British berries include red and black currants, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries, blackberries and strawberries. There are quite a few classic British dishes that are made with berries that are delicious for the summer.
Raspberry Oatmeal Cookies are a popular favourite year round because you can freeze them. The British call these moist chewy cookies “Raspberry Oaties.
Here is a simple recipe for Raspberry Oaties …think of serving these at your next British tea
1 cup flour (the self –raiser kind)
1 dash of salt
1 cup butter
1 cup rolled oats (preferably the high quality Irish Cut Steel oats
1 cup golden sugar
1 ½ cups raspberries
To make these grease a flat square pan for baking squares or jelly rolls. Do not forget to preheat the oven to to 190C/375°F .
Mix the flour and salt and roughly rub in the butter.
Stir the oats and sugar into the mixture and use your hands to combine (it will be a thick doughy mixture).
Press half of the oat mixture into the prepared tin. Sprinkle over the raspberries, squashing slightly if using fresh raspberries, to release the juice. Cover with the remaining oat mixture then press down firmly.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool for 10 minutes then cut into squares.
Traditional Home Made Spotted Dick is basically a steam sponge pudding with red or black currants inside. You can buy spotted dick in a can but if you really want a completely delicious treat then try this recipe.
You will need:
100 grams self raising flour
50 grams frozen butter, grated
1 pinch salt
50 grams sugar
50 grams red or black currants or a mix of both!
50 grams citrus peels (mixed lemon, lime and orange peels)
1 egg, beaten
4 tbsps milk
Grease a pudding pan and then mix all of the dry ingredients in another bowl. Add milk and egg and stir until well blended. Spoon the mixture in a pan and the cover with foil and steam in the oven in a big pan of water for about two hours.
Serve hot with fruit syrup, a dollop of custard or with traditional Devon cream poured over it. The great thing about both of these recipes is that they are reasonably healthy for you.