This page will not be regularly maintained as of January 2001 thus e-mail addresses may no longer be current. Thank you for your interest. Recipes are added latest finds first with older items being moved down the page.
Collected recipes follow. [NOTE: Measurements may vary depending upon the contributor's country.]
As of July 8, 1998:
Fruit filled pasties & clotted cream recollections from Laura Hartronft.
As of September 9, 1997:
Heavy Cake from E. Doreen Lewis.
As of July 24, 1996:
Yeast buns from Marcia Rothman.
As of June 16, 1996:
Yarns and comments from John Symonds.
(stargazey pie, likky pie, hoggan and syllabub)
As of May 28, 1996:
Comments on pasties from Phil Barter.
As of May 12, 1996:
Cornish Pasty Recipe of Michael Clements Down Under
Ma Treloar's Cornish Pasty Recipe via the page of the Cornish Association
of Queensland.
As of May 1, 1996:
Jane Ann Curto: Recipe and information on traditional pasties
As of April 8, 1996:
Figgy 'Obbin recipes
As of March 15, 1996:
Pasties from Tony Wesley and more
As of March 12, 1996:
Gerry Sargent's Cornish Page with recipes.
As of January 14, 1996:
Sharon Curtis's Cornish Recipes
- Clotted Cream, Cherry Choclets, Tea-Cakes and Potato Cakes
As of December 22, 1995:
Autumn-Hens or Fruit Cornish Hens (via .au - c. 2 Kb)
Jean Jolliffe <jjolliff@post.its.mcw.edu>, 7 Dec 1995 and The Cornish
Society of Greater Milwaukee provide some recipes from their "Cornish Sweets"
collection:
Cousin Jack Cookies
2 1/4 cup flour 1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 c shortening, oleo or 3/4 c lard
2 eggs 3 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt 1 c currants
1 tsp vanilla
Moisten currants with 1/2 c water or milk. Add the dry ingredients.
Mix in the shortening, eggs and vanilla. Add the currants with the water
(you may need to add more to hold). Roll cookies out and cut with a cookie
cutter. Bake at 350F oven for 12-15 min.
Saffron Cake
(one of the few not made with yeast)
8 grains of saffron 3/4 c boiling water
1/2 c butter 1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs 1 1/2 c raisins or currants (soak in
boiling water and drain)
1 tsp. lemon extract 2 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt
Steep the saffron overnight in the boiling water. Cream the
butter, sugar, eggs and lemon. Sift flour, baking powder and salt.
Dredge the raisins/currants in the flour, add to the butter mixture,
alternating with the steeped saffron. Pour into a greased and floured
loaf pan. Bake at 325F for at least 1 hour or until done.
Cornish Hevva Cake
3 c flour, sifted and measured 1 c white sugar
1 c shortening 3 tsp salt
1 c currants or raisins, soaked and drained
3 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp lemon extract 1 egg, beaten
2/3 c milk and additonal milk to make a soft biscuit type dough
1/4 c white sugar
Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and nutmeg into a mixing
bowl. Cut in shortening until like corn meal. Add currants. Add lemon
extract and beaten egg to 2/3 c milk. Sitr in flour mixture with enough
milk to make a soft biscuit type dough. Grease and flour a 9x13" cake pan.
Spoon dough into pan and smooth top. Brush with a little milk and
sprinkle with 1/4 c white sugar. Bake in a 375F degree oven until
top is browned and cake test done - about 20-25 minutes.
Launceston Cake
1 c sugar 1 c butter
1 Tblsp molasses 1 Tblsp syrup
3 eggs 2 c flour
1/2 c ground almonds 1 1/2 c currants
dash of grated lemon peel
Cream butter and sugar until light, then add the molasses and
syrup. Beat the eggs, and add a little at a time, beating thorougly each
time. Add the flour and almonds. fold in the currants and peel. Mix
thoroughly.
Line an 8" cake pan with greased waxed paper. Bake at 350F for
about 45 minutes or until done. Cool before turning out of tin.
Cornish Thimble Tarts
Ms. Mae Reese says "My Cornish grandmother, mother and many Cornish women
living in the Mineral Point and Linden area in southwestern Wisconsin made
these. It was a popular way to use left over pastry dough. Strawberry and
raspberry jam or jelly were favorites for filling."
