Apple Cakes and Blue Vinny Cheese: The Best of British Dorset Round-Up and a Winner!

Apple Cakes and Blue Vinny Cheese:

The Best of British Dorset Round-Up and a Winner!

Apologies for the slightly late round-up for the Dorset leg of The Best of British cooking challenge…..the challenge ended last week, right in the middle of my Wartime Kitchen – Ration Book Cooking, and I was rather taken up with it all! Fiona and I were thrilled to see so many lovely entries, and the task of choosing which recipe was best was very difficult, so, I asked my husband and a West country friend to choose…..yes, I know, I wimped out! Before I announce the winners, and yes, we have TWO winners, let  me just tell you about the last challenge in the Best of British challenge; the Best of British – Final Month challenge is being hosted by Fiona over at London Unattached, and is for the BIG prize of £300 of Amazon vouchers – so get your entries in ASAP! All you have to do is submit any recipes you have already made for any of the Best of British county challenges so far, OR, make something new, something that epitomised all that is great about Britain and its culinary heritage.  But, now on to the winners……..as you know they were picked by my husband and a friend, and they picked………………drum roll………. Dorset Red and Fursty Ferret Tart by Most Simply Traditional which, is a new blog written by Fiona Burns, who is my sister, hence the reason why I did not want to judge, plus there were a lot of entries from friends of mine too! Here’s what the judges said about her winning entry:

…..”It was refreshing to see a modern-day recipe that may become a classic using local Dorset ingredients with such imagination and flair; we both particularly liked the use of beer in this recipe, a product that tends to be forgotten when using local ingredients, and with the breweries being in dire straits, this is a wonderful way to highlight local ales – most men are not “quiche” converts, but we both thought that this tart would make a lovely lunch time dish to eat with a pint of ale down the pub”……

There is a second prize, as Fiona was very kindly given some Dorset Chocolate from The House of Dorchester to offer as another prize, and that prize is awarded to the runner-up, who is……..Dorset Rarebit by Lapin d’Or and More – another FABULOUS entry that had beer in it, I can see a pattern emerging here!

Here us what the judges said:

…..”Lapin d’Or and More and Dorset Rarebit, which, also uses BEER too but is such a simple recipe using GREAT local ingredients with flair and imagination! She also served the rarebit with Dorset Denhay dry cured bacon! We liked how she took a recipe from another region and tried to source local ingredients, and also, rarebit is a British classic too!”……

Congratulations to BOTH of the Dorset Winners!

Now on the round -up and a HUGE thanks to all of you who entered, the standard of entries was VERY high and each one was a winner, really!

The Best of British Dorset Round-Up

1. The lovely Ros was our first entry with her delectable Dorset Apple Traybake – an absolute winner of a recipe and so very Dorset too!  Ros writes over at The more than occasional baker and is a FABULOUS baker!

2. Second at the Dorset table was Under the Blue Gum Tree and her traditional Dorset Jugged Steak – another classic Dorset recipe and with a fabulous historical write-up accompanying the recipe in her post.

3. The delicious runner-up recipe Dorset Rarebit is next from Lapin d’Or and More – you only have to look at the photos to see why this tasty savoury classic was picked, and cheese and ale is always a winning combination.

4. I am next! My Lavender and Lovage entry was an Apple & Dorset Blue Vinny Scone Bread Recipe – I tried to use two classic Dorset ingredients in a new recipe for savoury scones, and the family LOVED them!

5. The next entry from Chris and Cooking Around the World is for a Dorset Apple Cake with Marzipan – and I LOVED how Chris added his own stamp by adding the marzipan to this traditional Dorset cake, fabulous entry Chris!

6. Another Apple Cake with a twist, from Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog and her Dorset Apple Cake with Chocolate Caramel – JUST look at how stunning this cake is and what AMAZING ingredients Choclette added to a classic Dorset recipe, DIVINE!

7. Cabbage and Kings is a FASCINATING entry from Fiona, and she made a Cabbage Soup – A Dorset Delicacy? Apparently, yes, as the humble cabbage was first grown in Dorset, in Wimborne St Giles on the estate of  Anthony Ashley (1551-1628).

8. Janice over at Farmersgirl Kitchen  made a Dorset Apple Cake – and her cake looks delicious, so light and fluffy, although she suggests that mixed spice or cinnamon might be nice to add next time.

9. The next entry was from Cake of the Week and a rather innovative Cream Tea Cake – it’s a cream tea in a cake, I LOVE that idea and Dorset is famous for its Dorset Cream Teas, so this was a fabulous recipe for Dorset.

10. Dorset Cereal Bars made by Caroline from Caroline Makes was the next entry – Caroline says that the first thing she thinks of when Dorset is mentioned, isn’t apples, but us Dorset Cereals, so she made some lovely cereal bars, like flapjacks!

11. Hungry Hinny made a FABULOUS looking Blueberry autumn spice cake for her entry – She quite rightly highlighted the fact that the FIRST blueberries (from Canada) that were grown in the UK, after WW2, were grown in Dorset, hence her blueberry cake!

12. And last but not least, is our winning entry, Fiona from Most Simply Traditional’s  Dorset Red and Fursty Ferret Tart – made with Dorset Red cheese, and Hall and Woodhouse Badger Fursty Ferret ale, a fabulous combination of ingredients!

A BIG thanks to all of you who entered, and DON’T forget to add your recipes to the link over in Fiona’s site for the big £300 prize, and guess who is judging? Brian Turner no less! Good Luck!

With thanks to New World Appliances Site for the £50 Amazon voucher prize for Dorset and Best of British, and to The House of Dorchester for the chocolate.