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00:00I'm Prue Leith, cook, restaurateur, cookery school founder, and writer of 15 cookbooks.
00:15That is the most delicious thing that we have cooked.
00:19I'm in my 80s, so I haven't got time to waste.
00:23This series is all about the things that really matter to me.
00:26Family, fun, food, and friends.
00:30Come on, what kind of day have you had? Get it out!
00:33Here you go, on your chair.
00:35We'll be sharing simple home-cooked recipes.
00:38Oh, brilliant. I'm going to take this bit home and save it for later.
00:41You idiot.
00:43She's such a gourmand. She's incredible.
00:46And celebrating the best produce.
00:50I am lucky enough to live in the astonishingly beautiful Cotswolds
00:54with my darling, sometimes darling, husband, John.
00:59Come on, you've had enough.
01:01Coming up today, award-winning designer Patrick Grant proves that he can cut it in the kitchen.
01:08That is one of the most delicious dishes that I have had on this show.
01:12I've got a clever hack for cutting cake.
01:15A little bit of cake is better than a huge chunk.
01:18And cream first or jam.
01:19I like that very much. That's very Moorish.
01:23Welcome to my Cotswold kitchen.
01:25I've cooked and eaten dishes from all over the world.
01:36But I must admit that nothing beats homemade bread.
01:40Just the smell in the kitchen makes it worthwhile.
01:45Today I'm making focaccia, which is my favourite Italian bread.
01:50It's very soft, it's full of holes, and it's quite easy to make.
01:55And this is a no-knead version.
02:02Basically, it's bread flour, which is the one with the high gluten content.
02:08And you put some salt in it.
02:10So I'm going to put the yeast into the water.
02:17And the water is warm.
02:19Blood temperature.
02:21I'm using instant yeast to make the dough rise.
02:26So you just want to give it a whisk so that there are no lumps of yeast.
02:30And then I'm going to put a glug of olive oil.
02:33The great thing about focaccia is it has oil in it, which not many breads do.
02:39So that's going to go in there.
02:44And you just mix it all up.
02:46All you want to do now is make sure all the flour is wet.
02:51I'm making dough for two loaves, so I can top each differently.
02:56So I reckon all the flour is wet now.
02:59That's all I'm going to do to it.
03:01And I'm going to put it aside with a bit of plastic wrap on the top
03:05to stop it forming any kind of crust.
03:07As your dough proves, the yeast gets to work producing gas.
03:12And your dough rises.
03:14And then I'm going to put this somewhere warm.
03:16In my case, the linen cupboard.
03:18And forget about it for half an hour.
03:21Today, focaccia is topped with all sorts of savoury variations.
03:26But I'm going for the classic flavour, which is rosemary.
03:29Right, so my dough's had half an hour now.
03:35And you can see it's nice and puffy.
03:38You see, I wrote first on it so that I wouldn't get in a muddle,
03:42because we're going to have to do this three times.
03:44So it's sort of gently mixing.
03:48And I think I'll take my bracelet off, or it's going to clatter.
03:53So I've got a bowl of warm water here.
03:56And that's to wet my hands so it won't get stuck to the dough.
04:00And it needs to be warm, because we're going to try and keep this dough nice and warm,
04:04because that will keep the yeast developing and more air bubbles happening.
04:08So I'm going to wet my hand, put it right in and try to get a grip on the dough.
04:14Pull it up and turn it over and stick it down again.
04:19And then give it a turn.
04:21And do the same thing there.
04:24Each time I'm wetting my hand so it won't stick.
04:29Right.
04:31Another bit of plastic over it.
04:34And it goes back in the airing cupboard.
04:38Focaccia is one of Italy's most ancient breads.
04:42A poor man's meal, it was adopted by the Romans,
04:44and then its popularity expanded across Europe.
04:49Right.
04:50So now this is even puffier, as you can see.
04:55And I'm going to do exactly the same thing.