3 c sifted flour 1 tsp salt
1 c lard 3-4 Tbsp ice water
jam or jelly
Cut lard into dry ingredients until like coarse meal. Add water a small
amount at a time until mixture holds together. Shape into a ball and divide
into two equal parts. Chill. Working with one part, flour board, roll out
as for pie crust, but slightly thinner. Cut circles with 2 1/2 inch round
cutter. Place on cookie sheet close together, prick with fork. Bake in 400F
oven for 5-7 mins. or until slightly brown. Roll out other half of dough,
cut with cutter as above. With a thimble, cut three holds in each circle.
Bake on cookie sheet at 400F oven for 3-5 min. or until slightly brown. Cool.
top plain half with jam or jelly and cover with thimble cut circle.
Tue Nov. 7, 1995, Bob, bkinsman@coastside.net, kindly added:
My father taught me a variation of the traditional pasty recipe -- called
ham 'n' eggie pasty. Basically the traditional recipe is followed including
the onions, potatoes, parsley, seasonings, etc., but instead of beef, one
substitutes cubed ham. Just before folding the pastry shell over, break an
egg over the mixture. Try it, you'll like it!
November 4, 1995
From Peter, safelect@iaccess.za, at the Cape Cornish Club, Nov. 2, 1995:
SAFFRON CAKE
Oven Temp 170-180 C
Shelf Position - Centre
Cooking time 50 mins - 1 hour
2 Tbsp Boiling Water 225g Butter
Good 1/2 Tsp Saffron 120g Caster Sugar
1 + 1/2 Tsp Dried Yeast 125g Currants
1 Tsp Caster Sugar 125g Mixed Peel
150ml Milk 1 Tsp Salt
450g Cake Flour
Pour boiling water over saffron and leave to steep for at least 1
hour. Warm the milk, mix in 1 Tsp sugar and the yeast. Sprinkle
the top with a little flour and leave to stand until frothy on top
(about 10 mins).
Sift flour into a warmed bowl with the salt. Add the butter and rub
into flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the
caster sugar, currants and mixed peel - combine well.
Strain theliquid from the saffron and add the liquid to the yeast
mixture. Make a well in the centre of flour and add the yeast
mixture. Mix well to a soft dough (I usually have to add 1/4 cup
warm water extra)
Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth
(about 5 mins).
Put into a buttered bowl, turn the dough over, cover with
cling-wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours.
Put into a well greased loaf tin and bake as indicated above.
Source : my Grandmother, Mother and now Wife !
From Peter, safelect@iaccess.za, at the Cape Cornish Club
CORNISH FAIRINGS
125g Plain Flour Pinch Salt
1 Tsp Baking Powder 1 Tsp Bicarb
1 Tsp Ground Ginger 1 Tsp mixed spice
50g Butter 50g Caster Sugar
3 Tbls Golden Syrup
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl with the baking powder and
the bicarb. Add the spices and mix well. Rub the butter into
the flour with the fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse
breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar.
Heat the syrup in a saucxepan until melted. Add it to the dry
ingredients and mix until the mixture forms a stiff dough.
Shape into small balls about 2 cm in diameter and place the balls 10
cm apart on a well greased baking tray. Press the centre of the
balls gently with the thumb to flatten them and bake in a hot oven
180 C for 7 mins. SLAM the tray down when taken out of oven,
then slide onto a cake rack to cool.
Source : Modified from West Country Cooking by Marika
Hanbury Tenison
From Peter, safelect@iaccess.za, at the Cape Cornish Club:
CORNISH PASTIES
Makes 4 Pasties
250g chuck steak, diced Shortcrust pastry (450g flour)
4 Medium Potatoes peeled 1 Medium Onion peeled
125g Swede, peeled (Turnip can be substituted)
Parsley, roughly chopped 50g Butter
Salt & Pepper 1 Beaten Egg
4 Lambs Kidneys, diced
Roll out the pastry to about 5mm thick and cut out four 15cm
rounds. Cut the potatoes by shaving them, that is, cutting them into
fine wafers by constantly turning them to shave off the corners.
Put a layer of potatoes in the centre of the pastry round from 2 cm
from the top to 2 cm from the bottom. Shaving the Swede in a
similar manner, add a layer of Swede. Now a layer of meat and some
kidney and season well. Add a few pieces of parsley. Now shave
the Onion like the Potato and Swede and that's the last layer.
