb and a cinnamon sponge layer on top. Sounds good. 

My son bought me one of these today, whilst we were on holiday in Cumbria. I did not bake it but it is available for purchase from Bryson's Bakers in Keswick. It is a delicious teabread.