04:58Giving the dough a stretch and a fold develops the gluten,
05:02creating the all-important structure.
05:05It's actually lovely doing it.
05:06It feels good, too.
05:08It also breaks down big air bubbles, creating smaller ones.
05:12And then it gets another 30 minutes of proving.
05:22So this much-loved focaccia dough has now had three lots of half an hour of rising.
05:30Proving, as it's called.
05:32And I'm now going to very carefully cut it in half and put it in the baking tins.
05:39So I'm going to wet the knife.
05:43Wet my hand.
05:47Cut it in half, as gently as I can, so I don't knock out any air.
05:54Oh, I try not to.
05:57And then, in fact, I think I'll wet both my hands.
06:04Pick up half of it.
06:10And plonk it gently into the tin.
06:15It will swell itself and fill the tin.
06:18The tin is already oiled.
06:23And now I'm going to drizzle them with olive oil.
06:27You want a good bit of olive oil because this dough just drinks the olive oil.
06:32And it's the oil that makes it taste so wonderful.
06:40This time, it's going to rest for an hour.
06:42And I'm going to spend some time in my beloved greenhouse.
06:46I want to see how things are getting along there.
06:48The plumbago has just been blooming away for months.
06:56This was a great success.
06:58This is tomatoes.
06:59At one point, this greenhouse in the summer was just full of tomatoes and peppers and chilies,
07:04which are really at the end of their season now.
07:09And then one of the great successes, which I didn't think would be, is this lemon tree.
07:16You know, they're often very difficult to grow in a greenhouse, but there are lots and lots of lemons on there.
07:20And we've had lots of lemons off it.
07:22But, you know, successes or failures, it's just a lovely place to be.
07:26And it's lovely to get away from anybody else, to get away from the telephone, get away from everything and just sit here.
07:32Right.
07:39So there we have fully approved focaccia.
07:46It's filled up the whole tin.
07:48And the whole thing about focaccia is to treat it really with kid gloves.
08:03There we are.
08:04And now, I'm just going to make it look like a focaccia.
08:10I'm sure you've noticed that focaccia always has little holes in it.
08:19Oh, I'm getting nervous because do you see I'm letting the bits of air out, which we don't want too much of.
08:26But I need the holes.
08:28The classic focaccia is salt, sea salt.
08:43And rosemary.
08:46I'm going to dip the rosemary pieces in oil because that will help them not dry out too quickly and burn.
08:54And then I'm going to plant them in the holes I've made.
09:01I opened the restaurant in 1969.
09:04And I don't think we started serving focaccia until about, I don't know, the end of the 80s or the beginning of the 90s.
09:13We lost our baker.
09:15And we had been making all our own bread.
09:18But the head chef said he could make focaccia.
09:22So we went on with that for a while.
09:24But once we did, it was the most popular bread.
09:28Once you've decorated it with the rosemary, drizzle more olive oil in so it collects in the dimples.
09:34I'm going to leave this one just in the classic condition it is.
09:38And this one I'm going to put sun-dried tomatoes, which I'm just tearing up and pushing in.
09:44And then a few black olives cut in half.
09:56I think that's enough.
10:01Otherwise, this might be too much olives and not enough bread.
10:05Finally, put the dough in the oven at 200 degrees centigrade.
10:09You only have to wait 25 to 30 minutes more before being able to taste focaccia heaven.
10:15Right, well, here they are.
10:24I've let them cool for about half an hour.
10:26And I have a confession to make.
10:28I think it would have been easier to get them out of the tin if I had put a layer of baking parchment underneath or if I'd gone out and bought some non-stick pans because focaccia can stick.
10:44But anyway, I've got them loosened now.
10:51I just want to have a bite.
10:54It's so delicious.
10:56And it feels as light as anything.
11:01Lovely.
11:02I think I'll taste this one.
11:03And that's how focaccia should look with sort of various sized holes in it.
11:15Do you remember all of that?