Dampen the edges of the pastry and bring up from the sides.
Pinch and crimp the pastry edges over the centre from top to bottom
giving a rope like effect. Make a hole near the centre and push in
a knob of butter. Glaze with beaten egg and put on a greased baking
tray. Bake in a pre-heated oven (220 C) for 10 mins, lower the heat
to 180 C and continue baking for 30 mins.
Traditionally eaten wrapped in a napkin and consumed from corner to
corner. Delicious hot or cold.
In some parts of Cornwall the pastry wrapping is done around the side
giving a half moon shape.
Source : Gran, Mother and now Wife
November 4, 1995
In the following excerpt is from A Taste of the WEST COUNTRY in food and in
pictures (p. 10) by Theodora FitzGibbon:
CLOTTED CREAM
Theodora FitzGibbon (1972:10)
' ... My landlady brought me one of the West Country
tarts ...it is an apple pie with a custard all on the
top. It is the most acceptable entertainment that
could be made me. They scald their cream and milk in
most parts of these counties, and so it is a sort of
clouted cream as we call it, with a little sugar, and
so put on the top of the apple pie.'
Set very fresh milk to stand in a wide earthenware pan
with handles, for 12 hours in summer or 24 hours in
winter. Then heat slowly, never allowing it to boil, until
the shape of the bottom of the pan is outlined in the
cream as a circle concentric to the rim. Without shaking
the pan, remove from the heat and leave to cool for a
further 12 hours in a cool place. The thick crust of cream
is then skimmed off with a large spoon or slice. The top
will be a golden yellow and very creamy underneath. This
cream is use in many ways in both Devon and Cornwall:
spread on little buns, called splits; poured into pork and
leek pies; and in 'Lammey pie', which is lamb layered with
a lot of chopped parsley and cream, with pastry over the
top.
(copyright 1972 Theodora FitzGibbon. A Taste of the WEST COUNTRY in
food and in pictures. (Pan Books Limited, 1972, ISBN 0 330 24364 0).
Clotted Cream Notes
Clotted cream substitute possibility:
November 4, 1995
A local dairy's customer service department told me that a possible substitute
to consider for real clotted cream is ricotta cheese. And, depending upon the
recipe, cream cheese might also be tried.
The following is from:
Stacy Leah Scott, slscott@mercury.sfsu.edu, Nov. 1, 1995
Clotted or Clouted Cream
In Karen Hess's edition of Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery
there is a recipe for "clouted cream" which might be feasible with
heavy cream:
Set on 2 gallons of new milke, & make a quick fire under it, &
stir it all ye while. Yn take 3 pintes of sweet cream, & when
it is ready to boyle, poure in ye cream by little & little,
very softly, & when it is ready to boyle againe, take a pinte
of cream more, well beaten with 3 new layd eggs (only ye youlks)
and poure in, but be sure it boyle not after. Yn strayn it
as hot as you can into as little a pan as you can get.
This really seems like a custard, but evidently the original
scribe (who was *not* Martha Washington, according to Hess)
believed it to belong to the same family.
.....
I had asked Stacy:
> Have you ever made clotted cream from homogenized milk/cream ?
I haven't, and I believe that it probably can't be done, unless
you *started* with a heavy cream -- in which case, it isn't
traditional clotted cream. The thing is, though, if the milk
or cream is homogenized, it *cannot* rise. Period.
Yes, the rubbery pats/sheets are the risen clotted cream; it also is
mildly fermented in the rising process. If you overlay the sheets
on one another in a circular pattern, you have "cabbage cream." ...
The following recipe for Cornish Pasties was found on
rec.food.recipes
posted by Burgess Mcswain, bmcswain@email.unc.edu, 19 Oct 1995:
Cornish Pasties
2 pkg (11 oz) pie crust mix
FILLING
3 cup pared quartered and thinly sliced potato
1 cup coarsely chopped pared carrot
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 lb ground chuck
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
Prepare pastry as package label directs; form into a ball: wrap in
waxed paper: refrigerate until ready to use. Make filling: In a large
bowl, combine potato, carrot, parsley, salt, pepper and ground
chuck-- mix well.
