Did you celebrate Guy Fawkes Night over the weekend with bonfires, fireworks, sparkles?
Bonfire night wouldn’t be the same without the right food and drink to celebrate the festive occasion – usual something warm for a cold night! Below are a few recipes to celebrate the occasion throughout the week…
Roasted Chestnuts
Chestnuts come into our supermarkets just in time for Bonfire Night – a bag of chestnut is a great hand-warmer!
Ingredients: 1kg / 2¼ lb chestnuts
Method:
- heat the oven to 200oC/400F/Gas 6
- Prick chestnut with fork to prevent it from bursting
- put on a roasting tin and bake until the skin open and the insides are tender – approximately 30mins
Chestnuts come into our supermarkets just in time for Bonfire Night – a bag of chestnut is a great hand-warmer!
Bonfire Toffee
Ingredients:
- 1lb sugar, preferably Demerara
- 1/3 pint water
- 1¼ ozs butter
- 2 level tablespoons golden syrup
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
Method:
- put all the ingredients into a saucepan, adding the sugar and syrup gradually to avoid burning, and stir over a steady heat until the sugar has dissolved
- bring to the boil and cook slowly
- pour into oiled or buttered tin and allow to set
- break when completely set
Toffee Apple
The good old classic – a must have during this occasion!
Ingredients:
- 6 sweet and crunchy apples
- 6 tablespoon caster sugar
- 85ml water
- 600g Demerara sugar
- 100g unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoon vinegar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla essence
Method:
- wash and dry apples, remove the stalks and push into a lollipop stick
- place all the ingredients (apart from the apples) into a deep based pan and bring to the boil. Let it cook for approximately 30mins
- dip each apple into the toffee, remove and air – cool a few seconds then repeat until thickly coated
- dip into a bowl of cold water and place on a tray/rack until cool
- wrap each apple individually with cling film to stop the toffee from going sticky
Parkin
Ingredients:
- 225g self-rising flour
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 115g caster sugar
- 60g butter
- 115g golden syrup
- 225ml milk
Method:
- preheat oven at 150oC/Gas 2
- grease a 25 x 18cam cake tin and line with grease proof paper
- sift the flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Stir in the egg and then the caster sugar, mixing well
- melt the butter and the golden syrup in a small saucepan, remove from the heat and stir in the milk
- stir the milk mixture gradually into the flour and egg mixture. Stir until smooth, then pour into the prepared tin
- bake for about an hour until the mixture starts to shrink away from the sides of the tin
- remove from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack
- cut into squares and serve. If you can, leave the parkin for 3-4days before serving so that it becomes nice and sticky
After all the delicious snacks (although maybe be high in sugar and fat) don’t forget to top up on your friendly bacteria – probiotics!