How to make Mother Eve’s pudding: a delicious pudding that’s a poem
Rhyming recipes used to be common in England, they date back to the days when few cooks could read or write. The rhyming recipe that everyone knows comes from Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of …
5 classic old puddings you need to try
Spotted Dick, Jam Roly Poly, Bakewell Pudding, Summer Pudding, Queen of Puddings
Tale of a Pastry Cutter
Next to me, on my desk, is a dark, metal pastry cutter shaped like a heart.
A day in the life of a Regency house
The 1830s Regency kitchen is where I work and from where I write this.
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.
5 books that will get you passionate about food history
Are you interested in food AND history? Do you want to start cooking historic recipes but find it difficult to start?
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
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