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Robert Browning - Poems

Robert Browning, a towering poetic presence of the Victorian era, was hailed by Henry James as a tremendous and incomparable modern. The sheer immediacy and colloquial energy of his poetry ensure enduring appeal. Browning paints landscapes both suburban and sublime, combines lyric and demotic language, and introduces everyday events of the streets and marketplace into the rarified world of Victorian poetry.

This comprehensive selection includes over eighty of his shorter poems, amongst them his most famous and best-loved dramatic monologues, as well as the complete text of many of his longer poems.

Easy fuit cake

Est Prep Time:
Est Cooking Time: 4.5 hours depending on size
Oven Temp: 150C for 1/2 hour then down to 100C
Serves: 1 & 1/2 x the recipe makes 2 7inch round cakes or double the recipe for 1 10 inch square or 12 inch round fcake.

Ingredients:

250g Butter/Margarine
250g dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. bicarb soda
1/2 tsp. each of vanilla, almond and lemon essence
1/2 tsp. each of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and ground cloves (i use one half tablespoon of mixed spice, easier to measure one spice)
1/4 cup marmalade
375g plain flour
1 kg mixed fruit
Sherry or Brandy (approx 1/2 cup) (i use a bit over a third of a cup into the mix as i soak the fruit in a generous amount of sherry)

Instructions:


Mix fruit and spices, essences, bicarb soda and sugar in a basin.

Melt butter and milk on stove (i do this step in the microwave while i measure out all the other ingredients) and pour over fruit mixture, mix well and add eggs one at a time, beating well.

Add marmalade.

Add sifted flour.

Add sherry or brandy.

Place mixture in a tin lined with baking paper, tie several strips of folded newspaper or brown paper around the outside edge of the tin as this helps to prevent the edges cooking too much. Then place some folded paper on the top and bake in a slow oven (approx 130 - 135c) for 4 - 4 1/2 hours.

Test with a skewer, if skewer comes out clean, cake is cooked, cool in tin.

Additional Info/Comments:


Above is the recipe as it was given to me. I like to high bake my cakes so I pile this recipe into an eight inch tin. If I do one and a half this recipe I get two nice seven inch Christmas Cakes.

I soak my mixed fruit for about 3 daysin plenty of sherry, I measure it soaked.

I line the cake tin withbaking paper and wrap several layers of paper around the outside of the tin or wrap the tin in a foil strip containing several layers of damp paper towel. I also sit the tin on damped newspaper to insulate the bottom of the tin.

I cover the cake with foil for the whole of the baking time except fpr around the last ten to fifteen minutes.

Before you put it in the oven pat the top of the cake with some water on your hand, this gives a very moist surface and the cake doesn’t seem to crack as much

I bake it at 150 celcius for half an hour and then I turn the oven right down to 100. I will give the tin a turn every hour and a half. If I am cooking two cakes at once I will swap their positions in the oven as well.

With two cakes in the oven in eight inch tins cooked at the above temperature, this recipe takes about 4.5 hours in total to cook. A little less if you have one cake in the oven or more if you use the wet paper towel/foil method. I take it out of the oven and test it with....I use a steak knife (is that bad??). If I see wet crumbs on the knife to me that’s done! I paint a little sherry on the top of the cake and then I place a round glad bake on the top of the cake and wrap it in a big old sheet and leave it to cool in the tin, wrapped in the sheet, top of the cake on the bottom. When it’s cool I wrap it well in baking paper then cling wrap or foil cling wrap then foil. Never wrap your cake directly in foil as that may result in a metalic reaction. Cake can be eaten as soon as the next day but improves if let to mature for a week to 6 weeks
I have based the cooking times from experimenting with my oven and this recipe. It may take you a couple of goes to adjust the cooking times and temperature to suit your oven. When I first tried this cake I cooked it at 130 in my oven and it was dry on the outside. When I changed the cooking temperature the whole cake changed to the beautiful moist cake it should be. I double the mix for a ten inch square cake and it takes about 5 1/2 to six hours and it’s moist from corner to centre. Let me know if you have any questions or need any more help with this recipe.

Chocolate Cookies with Mint Frosting... and of course, sprinkles

Recipe:
3 oz grated bittersweet chocolate
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder

Put the butter and chocolate in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat on medium power for 2 minutes. Take out and stir half way through the cooking time. Remove from the microwave and stir with a whisk until the chocolate is completely melted and incorporated with the butter. Add the sugar, egg and vanilla and stir until blended. Slowly incorporate the flour, baking powder and salt. Turn out on a board or counter that's been dusted with confectioner's sugar. Knead dough until its blended and forms into a square. Wrap with waxed paper. Seal in a plastic bag and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.


Preheat oven to 375f. Divide dough in half and return the unused portion to the fridge. Roll dough out until its between 1/8" and 1/4". Then cut into whatever shape you'd like. Lay out on a parchment lined cookie sheet (or you can use a silicone baking mat). Bake 8 -10 minutes for softer cookies or 10-12 minutes for crispier cookies.

Decorate as you choose.....

Here's my Icing recipe:
2 TBS Softened Butter
2 Cups Confectioner's Sugar
2 tsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
2 to 6 tsp light corn syrup
paste or powdered food coloring

With a hand mixer, soften the butter then add in the powdered sugar. Add in the vanilla and peppermint extract and continue to mix. Slowly add in the milk. Gradually add in the corn syrup. The amount of corn syrup will vary depending on the consistency of the icing you're trying to achieve. The icing needs to be free flowing to flood the cookie surface, but not too loose or it will run off the sides. For piping and lettering it needs to be thicker but still able to flow through a #3 or 4 tip. This should make enough icing to ice 4 dozen 3" cookies.

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