To make pastries: Preheat oven to 425 F. On lightly floured pastry
cloth, divide pastry into eight parts: roll each part into an eight (8)
inch circle. Moisten edge of each circle. Spread 1/2 cup filling on
half of each circle dot with butter: fold over. Fold edge of bottom
crust over top; crimp edges. Make two gashes in center for steam
to escape. Brush with beaten egg. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet
for about 30 minutes or until potato and carrot are tender. Remove
to wire rack. Serve hot or cold.
Yield: 8 servings
posted by Robert Frost, robert.foster@nashville.com, 19 Oct 1995:
Cornish Pasties
Title: Cornish Pasties
Categories: Londontowne
Yield: 6 servings
4 c Flour
1 pn Salt
1 c Lard
1 c Cold water approximately
FILLING:
8 Ox cubed beef stew meat
2 md Potatoes peeled & diced
1 lg Finely chopped onion
Pastry:
Salt and pepper to taste Approximately 2 teaspoon cornstarch
PASTRY:
Combine flour and salt in a large bowl and cut in lard until mixture
resembles fine bread crumbs. Add water slowly, a little at a time,
until mixture binds into a soft dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and
refrigerate at least an hour, a day or two is even better. There will
be pastry left over which can be frozen, or make a pie while the oven
is on for the pasties.
FILLING:
Mix together half the beef, half the onion, and one potato for each
filling. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle mixture
with 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch. When ready to make pasties, remove
pastry from the refrigerator and prepare filling. Preheat oven to 425
degrees. Roll out pastry as for pie crust and cut out two large
circles 10 inches in diameter. Place filling in center. Brush edges
of pastry with water and fold one half of circle over to meet the
other, creating a half-moon shape. Press edges of pastry together
lightly. Turn edges over about half an inch and crimp so it won't
open during baking. Make two half-inch slits near the top of each
pastry and place on a piece of baking parchment on a baking sheet.
Brush the pasties with milk and bake 15-20 minutes. Reduce heat to
375 degrees for about another 45 minutes, or until pasties are golden
brown.
September 10, 1995:
An intriguing book suggested by Harry Dodsworth of Ottawa, Canada is
A Taste of the WEST COUNTRY in food and in pictures by Theodora FitzGibbon
published in 1972 by Pan Books Limited, ISBN 0 330 24364 0.
In her collection of recipes there are some from Cornwall; FitzGibbon's
maternal grandmother was from Truro in that area (not to be confused
locally here with Truro, Nova Scotia). The tidbits about Cornwall are as
interesting as the recipes and black and white photographs.
In the following excerpt from A Taste of the WEST COUNTRY in food and in
pictures (p. 68) the Stargazey Pie sounds very entertaining. With the decrease
of the world's fish stocks, it is wondered if perhaps some day (probably sooner
than one dares to think about) such recipes as the one which follows will be
remembered more than actually used.
WEST COUNTRY BAKED PILCHARDS
Theodora FitzGibbon (1972:68)
'Here's a health to the Pope: may he
never know sorrow,
With pilchards today, and
pilchards tomorrow.'
This rhyme came about because large quantities of pilchards were exported
to Italy and many other Mediterranean countries. The pilchard (Sardina
pilchardus) at a later stage of growth is simply another name for a
sardine, hence the shipping of these fish to Italy, France and Portugal.
Because of their high fat content they travel badly, which is why both
the young (sardine) and old (pilchard) are canned. The shoals appear
without warning, and only briefly: they also disappear for some years,
as happened in the 1920s in Cornwall. Anyone who has tasted the delights
of freshly grilled sardines will know what a fresh pilchard is like. A
Cornish name for them is 'Fair Maids', possibly a corruption of the
Spanish fumade (smoked) from the time when Spanish fishing fleets assembled
off the Cornish coast. It is possible that many of the curious sunken
pits to be seen in Cornwall were used for smoking these in early times.
Despite the vast numbers caught, economic conditions in Cornwall
in the last century made them a luxury for the poor. When available, they
were served simmered with potatoes in thin cream (the rich clotted cream
being the expensive luxury) and it was called 'Dippy'.
Stargazey pie was another method of serving: the fish were stuffed
with chopped herbs and spice, then arranged on pastry with the head to
the outside; bits of chopped bacon and onion were scattered around and
the whole covered with a mixture of eggs and cream, then covered with
pastry, so that the heads protruded on the outside, hence the name.
.....
