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British Isles Cuisine, Kitchen & Dining
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Cuisine
Explore the British Isles
English Food
Roasts, pies, puddings and regional bakes from Yorkshire to Cornwall.
Scottish Food
Shortbread, oats, smoked fish and the Burns supper.
Welsh Food
Welsh cakes, bara brith, lamb and leeks.
Irish Food
Soda bread, stews and the breads of the Irish kitchen.
Northern Irish Food
Griddle breads, the Ulster fry and home baking.
Kitchen
Kitchen design & decor ideas
Kitchen design
How Many Calories Are in an Afternoon Tea?
Calories in a scone with jam and cream, finger sandwiches, Victoria sponge and a cup of tea, from the UK’s official food composition tables, with a worked example for a full afternoon tea.
Kitchen design
How to Blind Bake Pastry for a Crisp Tart Case
Pre-baking the pastry case stops wet fillings making the base soggy. How to line the tin, what to use as weights, and how long to bake it.
Kitchen design
How to Sharpen a Kitchen Knife: Whetstone, Steel or Pull-Through
A sharp knife is safer than a blunt one. The difference between honing and sharpening, how to use a whetstone, and when a pull-through sharpener is enough.
Kitchen design
How to Keep Christmas Dinner Hot (Safely) While You Serve
Everything ready at once is the hardest part of Christmas dinner. Resting, warm plates, holding vegetables, and the temperature rule that keeps food safe.
Kitchen design
How to Store and Feed a Christmas Cake (and Keep Your Pudding)
Wrapping, feeding with brandy, when to marzipan and ice, and how to keep a Christmas pudding until the day. The simple rules that keep fruit cakes moist.
Kitchen design
How to Build a British and Irish Cheeseboard for Christmas
A hard cheese, a crumbly one, a blue and a soft: how to choose a cheeseboard from these islands, how much to buy, and how long it can sit out.
Kitchen design
Oven Temperature Conversions: °C, Fan, Gas Mark and °F
A simple chart for converting between conventional and fan ovens, gas marks and Fahrenheit, and why your own oven might not match the dial.
Kitchen design
How Much Food for Christmas Dinner? Quantities Per Person
How big a turkey, how many potatoes and how much gravy: a quantity guide per person so you buy enough without a week of leftovers.
Kitchen
Bake & cook
Guides
Choose well
Buying guide
Apple Corers and Slicers for Baking
Core a whole apple for baking in one push, or core and slice into wedges for crumbles and tarts. Simple corers, corer-slicers and peeler machines compared.
Buying guide
Baking Beans: Blind Baking Without a Soggy Bottom
Ceramic beans, metal chains or dried pulses: what to use for blind baking, and how to do it properly.
Buying guide
Baking Paper, Greaseproof and Tin Liners: Which to Use
Baking paper, greaseproof paper, pre-cut liners and reusable sheets compared. Which one stops cakes sticking, which needs greasing, and lining a deep fruit cake tin.
Recipes
Traditional bakes & classics
Recipe · 3 hr 50 min
Selkirk Bannock
A round, buttery yeasted loaf packed with sultanas, from Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. Lovely sliced and buttered with tea, and a fine gift at Hogmanay.
Recipe · 40 min
Brandy Butter for Christmas Pudding
Three ingredients and ten minutes: the rich, sweet butter that melts over hot Christmas pudding and mince pies. Make it up to two weeks ahead.
Recipe · 2 hr 25 min
Christmas Rocky Road
A no-bake traybake of chocolate, crushed biscuits, marshmallows and cherries: the easiest Christmas treat, and a favourite in Northern Irish traybake tins.
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