Best of British: County of Yorkshire Round-Up and the Winner!

Best of British:

County of Yorkshire Round-Up and the Winner!

Well, the Best of British trip to the county of Yorkshire, had SIXTEEN lovely entries and there were some Yorkshire classics amongst the entries too……as well as some VERY original and modern twists on popular Yorkshire recipes. Choosing a winner was difficult, so I asked my husband to make the decision in the end, as he is a TRUE Yorkshireman and comes from the West Riding of Yorkshire…….and even he had problems choosing, but in the end he chose a PUDDING, and NO, it was NOT a Yorkshire pudding recipe, nor was it a curd tart, which surprised me as he LOVES a curd tart, no, he picked a GOOSEBERRY pudding, and the winner is……...Phil, from Strong as Soup and his very interesting post and recipe for a  Egton Bridge Gooseberry Show  Style Gooseberry Pudding. We both loved that fact that Phil’s recipe was based on a very old-fashioned pudding that originated, albeit loosely, from an Eliza Acton recipe from 1845…….having said that, we BOTH want to post an honourable mention for the LUSH looking and sounding Yorkshire Curd Tart with Lemon Curd, baked by Bob over at Foodie Bob’s Blog and the delectable Ampleforth Abbey Cider Fruit Cake too….baked by Sarah at The Garden Deli blog; and one more mention goes out to Chris from Cooking around the World, who made not one, but THREE lovely Yorkshire inspired recipes.  BUT, each and every entry was JUST fabulous and thanks to all of you for rising to the Yorkshire challenge! So, without further ado, here is the TASTY YORKSHIRE round-up.

Best of British – Yorkshire:

First to enter into the Yorkshire spirit was Chris from Cooking around the World, and he made a FABULOUS SELECTION of Yorkshire goodies…..Fat Rascals, Cheesy Yorkshire Fish Pie and some Mini Cranberry Curd Tarts too……all beautifully photographed with lots of interesting facts and In-Greedy-Ents as Chris says!

Next up to the table was Caroline from Caroline Makes, and she made some TASTY looking Filled Yorkshire Puddings, as a memory from her university days; apparently the pub across the road, where a similar meal was found, was the origins of this roast in a pudding –  they must have been perfect for hungry, cash-strapped students too!

Yorkshire puddings make another entrance, but this time, with Butternut and Sage Yorkshire Puddings as baked by Under the Blue Gum Tree, and I have to say that I LOVED this variation on a Yorkshire Pudding recipe, and have bookmarked the post with a view to making them myself one day soon!

Old Peculiar is one of my favourite brews, so I was delighted to see the next entry from a LOVELY blog over at Lapin d’Or and her Old Peculiar Cake & Wensleydale Cheese. The recipe for the cake was based on a Porter cake recipe from the Ballymaloe cookery school’s website, and she just substituted Old Peculiar for the Irish Stout – GREAT idea!

Next we have my entry, Lavender and Lovage, a REAL old Yorkshire recipe and one that is perfect for supper, breakfast or brunch…..Grandma’s Yorkshire Season Pudding with Herbs.  This is like a savoury bread pudding and was often served by itself with onion gravy for high tea, as well as with bacon, tomatoes and maybe egg for breakfast or supper. A wonderful savoury dish that proves frugal can be tasty and filling!

Next up is the WINNING recipe from Phil at As Strong as Soup – his Gooseberry Pudding is loosely based on an old Eliza Acton recipe,  from 1845, but,  in some form or other, the dish is probably a fair bit older than that Phil says. Phil also says that it’s not the most attractive looking pudding but it is seriously full of flavour, we BOTH agreed there!

After gooseberries comes Fat Rascals, one of my favourite bakes from Yorkshire! But, these ones are VERY special as they are a “fine dining” version, and are VERY elegant! These Contemporary Fat Rascals were baked by an airline pilot chef, over at Fine Dining at Home, not whilst he was flying I hasten to add! GREAT entry thanks!

