King cake

Ingredients:

• • 750g strong bread flour

• 120g sugar

• Handful of sultanas

• • 12g salt

• 20g bread yeast

• • 100g Butter (melted)

• 450ml warm milk

• Ground cinnamon

• 125g Icing sugar

• 15ml Lemon juice

• Purple, green and yellow food colouring

Method:

Mix the flour, sugar, sultanas and salt together in a large bowl.

Add the yeast and the butter. Slowly add a little milk at a time, while mixing together with your hands to form a sticky dough.

Tip out onto your worktop and knead for a few minutes.

There are various ways to knead your dough, I like to stretch it out, then roll it back in, and give it a 90 degree turn, before stretching it out again.

Cover with a damp cloth and leave to prove for about 2 hours. Lightly dust your work surface with a little flour and roll out the dough to form a rectangle a quarter inch thick.

Sprinkle a good layer of cinnamon evenly over the surface and roll the dough up to form a sausage.

Place into a greased and floured bundt tin, making sure the 2 ends meet. Seal the join with a little oil or water. Leave to prove for a further 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Put the cake into the oven and cook for about 40 minutes, Remove from the oven and upturn to remove the cake from the tin.

Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice and divide into 3 equal portions. Add the food colouring to the icing and drizzle over the cake.

Leave to cool fully before cutting.

12 Mini Fruit Cakes

I usually make this in September and feed it every couple of weeks, up till December, with a mixture of brandy, dark rum, and sloe gin, for a really boozy cake.

You'll also need 12 small (and empty) 'half tins' of baked beans. I like to make these as gifts, covered in icing and marzipan.

Ingredients:

• 1kg mixed dried fruit

• 50g chopped glacé cherries

• Brandy

• Kraken rum

• Sloe gin

• 225g plain flour (sifted)

• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt

• 1⁄4 level teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated

• 1⁄2 level teaspoon ground mixed spice

• 225g dark brown soft sugar

• 4 large eggs

• 1 dessertspoon black treacle

• 225g butter

• 50g chopped almonds

• zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange

Method:

Put the dried fruit into a bowl and add 100ml of brandy. Mix well and cover the bowl with a cloth. Leave to soak overnight. Pre-heat the oven to 140°C

Put the flour, salt, spices, sugar, eggs, treacle, and butter, into a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until thoroughly mixed.

Fold in the pre-soaked fruit mixture, chopped nuts and finally the grated lemon and orange zest. Grease and line the tins and spoon the mixture evenly between them.

Wrap the tins in a double layer of greaseproof paper, covering the tops of the cakes. Bake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 60-90 minutes until they feel springy to the touch.

Leave to cool before removing from the tins and skewering all over and feeding with a small drop of rum.

Wrap in greaseproof paper and store somewhere cool and dry. Feed every 2 weeks.

If you want to decorate the cake with marzipan and icing, do this shortly before eating.

Peppernut biscuits

Ingredients:

For the spice mix;

• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

• 2 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1/2 teaspoon ground green cardamom

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon ground star anise

• 1/4 teaspoon ground mace

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the gingerbread;

• 180g butter

• 80g brown sugar

• 100g golden syrup

• 300g Plain flour

• 25g ground almonds

• 3 tablespoons of spice mix - see above

• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 1/2 tsp white pepper

• 2 eggs

• 500g icing sugar

Method:

Mix all the spices together well.

Heat the butter, brown sugar and syrup in a large pan, on a medium heat, until fully dissolved and mixed together. Leave to cool for 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile mix the plain flour​, ground almonds, spice mix, bicarbonate of soda and white pepper in a bowl.

Add to the saucepan of melted sugar and fat and mix well. Stir in the eggs.

Tip the mixture out onto a piece of cling film and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for several hours, or ideally overnight.

Split the mix into 2 halves and roll both out into 3/4" sausages and cut each sausage into pieces 3/4" thick. Roll each piece into a ball and place onto a lined baking tray, leaving a gap between each one. You should end up with around 24 balls.

Cook in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celcius for around 10-15 minutes, until golden in colour.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Once cooled, mix up the icing sugar as per the packet instructions. Dip each biscuit into the icing sugar, and place onto a cooling rack. Leave until the icing has set.

Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

• 800g bread (torn into pieces)

• 800g mixed dried fruit

• 2 tbsp ground mixed spice

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 600ml milk (Any liquid will work. Try beer, wine, cider or whiskey)

• 2 large eggs

• 250g demerara sugar

• 100g Butter (melted)

Method:

Put everything except the butter into a large bowl and scrunch it up, to completely break up the bread and mix it up well.

Add the melted butter and mix well.

Grease and line a large baking dish and pour in the mixture. Pushing it down firmly into the dish. Sprinkle with a little sugar.

Place in the centre of a pre heated oven at 170 degrees for about an hour and a half until firm and golden. Cover with baking paper if it starts to brown too much.

Acorn flour

While also used to fatten up pigs, acorns can also be eaten by people. Charred acorns have been found on the floor of a Saxon hut, suggesting maybe that they were eaten much like chestnuts.