11:16Letting it rise, not really needing it, just turning it gently and then putting it back again.
11:22You do have to keep doing that twisting thing.
11:24Do you know, I don't know why we bother with other food at all.
11:34I could live on just bread.
11:37Bread and olive oil and a bit of rosemary, a bit of salt.
11:48Obviously it takes a while, all that rising and waiting and turning and so on.
11:53So it's a bit of a labour of love.
11:56But honestly, it's really worth it.
11:59And if you make nothing else from this series, please make the pocaccia.
12:05Coming up, we visit a royal cake maker.
12:09And I just can't stop myself helping Patrick Grant in the kitchen.
12:14Are you itching to get in and rub?
12:16Don't hold back on my account.
12:23Some of the fondest family memories are linked to food.
12:32My children still talk about the food of their childhood.
12:35And my guest today inherited his love of Middle Eastern cooking from his dad.
12:40He is a fashion designer, an entrepreneur, a businessman.
12:47And you will know him from the great British sewing bee.
12:51Patrick Grant, welcome to my Cotswold kitchen.
12:54Thank you very much for having me.
12:56This looks really good.
12:57What is it?
12:58So we will be making a slow-cooked fenugreek lamb with pickled chilies.
13:10Later in his life, my dad became really into Middle Eastern cookery.
13:15He was an extraordinary vegetable grower and he grew veg from all over the world in his very cold Scottish borders garden.
13:23You know, he'd always been a great curry cooker, but then he kind of morphed into a great cooker of kind of Middle Eastern.
13:31And the thing that really got me, when he died, I inherited his hand-built spice rack.
13:38Oh, right.
13:38Which has pretty much all the spices you could ever imagine, including about 25 I'd never even heard of.
13:45And so every time I use his spice rack, it's a lovely sort of memory of him.
13:50So this is kind of inspired by my dad.
13:54Noor Murad, whose recipe this is, is a Bahraini chef who worked for many, many years with Ottolenghi.
14:00Also, I live in the middle of sheep farming country.
14:02I live in the Yorkshire Dales.
14:04I can see sheep everywhere.
14:06And so this is a recipe that you could do with, you know, with a slightly older sheep.
14:11So a hoggett or a bit of mutton, but we're going to use lamb today.
14:14So we have some really good sustainable lamb, shoulder, I see.
14:19And what's going to happen to you?
14:20Right.
14:21I think what we're going to start off by doing is toasting our dry spices.
14:26So in here we've got coriander, black pepper, clove, cumin, cardamom, and that's the fenugreek.
14:33And so we're going to dry toast that just to release those flavours.
14:37When cooked, fenugreek seeds have a sweet but nutty taste.
14:44So why don't I look after your...
14:45You look after that.
14:46We need to toast these first because the dry ingredients need to be whizzed up.
14:52When you're toasting spices, the trick is to just keep them moving so you don't get them burning.
14:59You don't have to worry about getting every single spice brown.
15:03You just wait until you can smell the aroma.
15:08And I really can now.
15:09Can you?
15:10Have a smell.
15:12Oh, gosh.
15:13So that's in there.
15:14That's in here, please.
15:19Bravo.
15:21Next, Patrick adds chilli and turmeric, as well as sugar and salt, before giving it a good blitz.
15:28Oh, that's OK.
15:33Probably OK.
15:35Oh, wow.
15:37Right, so dry in there.
15:41And we're not going to bother cleaning that out because we're going to follow up with the wet ingredients.
15:46So we've got a decent chunk of ginger.
15:49Peeled.
15:50Five fat plows of garlic.
15:52Also peeled.
15:52And that is a sort of medium-sized onion that's been fairly coarsely diced.
15:58Half a big carrot, or one smaller carrot.
16:02A fistful of carrot.
16:04Yes.
16:06Patrick then chops up the coriander before adding to the other ingredients and blending it all together.
16:12That's how I do it, just do what I'm saying.
16:23How do you get it?
16:24That looks pretty good, eh?
