Another fantastic week spent with Mr Alan Cliff and his wife Rosemary. Alan is the author of the Famous Jack the
station cat books, many of them were written here at Plas Llwyd. Jackson our weimarner (who passed away this yr)
was even featured in one of the books as Whitford wynne.
Alan has now set up a face book account where you can catch up with Jack or go to www.jackthestationcat.co.uk for
latest books.
Well another fantastic lot of guests...We all learnt from the guys at the theatre working on the production of Sound of Music..With Connie Fisher who won the role.
Some other guests were chatting how they were going that afternoon so Rob very kindly meet them after the show and took them back stage for a tour of how it's all put together, they had a wonderful time and found it all really interesting. At evening meal everyone was excitedly chatting about the day about how much effort is put into the the shows held at Venue Cymru.
We all hope Helen gets well soon she fell back stage and hurt her foot but has since phoned me to say she's back at work now and hobbling around on her crutches!!
Dad's Army is currently on there for the next few days.
Ingredients
For the pastry:
255g/9oz plain flour
pinch of salt
140g/5oz hard margarine or butter
6 tsp cold water
For the filling:
3 large Bramley cooking apples, chopped, stewed and cooled
sugar, to taste
caster sugar, to serve
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl.
3. Rub in the margarine or butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Add the cold water to the flour mixture. Using a knife, mix the water into the flour, using your hand to firm up the mixture. The pastry should be of an even colour and suitable consistency for rolling.
5. Divide the pastry into two halves. Take one half and roll it out so that it is big enough to cover an 20cm/8in enamel or aluminium plate. Trim the edges with a knife using the edge of the plate as your guide.
6. Cover the pastry with the stewed apples and sprinkle with sugar to taste.
7. Roll out the other half of the pastry. Moisten the edge of the bottom layer of pastry and place the second piece on top.
8. Press down on the pastry edges, making sure that they are properly sealed. Trim off any excess pastry with a knife in a downward motion, again using the plate as your guide.
9. Flute the edges with a pinching action using your fingers and thumb.
10. Prick the surface of the pastry lightly before placing the pie in the oven. Cook for 20-30 minutes.
11. When the pie is cooked it should move slightly on the plate when gently shaken.
12. Slide on to a serving plate, dust with caster sugar and serve.
Ingredients
225g/8oz butter or margarine, softened at room temperature
225g/8oz caster sugar
4 medium eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
225g/8oz self raising flour
milk, to loosen
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Grease and line 2 x 18cm/7in cake tins with baking paper.
3. Cream the butter and the sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy.
4. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, and stir in the vanilla extract.
5. Fold in the flour using a large metal spoon, adding a little extra milk if necessary, to create a batter with a soft dropping consitency.
6. Divide the mixture between the cake tins and gently spread out with a spatula.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and peel off the paper. Place onto a wire rack.
9. Sandwich the cakes together with jam, lemon curd or whipped cream and berries or just enjoy on its own.