To make flour;

Shell the acorns, I find this easier after leaving them to dry for a day or two. Roughly chop the acorns, or, if you are in a modern Kitchen, run them through a food processor.

Cover the acorns with cold water, and leave to soak for 3-5 days, changing the water at least twice a day to remove most of the tannins.

Drain and dry the acorns, either naturally, or in an oven at 80 degrees Celsius, leaving the door slightly open.

Grind the acorns between quern stones, or, in a modern Kitchen use a food processor or coffee grinder, grinding as finely as you require.

The resulting meal/flour can be used as required in breads, pancakes, crumpets etc. It will make a denser loaf than normal bread flour, so I’d recommend using a mix of bread flour and acorn.

Using a similar method it is also possible to turn other foods, such as hazelnuts and broad beans, into meal/flour.

Fennel & Beer Bread

Ingredients:

For the starter;

• 1 cup beer dregs

• 1 cup flour

For the bread;

• 800g/4 cups bread flour

• 2 tsp fennel seeds

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 550-600ml 1.5-2 cups beer

Method:

To make the starter, mix the beer dregs and flour in a bowl and cover loosely for 24 hours. After this time it should be quite bubbly.

Put the flour, fennel and salt, into a large bowl and mix together.

Add the honey and half a cup of the starter. Slowly add the beer a little at a time, and mix together to form a dough. It needs to be workable, so as not to stick to your hands too much, but too dry and it will fall apart. You can add more or less beer depending on how your dough feels. I find it varies slightly every time.

Tip out onto a work surface and knead for around 5-10 minutes.

Roll your dough into a ball, and dust with a little flour. Put it into a bowl and cover loosely with a damp cloth, to stop it drying out. Leave to prove for at least several hours, but overnight is ideal.

Sourdough takes longer to develop than bread made with shop bought yeast, but benefits from the extra time, as it develops a better flavour. The loaf should increase in size.

Tip your dough back out onto your work surface and carefully deflate it by poking it with your fingers.

Shape your dough into a loaf, and dust with a little flour. Place onto a lightly flour dusted oven tray and prove for another hour.

Heat your oven to 230 degrees Celsius. If you have a Dutch oven put this in your oven to heat as well.

Remove the Dutch oven (if using) and grease the inside with a little butter.

Place your loaf in the centre of the Dutch oven, pop the lid on and put back into the oven to cook for 30 minutes, remove the lid and cook for a further 15 minutes. If you are not using a Dutch oven, cook on an oven tray for 30 minutes and reduce the temperature to 170 degrees Celsius for the last 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven, the loaf should sound hollow when you tap it on the bottom.

Leave to cool fully before cutting.

Rye bread

Ingredients:
300g rye flour
100g white bread flour
100g sourdough starter
1 tsp salt
300ml warm water (give or take)
1 tablespoon caraway seeds

Method:
Put the flour and salt into a large bowl and mix together.

Add the starter and slowly add the water and mix together to form quite a sticky dough that is more like a cake mix than a bread dough. You can add more or less water depending on how your dough feels. I find it varies slightly every time.

Add the seeds and mix well. There is no point kneading this bread.

Place the dough in a lightly greased loaf tin. Cover loosely with a damp cloth and leave for a few hours, ideally overnight. It won’t rise very much due to the low gluten content of the rye flour.

Heat your oven to its highest temperature.

Put your loaf in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes before dropping the temperature to 200 degrees Celsius if the crust is looking pale, 180 degrees Celsius if the crust is noticeably browning, and 170 degrees Celsius if it seems to be browning quickly. Cook for a further 40 mins.

Remove from the tin. The loaf should sound hollow when you tap it on the bottom.

Leave to cool fully before cutting.

Taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available now on Amazon

Salt dough lamb

Ingredients:

• 600g Flour

• 300g salt

• Water

• 1/2 a Leg of lamb

• Rosemary or juniper berries

Method:
Mix together the flour and salt and slowly add water, bringing it together to form a stiff dough.

Roll out the dough thin enough that it will encase the leg of lamb.

Make slits in the lamb with a sharp knife and stuff a little rosemary or juniper berries into the flesh.

Wrap the leg in the salt dough and cook for 2 hours (rare) up to 3 hours (well done) over hot coals, turning occasionally. Depending on conditions, this may need extra cooking time.

Remove the now burnt and blackened salt dough before serving.

Taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available on Amazon

Sourdough crumpets

Ingredients:

• 200g sourdough starter

• 20g bread flour

• 1 tsp honey

• 1 tsp salt

• butter

Method:

Mix the starter, flour, honey and salt in a large jug or bowl. Cover with a wet cloth or tea towel and leave to prove for about an hour.

Heat some butter on a low heat and, once hot, add the batter to the pan in large spoonfuls, using one spoonful per crumpet.

Cook for around 5 minutes, flip and fry for a further few minutes, until golden in colour and cooked through.

Taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available now on Amazon 

Nettle bread

Ingredients:

• Large handful of blanched, finely chopped nettle tops

• 350g bread flour (plus extra for dusting)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon yeast

• 100 ml milk

• 50 ml water

Method:

Put the nettles, flour and salt into a large bowl and mix together. Add the yeast.

Mix together the water and milk.

Slowly add the milk solution to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix together to form a dough.

You can add more or less milk/water depending on how your dough feels. I find it varies slightly every time.

Tip out onto your worktop and knead for around 10 minutes.

Roll your dough into a ball, and dust with a little flour. Put it into a bowl and cover loosely with a damp cloth, to stop it drying out. Place somewhere warm.

Leave to prove for 1-2 hours, or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.

Tip your dough back out onto your work surface and carefully deflate it by poking it with your fingers. Divide the mix into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and coat with a little more flour.

Place onto a baking tray, that has been dusted with flour, and leave for another hour or to prove again.

Heat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, the rolls should sound hollow when you tap them on the bottom.

These can also be cooked in the dying embers of a fire.

Leave to cool fully before serving with butter.

Taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available now on Amazon 

Oat cakes

Ingredients:

• 225g oats (1 1/2 cups)

• 60g wholemeal flour (1/4 cup)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 60g unsalted butter 1/4 cup)

• 60ml just boiled water

Method:

In a large bowl mix together the oats, flour and salt.

Add the butter and rub it into the flour and oats with your finger tips, until it forms a breadcrumb like texture.

Add the water and mix together to form a stiff dough.

Roll out thinly to around 5mm thick and cut into rounds using a cup or pastry cutter.

Cook in a dry pan for around 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned, or bake for approx 20 minutes at 170 degrees C

Leave to cool fully before eating

Saxon bread

Ingredients:

• 780g bread flour (plus a little extra for coating)

• 10g salt

• 26g honey

• 250g sourdough starter

• Warm water

Method:

Put the flour and salt, into a large bowl and mix together.

Add the honey and starter and slowly add enough water to mix together to form a dough. It needs to be workable, so as not to stick to your hands too much, but too dry and it will fall apart. You can add more or less water depending on how your dough feels. I find it varies slightly every time.

Tip out onto a work surface and knead for around 5-10 minutes.

Roll your dough into a ball, and dust with a little flour. Put it into a bowl and cover loosely with a damp cloth, to stop it drying out. Leave to prove for at least several hours, but overnight is ideal.

Sourdough takes longer to develop than bread made with shop bought yeast, but benefits from the extra time, as it develops a better flavour. The loaf should increase in size.

Tip your dough back out onto your work surface and carefully deflate it by poking it with your fingers.

Shape your dough into a loaf, and dust with a little flour. Place onto a lightly flour dusted oven tray and prove for another hour.

Heat your oven to its highest temperature.

Cook for 10 minutes before dropping the temperature to 200 degrees if the crust is looking pale, 180 degrees if the crust is noticeably browning, and 170 if it seems to be browning quickly. Cook for a further 40 mins.

Remove from the oven, the loaf should sound hollow when you tap it on the bottom.

This can also be cooked in the dying embers of a fire, just divide the dough into small rolls first, rather than a loaf.

Leave to cool fully before cutting.

Taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available now on Amazon

Egg Custard Tarts

Ingredients:

• 300g plain flour (sifted)

• 150g unsalted butter (cut into cubes)

• Water

• 250ml whole milk

• 250ml Full fat cream

• 4 egg yolks

• 80g honey

• Cinnamon

Method:

Add the butter to the flour and rub it between your fingers and into the flour. Keep rubbing until the mix resembles breadcrumbs.

Add a small drop of water and mix together. Keep adding a little water at a time, until the mixture comes together to form a stiff dough and leaves the bowl mostly clean.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out as thin as possible – 1 or 2 mm is best. Cut rounds for the bases using a pastry cutter and place into cupcake cases.

Blind bake (filling each pie with dry beans) for 10 minutes at 180 degrees, remove the beans and cook for a further 5 minutes at 160 degrees.

Remove from the oven.

Heat the milk and cream together until almost boiling.

Beat the egg yolks with the honey, then whisk in the hot milk.

Pour the custard into the baked pastry cases and sprinkle a little cinnamon on top.

Bake for around 20 minutes at 140 degrees until the custard has set.

This recipe is taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available now on Amazon

Flat Bread

Ingredients:

• 100g bread flour + a little extra

• 2g salt

• 60 ml water (give or take)

• Optional – Small bunch of roughly chopped herbs or fruit/nuts, for example; nettles/rosemary/walnuts or a tsp of fennel/cumin seed etc

Method:

Put the flour and salt into a large bowl and mix together.

Add any extras (if using) and slowly add the water and mix together to form a workable dough. You can add more or less water depending on how your dough feels. I find it varies slightly every time.

Tip out onto your worktop, dust your hands with flour and knead for 5 minutes.

Roll the dough into a ball and dust with a little flour.

Flatten to around 0.5-1 cm thick.

Cook for 3 or 4 minutes on each side in a hot frying pan, without any oil.

This recipe is taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available now on Amazon