16:25Yep.
16:27Right, so it's pretty finely chopped.
16:29Yep.
16:30It smells so good with these spices, doesn't it?
16:32Doesn't it?
16:33Yeah.
16:34Finally, Patrick adds the tomato puree and a tablespoon of olive oil.
16:40Do you do the cooking at home?
16:43Well, I live on my own.
16:45So you have to.
16:45So, yeah, I do all the cooking.
16:47I've always really enjoyed cooking.
16:48I just love the process.
16:51Yeah, I did.
16:51Little piles, little bits of chopping here and there.
16:54I mean, I also love eating good food.
16:55Right.
16:56So, what we're going to do is we're going to just prick this guy.
17:01This is a stop the skin cracking.
17:04And I guess also maybe just to help some of the flavour work its way in.
17:08Yeah.
17:09Weigh in.
17:10So, into our roasting dish, we've got 600 ml of water.
17:17Hmm.
17:18We have a tin of tomato that has already been whizzed.
17:22And then?
17:23And then, so, I don't know whether to plonk him in and rub him in there.
17:29No, I'm going to rub him here because it's...
17:31Why don't we rub the back and then we can turn it over and then you can do the top.
17:35Yeah.
17:35And then we won't have too much mess.
17:37Yeah.
17:37Not that I might have been a mess, I have to say.
17:43That good.
17:44Are you itching to get in and rub?
17:48You know what I mean?
17:48You're, you know, don't, don't, don't, don't hold back on my account.
17:53Okay, that's probably enough, isn't it?
17:55Yeah, yeah.
17:56You push it in.
17:58I can't resist getting me hands in it.
18:02It's a little massage.
18:02Okay, and then if I turn it over.
18:06Yeah.
18:09Oh, I think that looks so good.
18:11It's such a, it's quite a wet rub, isn't it?
18:15But it's, it's coating it so nicely.
18:18Also into this roasting dish, we've got some, some aromatics.
18:23These are dried limes.
18:24Dried limes are often used in Middle Eastern cooking and really add a bit of a zing to the dish.
18:30These we just prick just so that we can release the, the, the flavour from within them.
18:37We've got three dried cinnamon sticks and a couple of whole chillies.
18:42So all of those go in.
18:44It's certainly going to be spicy, isn't it?
18:46It's going to be hugely spicy and aromatic.
18:49Good.
18:51Cover the roasting tray with a sheet of baking paper, then a layer of foil.
18:55Not quite like a pressure cooker, but we want the steam trapped inside while it's roasting.
19:03Because we're going to do this in two stages.
19:05So we're going to give it three and a half hours at 150.
19:08And then we're going to whack the heat up and finish it with a much higher heat.
19:14With no foil on top.
19:15With no foil, yeah.
19:16Perfect.
19:16So Patrick, we've established that you're a good cook, but your real life's in clothing, isn't it?
19:26It is.
19:26I've always loved clothes.
19:27I've always loved quality clothes.
19:29I've always loved the stories behind them.
19:30And I've worked in clothing now for 20-odd years.
19:35And about eight years ago, I got really sad that because of the way we buy fashion now,
19:40the way we consume clothes in a kind of quite thoughtless way,
19:47lots and lots of amazing clothing factories in Britain have been going out of business.
19:52And I wanted to stop that.
19:53So I started a business called Community Clothing that does two things.
19:56It makes really good, everyday, affordable stuff, but it makes them all in British factories.
20:01And by doing that, it creates lots of jobs.
20:03So it's trying to save what's there and hopefully, if we're successful, rebuild it.
20:08It's something I'm very, very proud of, but it's clothing.
20:12It's not fashion.
20:13The everyday stuff.
20:14Everybody needs good prices, good tops.
20:17Good pants, good socks.
20:19We work with 54 factories in 41 towns.
20:22It's amazing.
20:23It's lovely.
20:24You should be proud of that.
20:25Yeah.
