I shared some recipes yesterday from a wonderful little cookery book, Old Pendle Recipes, by Joyce Douglas. Pendle is an area of south Lancashire, but the name will forever be associated with several poor unfortunate women, who were thought of as witches, and were brutally and cruelly done to death in the early seventeenth century.
However, here is a recipe from the book which is redolent of former times, when dried fruit such as figs and prunes were widely used when fresh fruit wasn’t available, or maybe too expensive. I do wonder how you can have “a large tablespoon” of something like syrup, which is a liquid!! Apparently for some reason, fig dishes were very popular in Burnley!!
Burnley Pie
- * 8 oz figs, chopped
- * 4 oz suet
- * 6 oz breadcrumbs
- * 2 eggs, beaten
- * 6 oz brown sugar
- * 1 large (???) tbsp syrup
- 1. combine all the ingredients and mix well
- 2. pour int a well-buttered basin and cover with 3 layers of greaseproof paper
- 3. steam for 3 hours
- 4. serve with a white sauce or custard
I have no idea what a dessert white sauce is, we never ever had anything like that at home – we had Birds’ custard, or evaporated milk, or tinned cream (which my sister and I didn’t like!) However, I did experience it at school, and I have a feeling my mother-in-law made it, but the only recipe which sounds as if it might produce what I think it is, is this:
- * 10 fl oz milk
- * 1 oz butter
- * 2 oz plain flour
- * 2 tsp white sugar
- * 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, or 1–2 tbsp brandy/rum
- 1. gently melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat
- 2. remove pan from heat and stir in flour/cornflour to make a smooth paste
- 3. gradually pour in the milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps and stir in sugar
- 4. bring mixture to a gentle boil, stirring continuously, simmer for 2-3 minutes until thick and smooth
- 5. remove from heat, in vanilla extract/brandy/rum,
My featured image is of an apple as you can see, I have no images of figs – maybe I should buy some!
Lois Elsden 