The pastry room – what was it like to work there? And a recipe for artichoke pie
A small dark room lies behind the meat safe in the Town House’s basement annexe
How to make Yorkshire Parkin
“It’s very sweet, with a distinct ginger flavour; sticky and a clinging texture” This is Yorkshire parkin as described for those who don’t know it. And if you don’t know it you should. This ginger-spiced chewy cake is certainly a …
How to make Bachelor’s and Spinster’s puddings
Two discovered recipes from mysterious sources and two antiquated words for being single
Pease pudding – how to make this vegan historical dish
How do you make historical food vegan? My library of historic cookbooks offered inspiration.
How to cook from a historical recipe
My first historical cookbook had no photos but also no ingredient list.
How to make a delicious vegan Georgian poached fruit salad
Food can take you to other places. But wouldn’t it be more fun to travel in time?
How to make a spectacular plum cake from the 1820s
Recipes are like small detective stories. They can give historical clues.
How to make Elizabethan Gingerbread. An easy recipe using breadcrumbs.
An autumn afternoon called for gingerbread so I consulted my recipe books
How to make hunter’s pudding
Hunter’s pudding is a variation of plum pudding, and so good autumn
Dine Like a Servant goes to France
Pate de campagne, brioche, pickled pear or soup Crécy to start
How to make wonderful historic Hot Cross Buns
A quick history of the Hot Cross bun and a wonderful historic recipe
Shrove Tuesday – 3 unusual things to add to a pancake
Want to do something different for Pancake Day but don’t know what?
How to make Pumpkin Pie from 1796
If you have carved out a pumpkin for Halloween this recipe is ideal to use up the flesh
How to make Lemon Mince Pies from the 1830s
96 mince pies are made for a discerning audience. None remain
How to make the best Christmas Pudding in a pudding cloth
The damp fug of a pudding gently boiling in a old kitchen, the rattling of a saucer in the pot
How to make tempting chocolate tarts – Hannah Glasse’s way
This was the first ever historical recipe that I tried, one cold February in 2017
How to Pickle a Peach
The Regency Town House was full of Italian artists when I made this recipe for the first time.
How to restore a Kitchen Dresser
Long, slow but worth it… It’s been a long slow process but the original dresser at 13 Brunswick Square is finally restored. It’s back in the same place it was when the house was constructed in 1829. But it’s not …
How did it manage to stay untouched for so long?
As a volunteer I often get asked the question how the Town House’s basement managed to stay untouched for so long. An elderly lady in history I tell people who asked the true story of an elderly lady living in …
How to make Seed cake (Elizabeth Raffald’s way)
The particular recipe I have chosen is flavoured with caraway seed