20:27Once the lamb has had about three and a half hours in the oven, remove the foil.
20:32Wow, there's been some alchemy in here.
20:35Baste the meat well and increase the oven to 190 degrees centigrade.
20:40Roast uncovered for 20 minutes until golden and crisp on top.
20:44So while the lamb is finishing off, we're going to just do a really simple pickled chilli.
20:49So this is just some cider vinegar, a bit of sugar and a little bit of salt.
20:55We're just going to slice the chillies.
20:57Now we can go seed in or seed out.
21:01Seed out for me.
21:02Seed out.
21:02I'm a wuss.
21:03My knife skills are all right.
21:06I started cooking actually quite young.
21:09I started baking when I was little.
21:11I had the B-row cookery book that came free with coupons from the bags of flour.
21:16So by the time I went off to university, I was already a pretty reasonable cook.
21:21This is just a quick pickle.
21:24I mean, we can probably get away with just leaving it for the 20 minutes while the lamb
21:28is in, but it might, maybe an hour might be better.
21:31Yeah.
21:31But it looks pretty and it'll have a little kick.
21:36It's now time to take the lamb out of the oven and it smells divine.
21:41It's already sort of falling off the bone over here.
21:44Transfer the juices for the sauce into a container, but discard any of the lamb fats sitting on
21:51the top.
21:53That's a good pour.
21:56It's a gorgeous colour, isn't it?
22:00So just a little bulgur wheat salad.
22:02Oh, lovely.
22:03Mint, parsley, lemon zest, and then a simple salad, our pickled chillies and our delicious
22:10slow-cooked fenugreek lamb.
22:12Now, I'm not an expert lamb shoulder carver, but I'm just going to go in here.
22:17I'm hoping it'll all just fall to bits anyway, so it doesn't matter.
22:21There's a very satisfying...
22:23Oh, look at that.
22:24Lovely.
22:28And a little bit of bulgur wheat salad.
22:32Oh, it's incredibly tender looking.
22:38Pickled chilli.
22:39Yeah.
22:39Suspicion.
22:43Doesn't that look great?
22:44Doesn't it look pretty?
22:46Might not get too many of those.
22:48They are hot, those chips.
22:49Are they?
22:52Perfect.
22:55Moment of truth.
23:01Mmm.
23:02Good.
23:02That is delicious.
23:03How does that grab you?
23:07Mmm.
23:08Oh, it's heaven.
23:09It's so warming.
23:11The spices are such a...
23:13There's such a perfect blend.
23:15And they're not...
23:16It's not too chilly.
23:18No, there's not...
23:19It's just...
23:19It's a tiny warming...
23:21Yeah.
23:21But not overpowering heat, but just a delicious...
23:24Absolutely...
23:25Deep warmth...
23:26That feels very wintry.
23:27It's thick, just because of all that ground-up stuff you put in, carrots and onions and...
23:32Yeah.
23:32I mean, it's basically your five a day.
23:35It is.
23:36Ha, ha, ha.
23:39Oh, that's so good.
23:40I'll tell you what, Patrick.
23:41That is one of the most innovative, delicious dishes that I have had on this show.
23:47I shall definitely steal the recipe.
23:53Coming up...
23:55John has made a new addition to our garden.
23:58Bravo!
23:59Fantastic!
23:59And we visit a master cake maker.
24:02The royal wedding cake.
24:03No pressure whatsoever.
24:04Ha, ha, ha.
24:11The garden has really come on a treat in the last few years.
24:24And every year we add more flowers, more plants, more trees.
24:30But you know what?
24:31My husband, John, just loves a garden project.
24:36And this year it's bigger and bolder than ever.
24:41John's an old romantic, and because he remembers having one at school, he's decided to build
24:48a dovecote.
24:50Bird life is very important to us, and I just thought that white doves against the green
24:56background and the blue sky, how heavenly is that?
24:59I've had doves before, and I'm happily, this is far enough away from the house for obvious
25:05reasons.