Those naughty monks and their cider are next in the round up! And it’s Sarah from The Garden Deli and her LUSH looking loaf – Ampleforth Abbey Cider Fruit Cake. Sarah lives near Ampleforth Abbey, where there has been an orchard for over 100 years.  Many of the trees grown there are old Yorkshire varieties, and are well adapted to the Northern climate.  Maintaining a beautiful old orchard takes a lot of time, and at Ampleforth this is funded by making cider and selling it through local shops….and Sarah can now sell her cake too!

Ros from The More than Occasional Baker came up trumps with this next entry, Real Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries and Apple Cake, a BEAUTIFUL cake and SUCH a lovely recipe too, she captured Yorkshire in a cake tin with this entry and I LOVED this! Ros says that this cake is sweet and savoury at the same time, with a tartness of the apples and cranberries and the lovely creamy taste of the cheese especially the slightly browned bits at the edges! Sounds DIVINE darlink!

Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen baked a LOVELY Yorkshire Barm Brack with Wenslydale – I ADORE fruit cake with cheese, and hers looked delicious. Janice says that one of the things she love about visiting tea rooms in Yorkshire is being served a piece of Wenslydale cheese with a slice of fruit cake, it’s a fabulous combination and a real treat, if you’ve never tried it she can recommend it, as can I!

We get our second helping of curd tarts now, but with a TWIST! Chocolette from Chocolate Log Blog baked some GORGEOUS looking Yorkshire Curd Tarts  with a CHOCOLATE pastry crust! She even made her own curd, I am impressed! Choclette says, that these are her interpretation of the classic recipe – and she had to get chocolate in somehow!

 Tea and Yorkshire go hand in hand, so it was wonderful to see a Yorkshire Teabread from Caroline over at Cake, Crumbs and Cooking. This recipe came from one of the Waitrose recipe cards which caught Caroline’s eye as she was doing some shopping recently, and she likes the fact that it even states on the recipe card that it was created to celebrate Yorkshire Day on the 1st August!

This next entry was one of my favourites, and I KNOW how good this lemon curd is, as I have had the privilege of tasting it at Bob’s house, and it’s one of his wife’s  amazing preserves that she makes and sells!  Bob from Foodie Bob’s Blog made this divine Yorkshire Curd Tart with Lemon Curd. And a great tip from Bob – he always makes his curd tarts in an 8″ disposable foil pie tray. It’s the perfect depth!

And so to the next LOVELY entry which is another cake, an Apple & Wensleydale Loaf Cake and this lovely entry is from Janine over at  Cake of the Week! Janine has had this recipe for Wensleydale Apple Pie from BBC Food bookmarked for ages, so she thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to try out such an interesting combination of flavours. I am so GLAD as I LOVE it!

And finally, the London Hostess with the Mostess, that’s Fiona from London Unattached, made a CLASSIC Yorkshire Parkin, and to curry favour with one of the judges, she added some lavender to adorn her cake too!  Fiona says that this is a slimmer’s cake, with a wry grin on her face….maybe, because once you make it, you can’t touch it for a week, until it becomes sticky! I think, she is just having us one – LOVELY parkin though Fiona!

But hang on an iddy biddy minute! I MISSED one and not just anyone, but a FABULOUS entry too…..I am so sorry, but I posted the round up via the linky, so any that were not added, I forgot to add! The LUSH entry in question is Angela’s Tea Cakes, posted over at her blog, Garden, Tea, Cakes and Me. Angela turned to a favourite cookbook of hers, The Dairy Book of Home Cookery, when she came to make her Yorkshire Tea Cakes. She also sneakily ate one of the tea cakes fresh from the oven with a little butter, they were light and fresh and perfect! They were still equally perfect a little later on when toasted with lashings of butter…..NAUGHTY Angela, but we will let you off! Thanks for your lovely entry…..

THANKS to all of you for rising to the YORKSHIRE challenge!

The next leg of the journey for Best of British is here:

 Best of British London. 

And Fiona from London Unattached is your Hostess with the Mostess!