Recipes
I never thought food would become such a big part of Grimm-verse. But how wrong I was. It all started with cake and cheese. Fruit cake, of course, with a thick slab of Wensleydale cheese. And then it just snowballed from there to apple pies, flap jacks and even Fat Rascals. So if you can’t make it to Cockett’s or Betty’s for a taste of the Dales, then get your oven gloves on and bring a bit of Grimm’s Dales to your own kitchen!
Cake & Cheese
One thing that's been quite the surprise is how the whole 'cheese and cake' thing has kind of become something all on its own. I mentioned it in Grimm Up North because it was a detail I remember from living there and is a very Yorkshire thing. At no point did I expect it to be talked about so much!
There was no way I was ever going to get my hands on the very secret recipe to Cockett's own famous fruit cake. However, with help from a few Wensleydale folk, we are able to present you with a recipe for what I think should forever be called Harry's Cake!
Below you'll find the recipe and method. We've tried this, baked it, and scoffed the lot. It's delicious and gets better with a few days left to mature (a week later it was fantastic!)
So, why not have a go at baking it and munching it with some Wensleydale Cheese and, of course, a good strong mug of good Yorkshire tea?
Yorkshire Fruit Cake (aka Harry’s cake)
Apple Pie and Cheddar
Another great cheese/cake combination people keep mentioning is apple pie with cheddar. Seeing as I now live in Somerset, just a stone’s throw away from Cheddar Gorge, the home of cheddar cheese, I thought this was too good an opportunity to miss. So, I have once again tried my hand in the baking department to see if I could rustle up something that would satisfy Harry and the gang.
Anna’s Eyewatering Flapjack
If you’ve read Fair Game, you may recall a scene where Harry gets to try some flapjack provided by Anna. Made to a secret family recipe, the flapjack leaves a lasting impression of Harry:
“Harry took the mug, then walked over to the flapjack and took a slice. His eyes widened at the first bite.
‘What the hell is in this?’
‘She refuses to give me the recipe,’ Gordy said with a shrug. ‘It’s not exactly a traditional recipe, that’s for sure, seeing as its rammed full of raisins, cashews, and chunks of chocolate, but I do know that she doesn’t just use golden syrup to sweeten it, but some honey as well that she has sent to her from friends over in Wales.”
Fat Rascal
For anyone who lives in Yorkshire Betty’s Tea Rooms is an institution. Offering everything from cakes, chocolates, biscuits and a mouth-watering range of afternoon teas, it’s a place that’s been on my radar for years, but much like Harry in Unquiet Bones, I’ve never had the time to visit there while visiting the north:
“Harry headed away from Harrogate[…]. He would’ve liked to have enough time to pop into Betty’s, a tearoom Matt had mentioned more than a couple of times, if only to find out what on earth a Fat Rascal was. Every time he’d asked the DS to describe it, the only answer he’d received was a wide-eyed, ‘Delicious!’ which wasn’t much to go on, really.”
Aldwin Fothergill’s
Grandma’s Oat Biscuits
When it comes to interviewing suspects and witnesses, things always seem to go more easily in the Dales with a plate of biscuits and a cup of tea. In Dead Man’s Hands, Liz and Jen are sent out to a farmer’s cottage to question Aldwin Fothergill about the latest crime to occur in the Dales. Luckily for them, Aldwin doesn’t just farm, he also bakes. The oat biscuits that he pulls out the biscuit tin in his kitchen are based on an old family favourite from my childhood. They taste great and, most importantly, are very easy to make! So take a look and give ‘em ago