West Country Baked Pilchards
(also for herrings and mackerel)
8 pilchards, cleaned and filleted 1 teaspoon each of ground
cloves and allspice
1 medium sliced onion [Note: If display is
« pint (1 cup) pale beer askew, ascii (427)=
« pint (1 cup) 1/2 as in 1/2 pint.]
vinegar
4 bayleaves
black pepper and salt
Salt and spice each fish, roll them and lay in an ovenproof dish. Scatter the
onions and bayleaves around and plenty of black pepper. Pour over the mixed
beer and vinegar (if using stronger beer, make it two-thirds beer and one-third
vinegar), cover and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F.) for about 1 hour.
They are excellent either cold or hot.
Serves 4.
(copyright 1972 Theodora FitzGibbon)
The following recipe for Cornish Tea-Cakes was found on
rec.food.recipes
posted by Sharon Curtis, sharon@ecs.oxford.ac.uk, Wed, 6 Sep 1995: Cornish Tea Cakes Ingredients: 8 oz self-raising flour 4 oz lard or margarine 4 oz currants 1/2 tsp mixed spice 1 oz candied peel 2 ozs sugar 1/2 pt milk (beaten egg to glaze) Method: Rub the fat in the flour, then add the currants, sugar, peel and mixed spice. Add sufficient milk to make into a soft dough. Roll out to half an inch thickness and cut to shape with a round cutter. Brush with beaten egg to glaze and bake at about 350F for 10 to 15 minutes. These are nice split and spread with butter.
The following have been contributed by: Stacy Leah Scott Pasties from Stacy Scott First make shortcrust pastry. Any common recipe works, altho' those made with lard are tougher (and therefore easier to carry, as these pies were intended to be). Common flaky pie pastry works too, is very tasty, but breaks apart like mad! The filling: Cut lean beef into small chunks (I use round steak, but chuck does well too). Dice an equal amount or more of raw potato. Spice with freshly cracked pepper, salt (I use kosher salt, as being less aggressive in flavor) and chopped parsley. Assembly: Roll out pastry into a round (more-or-less) the size of a dinner plate. Lay filling in a line slightly off-center on pastry. Fold over gently and crimp together on top of filling. If you want, you can glaze the surface with egg. Pierce the cover in one or two places to allow steam to escape. Put in hot oven (around 425 F) for 10-15 minutes, then reduce to warm (325 F) and bake for an hour. Variations: At one end of filling, place some sliced peaches or apple (use a sweeter variety). Or, replace some of the potato with other root vegetables -- turnip, parsnip, or rutabaga. Or, add onion to filling (avoid sweet varieties, which can become cloying). Or, add garlic (very good). Proportions: I normally cook by feel, but I'm told that 6-8 ounces of meat to 8 ounces potato or equivalent is good for one big pasty. I generally use one top round for two really big ones. Variations I haven't tried: Make with a filling of pork and sweet apples, moistened before covering with a little white wine and butter, spiced with salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. Or, make with chopped chicken meat (take off skin) and mushrooms, moistened with butter, spiced with pepper and a very little salt (I think garlic would go well here, too). Or, use venison, mixed with a little fat mutton, add a little claret (Amer., burgundy), and cover with gravy after opening to eat.
Hevva Cake from Stacy Scott 1 lb. plain flour 1/2 lb. sugar 1/2 lb. currants 1/2 lb. fine lard salt water Rub lard into flour. Add all other ingredients except water. Add water bit by bit until the whole is just stiff. Turn out of bowl onto floured board, roll out to 1/2-inch thickness, and score the top into a criss-cross pattern or a fancy lattice. Bake for 1/2 hour in warm (325 F) oven.
Saffron Cake from Stacy Scott 1 lb. and a bit of flour 1/2 lb. of butter a bit less than 1/2 lb. of currants, and the same of sultanas 1/2 lb. of lard 1/4 lb. of sugar a pinch of salt a good pinch of saffron threads 2 teaspoons yeast Mix yeast in a little water with some of the sugar to proof. Mix saffron with a little boiling water. Rub fats into flour. Add salt, sugar, and fruits. Mix in yeast and saffron mixtures. Knead, cover, and allow to rise. Punch down, knead, put in one-loaf pan and allow to rise again. Bake as for bread for about an hour (10-15 min. at 425 F, lower to 325 F). Not recommended for those on low-cholesterol or low-fat diets!