Anyone for tea

Press, 26 April 1988, Page 13

Anyone for tea

i Afternoon tea — how terribly English and nostalgic it! is. The murmur off conversation laced with a touch of scandal, ■ the tinkle of teaspoons against bone china, the plop of a sugar cube dropping into the cup — stirring stuff indeed! I I have always ; noticed that out of any large afternoon tea spread it is always the brandy snaps which get demolished first, so the recipe is worth giving once more! j Brandy snaps are as indisputably English as the institution of afternoon tea itself. Their ancestor was the gauffre, first made in England in the middle ages. Later it w J went out of fashion and ame back with the Flem;h weavers. | i The, Flemish version as much the same ingredients, with | the addi-

tion of eggs and yeast, j Traditionally, brandy snaps were sold at English country’ fairs, and they still are at some. This accounts for the many versions and the wealth b'f local names: homiton in the south and ! west, Ormskirk gingerbread ‘in Lancashire, and Mothering Sunday wafers !in Hampshire. The latter are served with jelly and are made with orange flo.wer water rather than the usual brandy I (from whence, of course, brantiy snaps get their name). | Early versions, of .the recipe call for black treacle; golden syrup,|which! is a refined product, only became popular in the 1880 s. Brandy ' snaps Melt 125 g butter slowly land add 125 g ,(%C) golden syrup and 125 g sugar (demerara sugar is best,

but ordinary white! sugar will do). Stir until the sugar is dissolved, (but do not : let the mixture boil vigorously. Remove from the heat and allow iocool. When the mixture is barely tepid, add 1 125 g white flour, 2t ground ginger, a squeeze of lemon juice, and vanilla essence OR 2t brandy. Mix well! Have the!!'oven preheated to 180 deg C. 1 ' • j Grease an oven, tray with butter and arrange only five or six jwalnutsized balls of the fixture bn it, so as to allow plenty of room for them [to flat-; ten out and expand! i Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 rhinutes. The mixture ; should spread out and form bub-; bles which will then pop, thus creating the [desired lacy appearance. Remove after eight minutes if they

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begin to turn dark briwn around the edges (a sign they are burning) but!note that by the end of c6ok| ing, the centres should be bubbling I too ' (otherwise they will! not harden! up later). Have ; ready some greased ! wooden spoons (or pieces of dowel)! | Remove the brandysnaps from the oven j anti allow to [cool a little, just enough so they are ; still pliable, 'but not brittle. Loosen them; from j the tray with a : fish ■ slice while they are still warm.

Food & Fable

David Burton

then curl them around the handles of the j spoons (you can fit 2 brandy snaps on each handle); Replace in the oven briefly if they begin to go brittle before you have finished. Make a ; further batch with the remaining uncooked mixture! j | Once the brandy snaps have cooled and hardened they can be stored in an airtight tin. Just before serving, fill them with sweetened whipped .cream. A little brandy or vanilla essence can be mixed into the cream.