The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook (47 page)

A classic British dessert that most of the staff at Downton Abbey would be well acquainted with, “treacle tart” is Cockney slang for “sweetheart.” Perhaps even the Ladies Crawley would give this dessert a try, though it’s just as likely the traditional Earl of Grantham might turn his nose up at a supposedly lower-class sweet. Nonetheless, this dessert would be well-known to the staff and all their family, many of whom likely originated from working-class London, where Cockney slang and all its associations originated.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2
¹
⁄
₂
teaspoons sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into
¹
⁄
₂
-inch cubes

6 tablespoons ice water

1
¹
⁄
₂
teaspoons lemon zest

¹
⁄
₂
cup rolled oats

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup golden syrup (1 part sugar to 1 part water)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Whip cream for garnish

1. For pastry:
   Thoroughly mix together flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add butter, and mix until mixture resembles coarse meal. (You might need a blender to do this, otherwise use your hands.) Add ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture just begins to clump together. Make sure the dough holds together when pinched.
   
2. Place dough on a clean surface. Gently shape the dough mixture into two discs. Work the dough just enough to form the discs but do not overknead. Sprinkle a little flour around each of the discs, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 90 minutes.
   
3. Remove one disc from the refrigerator. Let soften for 10 minutes in order to help with rolling. Then, with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, roll out disc to a 12-inch circle about
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₈
   -inch thick. Carefully place on a 9-inch pie plate, gently pressing pie dough down so it lines up with bottom and sides of pie dish.
   
4. Preheat oven to 400°F.
   
5. For filling:
   In a large bowl, mix together the lemon zest, oats, and ginger. Place half of it into the pastry, then pour golden syrup and lemon juice on top of the pie. Cover with rest of oat mixture.
   
6. Roll out the second disc following previous directions. Cut into strips to lay a trellis over the tart.
   
7. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, then serve hot or cold with whipped cream.
   

No treacle tart would be complete without a hearty serving of Clotted Cream (see recipe in
Chapter 8
)!

Similar to the English trifle, Tipsy Cake, the name given to an old-fashioned English sweet dessert cake, was originally made by soaking sponge cake in high-quality sherry and brandy. This soul-warming alcoholic cake would certainly be enjoyed by the Downton Abbey staff and by the “tweeny,” or kitchen maid — in this case, Daisy — most of all, as it would serve as a delicious snack after a hard night of scrubbing dishes.

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate squares, preferably Guittard

¹
⁄
₄
cup instant espresso powder, such as Megdalia d’Oro or Café Bustelo

¹
⁄
₄
cup boiling water

1
¹
⁄
₄
cups cold water

³
⁄
₄
cup whiskey

1 cup unsalted butter

1
¹
⁄
₂
teaspoons vanilla extract

2
¹
⁄
₄
cups sugar

3 eggs

2 cups self-rising flour

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
   
2. Melt chocolate over low heat, stirring frequently.
   
3. Dissolve espresso in boiling water. Once dissolved, stir in cold water and whiskey, then set aside.
   
4. Cream together butter, vanilla extract, and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add melted chocolate.
   
5. Alternately add flour and espresso/whiskey mixture. The mixture will be incredibly runny and thin, but do not be alarmed.
   
6. Pour batter into two 6×9-inch loaf pans.
   
7. Place pans into preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in cakes comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when serving (optional).
   

Dessert is served to your guests in the same order as dinner was presented. Though you might crave it, black coffee is
never
served at a truly fashionable dinner table until after dessert is finished and cleared away. Should a lady wish for a second glass of wine at this time, the gentleman nearest her may serve it — she may
not
serve herself. However, please note that it is considered unseemly for a lady to require another glass of wine with dessert, so drink responsibly. Not that Lady Mary would pay any attention to such rules, much to her parents’ chagrin and the servants’ amusement.

It’s likely that when Mr. Bates’s lovely wife, Anna, dreams of his prison release, part of that dream involves baking Mr. Bates a celebratory dinner. This homey and classic British pudding dish, while not nearly as sweet as Anna, would nonetheless be on the list of desserts to serve Mr. Bates after his diet of prison food!

1 large baguette

¹
⁄
₂
cup unsalted butter, melted

³
⁄
₄
cup whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

4 large eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 cup sugar

2
¹
⁄
₂
teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
   
2. Cut enough of the baguette into 1-inch cubes to measure 4 cups.
   
3. In an 8-inch square pan, toast cubed bread in the middle of the oven until bread is crisp but not golden, about 5–7 minutes. Mix melted butter in with bread, tossing to coat bread completely.
   
4. In a medium-sized bowl, thoroughly whisk together milk, cream, eggs, maple syrup, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla. Pour over bread, stirring to coat. Cover and chill pudding for at least 1
   ¹
   ⁄
   ₂
   hours.
   
5. Bake pudding in the middle of oven until it just sets but still trembles slightly, about 50–55 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
   

Most bread-and-butter pudding dishes include raisins, so it would be historically accurate to add
¹
⁄
₂
–1 cup raisins to this dish. The earliest bread-and-butter puddings were called “whitepot,” and either bone marrow (yikes!) or butter could be used. They could also be made with rice instead of bread, which led to the rise of rice puddings such as Classic Vanilla Rice Pudding (see recipe in this chapter). At any rate, a bread pudding such as this one or the Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce (see
Chapter 7
) is an excellent way to make use of stale bread!