25:06So, John has designed a dovecote, and as usual, his plans are highly ambitious.
25:13So, he's enlisted the help of Malcolm, a local blacksmith, to create the structure.
25:18So, Malcolm, from my original drawing, Doodle, this is the roof, which is here.
25:27The middling bit has been done, that's outside.
25:30That's done, ready for wood and...
25:32Yep, that's all ready.
25:33This is fairly simple, because that's just got to have the uprights, yep.
25:37Yeah, the base is done, the top's done.
25:39And what was the most difficult bit to do?
25:41The weathervane.
25:42The weathervane, okay.
25:43Because the spinny bit, whatever that's actually called, has now got about three ball bearings
25:47in it.
25:49Will we have to grease it, or...?
25:50You won't be able to.
25:51Oh, see.
25:51That's why it's got three ball bearings.
25:53Okay.
25:54Normally, you'd nip up once a year and put some grease on, but that's going to be absolutely
25:57impossible.
25:58Right.
26:00The weathervane has been sent off to be gilded, and John has come to see how Richard, the
26:05gilder, is getting on.
26:08Good to see you, Richard.
26:09Hello, John.
26:09This looks very exciting.
26:12Now, this is presumably part one.
26:14It is, yes, yeah.
26:15I've gilded three of the letters already, and we're just about ready to gild the fourth.
26:20Oh, great.
26:22Gold leaf is a thin tissue of real gold, and must be applied in a certain way.
26:28Cut it like that.
26:31Is it just an edge more than a blade?
26:34Yes.
26:34Right.
26:35Yep.
26:35And then take the gilder's tip, which allows us to pick up the leaf.
26:45Block it on.
26:46And the idea really is to just cover the size in the leaf before brushing it down.
26:59So is this a heavy external gold leaf?
27:02Yeah, it's slightly heavier than the usual leaf that I use for frames.
27:06If you were to lay a millimetre thick of leaves, it would take about 8,000 leaves to just attain
27:14a millimetre.
27:14How interesting.
27:16So you just keep on layering it till there's no black showing.
27:20Yeah.
27:20And it's important for it to be left to fully cure, which can take up to a couple of weeks.
27:27John, would you like to have a go at gilding now?
27:34I'm very nervous, but I'll give it a go.
27:36Okay.
27:43Parallel with the leaf and just go down.
27:46Up.
27:46Lift it up now.
27:47Out.
27:50Want to try again?
27:52There we go.
27:57Great.
27:57Perfect.
28:05Right.
28:06I think I'm going to pass it back to you.
28:10Richard, will this stand the test of time?
28:13Will it see me out?
28:14The gold won't tarnish.
28:16It will retain its brilliance.
28:17And once the size is hardened fully, it'll be very, very hard wearing.
28:22A few weeks later, and it's all coming together.
28:29Everything's gone really according to plan, if there ever was one.
28:33The structure has now been cladded with wood and needs to be placed securely.
28:41But there's more to come.
28:44This is stage two.
28:46This is the hairy part because there's four bolts that hold it on and it's got to sit absolutely precisely for the bolts to go through.
28:56The roof also needs to be put in place, but it's the moment of truth as the weather vane is finally placed on top of the dovecote.
29:07Bravo!
29:08Fantastic!
29:09There's a lot riding on this.
29:11Let's just hope that John's design has been a success.
29:15It's lovely to see an idea coming to fruition.
29:19All design projects have lovers and loathers, don't they?
29:23But absolutely happily with this one, no dissent.
29:27Everybody likes it.
29:28And so I'm a happy little bunny.
29:31And I'm sure John will be even happier once he's housed his doves here.
29:40Today's hack is how to cut up a cake.
29:44You know when you're at a party and you've ordered this huge, great celebration cake and then you sort of look at it and think, how on earth am I going to manage that?
30:01Well, I had years and years as a caterer and I must have cut up hundreds of cakes.
