Baking is the perfect winter activity. You don’t have to go out in the cold — except to buy the ingredients. You can to exercisebetätigen, trainierenexercise your hands and arms to kneadknetenkneading the doughTeigdough and then recover on the sofa with a book, while your pie or cake bakes in the oven.
The British make great tartObstkuchen, -törtchentarts, cakes, biscuits and pies, both sweet and savouryherzhaftsavoury. This tradition has been updated over the past two decades by cooks such as Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith. Some British specialities taste particularly good in the cold months. Here are two for you to enjoy.
RECIPE 1: TREACLE TART
“There’s nothing more British than a pie,” says Jamie Oliver. The famous cook even created a special pie for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011. Pies have a long tradition in Britain. The pastry casingTeighüllepastry casing allowed them to be transported easily, and so meat-filled pies were probably among the first fast foods. Try this latticedmit Gittermusterlatticed treacle tart (UK)Mürbeteigkuchen mit einer Sirupfüllungtreacle tart, a cross between a pie and a tart.
For the pastry:
- 250g flour
- 130g butter
For the filling:
- 400g golden syrupheller Sirup aus Zuckerrohrgolden syrup
- 150g fine fresh white breadcrumbs
- 2 lemons
- 1 egg
To make
Prepare the shortcrust pastry (UK)Mürbeteigshortcrust pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add three tablespoons of water to create the dough. Put in the fridge for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200 °C/gas 6. Butter a deep, 18cm flan tinrunde Obstkuchenformflan tin. Then roll the rest of the pastry out and place it in the flan tin. Put aside 150g of pastry for the lattice top: roll it out, brush it with egg and refrigerate. For the filling, heat the syrup in a pan, then add breadcrumbs, lemon juice and zest(Zitronen)Schalezest. Pour the filling into the flan tin. Take the remaining pastry and cut it into long, 1-cm-wide strips; lay these in a criss-cross pattern over the mixture. Bake on the preheated baking trayBackblechbaking tray for 10 minutes until the pastry has started to colour. Then reduce the temperature to 180 °C/gas 4 and bake for another 25 minutes.
RECIPE 2: APPLE CRUMBLE
A few years ago, the French cookery writer Camille Le Foll wrote a book called, simply, Crumbles. It explained the wonderful English crumble — a fruit-based pie with a crumblyaus Streuselncrumbly topping. The book was an unexpected success, and crumbles started appearing on the menus of top French restaurants. The British have always known that the crumble is a fabulous dessert. Try this classic recipe. 
- 250g flour
- 225g brown sugar
- 200g butter
- 450g apples (to peelschälenpeeled and cut into 1-cm cubes)
- juice of one lemon
- 1⁄2 teaspoon of groundgemahlenground cinnamonZimtcinnamon
To make
Preheat your oven to 180 °C/gas 4. Put 200g of the flour, 75g of the sugar and a pinchPrisepinch of salt into a bowl and mix well. Cut the butter into small squares and rub into the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbsBrösel (aus Weißbrot)breadcrumbs. Put the fruit into a bowl and mix in the remaining sugar and flour. Add the cinnamon and lemon juice. Butter a 24cm heatproof dish, pour in the fruit, then cover with the crumble mixture. Bake in the oven for around 40 minutes until the crumble is golden and the fruit mixture is bubbling.
In her book Food in England, Dorothy Hartley compares British cooking to “an old-fashioned kitchen, not impressive, but a warm and friendly place”. With regard to our baking, we would have to disagree. What could be more impressive than a golden treacle tart straight from the oven? Happy baking!