30:07And to be honest, I wish I'd learned this neat trick.
30:10The first thing you do is cut the cake in half, four times.
30:15You've now got eight slices.
30:17And then you're going to take the midpoint of every slice and cut a V in it.
30:24I mean cut like that, see a V.
30:26So each slice from the middle of the back, you're cutting a V.
30:32You then take each little slice.
30:36You could cut them in half again.
30:38You know, when you're at a party, you don't actually want a huge slice of cake.
30:42I think a lot of people underestimate how many slices you can get out of a cake.
30:47And so they buy far too many cakes or too big a cake.
30:51I've got 32 slices out of that one cake, which when you looked at it, you think, well, that'll do ten people.
30:58Another way to cut a cake if you want little fingers is to do this.
31:03First of all, you must take the ribbon off and then you just cut the cake in half and then each side in half again, but in the same direction.
31:14Take the end slice, like that, and then cut it into fingers.
31:21I love cake.
31:23But a little bit of cake is better than a huge chunk of cake.
31:27Delicious!
31:38And to keep with the cake theme,
31:40my food hero today started baking cakes on her kitchen table and went on to make a royal wedding cake.
31:48She's an absolute inspiration to budding food producers.
31:53In Leicestershire, a master cake maker has quietly built her business from the ground up.
32:01I'm Fiona Cairns.
32:03We employ around 130 people.
32:06We have grown organically over the last 40 years.
32:10And within our different buildings, we have a new product development,
32:15we have a fairy cake building, a celebration cake building, biscuits, all sorts of different areas.
32:23Now selling her cakes at some of the biggest and best shops in the UK,
32:27it may be surprising that Fiona and her late husband Kishore built their business sponge by sponge from their kitchen table.
32:36Caught the bug.
32:37And then I became a bit obsessed about it and I started making cakes for anyone, friends, family.
32:44The very, very first order was for 72 miniature fruit cakes with little Christmas trees on and 72 decorated gingerbread biscuits.
32:58And I thought this was a really huge order and how on earth was I going to do this?
33:03They were very successful and Kishore, my husband, said, well, let's try to build a luxury cake brand.
33:12Let's go to Harrods.
33:13And I said, well, you can come to Harrods with me.
33:16I'm not going in on my own.
33:18And I went in on my own with six miniature Easter fruit cakes.
33:25I've never forgotten the moment when the Harrods buyer rang me at home in my kitchen and said, I'd like to place a regular order because that was, that was a big moment.
33:40I did begin to scale the business.
33:42So I didn't have one part time lady.
33:44I then had two and then three.
33:47And my little Kenwood mixer, which I still own, worked overtime.
33:55By 2011, their business was thriving, but neither Fiona nor Kishore could have guessed what their next commission would be.
34:04We received a huge honor to be asked to make the royal wedding cake for William and Kate, the future King of England.
34:14So absolutely no pressure whatsoever.
34:20It still gives me goosebumps to think of that moment.
34:25It was extraordinary feeling.
34:28We worked together in great secrecy with the team.
34:33And my very close colleague, Rachel Eardley, came up with this beautiful sketch.
34:38And we really interpreted the brief that was given to us by William and Kate.
34:45The fruit cake itself was actually 17 cakes and eight tiers high.
34:52So a lot of fruit cake.
34:53And we made not just a thousand flowers and leaves.
34:57We made extra, of course, because there was also cake to be sliced and sent out in little tins.
35:04And so it was a busy time.
35:06So Fiona's become a household name.
35:10I'm very, very proud of much of what we have done and achieved.
35:16But it really is.
35:17And I really mean it.
35:18It's the team around you.
35:19It's the people.
35:20You stand on others' shoulders.
35:22Still to come, John gets messy making scones.
35:33So far, so good?
35:34Very good.
35:35Not as yucky as I thought it was.
35:37It won't be yucky because the flour is protecting the thing.
35:40Well now, love of my life, we are going to make afternoon tea.
35:58Okie dokie.
35:59So we're going to make scones.
36:01And John's going to make the classic ones with cream and jam.
36:05And I'm going to make a savoury one, which is a pumpkin scone.
36:14So, to make scones, the first thing you do is put the flour in a bowl.
36:19Pinch of salt.
36:20Remember, a pinch is of three fingers at least.
36:25Plus the baking powder.
36:27Teaspoon of baking powder.
36:29And then chilled butter.
36:31It's quite a good idea of the butter.
36:33It doesn't have to be rock hard.
36:35But if it's too soft, it's not so easy to do.
36:39Chop it up into cubes.
36:41And put it in the flour.
36:43It's the bit I don't like.
36:44I know you don't like it getting sticky.
36:46But if you flour your fingers, you don't get sticky.
36:49Alright.
36:50So, you follow me.
36:51Put your flour in there.
36:53My scones have got a baking powder in, as well as self-raising flour.
36:59Because we're going to put the pumpkin in, which will make it rather heavy,
37:03we thought it needed a bit of extra oomph.
37:06Yours is just self-raising flour.
37:08And it's also really got the salt in it.
37:10So, you need to put your butter in.
37:13You can do it without touching it, if you're careful.
37:18And then you get your fingers floured.
37:20Okay.
37:21And then, when you've got it all floured, you...
37:24What we want to do is you want to squash it a bit,
37:27and then put it back in.
37:29So, you're gradually squashing them into two or three bits.
37:35But not getting the butter warm.
37:38If you just mangle them too much and hold onto them for a long time,
37:42your fingers will warm them up.
37:44You don't want that.
37:45So, you don't want to get your fingers messy, just floury.
37:48So far, so good?
37:50Very good.
37:51A bit more.
37:52It's not as yucky as I thought it was going to be.
37:54It won't be yucky because the flour is protecting your fingers.
37:57Then you give the bowl a shake like that.
37:59It's okay.
38:01If you do that, what happens is the big bits that you haven't done...
38:05Okay.
38:06...come to the top.
38:07And then you can do that without overworking the bits that are already done.
38:11You're pretty messy.
38:13Yeah.
38:14Well, I was taught to do it from heights.
38:16Really?
38:17I still do.
38:18But I'm always messier than you.
38:21I'm a messy cook.
38:23So, I reckon we're just about there.
38:26For John's classic scones, we add 25 grams of caster sugar.
38:31Then we both add milk.
38:34His is buttermilk.
38:35Mixing until the dough comes together.
38:37You could add a splash more so it binds.
38:41Now it's time for me to add the squash puree to the savoury mix.
38:48Actually, it's made with butternut squash.
38:51And all we did was slit a butternut squash in half, take the seeds out, drizzle a bit of oil over it and roast it.
38:59And then when it's all nice and squashy, you scoop it out and mash it up.
39:04So, I'm going to try and work this all in.
39:08The reason you use a knife is it's much easier to chop through lumps.
39:15That's fine.
39:16That's fine.
39:17Then, you flour your hands.
39:19Okay.
39:20Put one hand on there so it's nice and flowery.
39:23You're getting me sticky whether I like it or not.
39:25No, that's not sticky.
39:26That's just nice and flowery.
39:28And then, you put your hand in there and draw it all together.
39:32Okay.
39:33And you have to knead it a little bit, but you're trying not to do it too much.
39:38And never mind if there's a bit of flour left in the bottom of the bowl.
39:41It's better to abandon a bit than be determined to get it all in.
39:46We're trying all the time to get really light scones.
39:49And the more you work it, the less they'll rise and the more solid they are.
39:54And we want them to be really nice and light.
39:57Yeah.
39:58Do you want a bit of the board?
40:00Everything there.
40:02Next, shape your dough into a thick disc.
40:07And then, you flour your cutter.
40:10Okay.
40:11And then, flunk it through there.
40:14Yep.
40:16That's going to be your scone.
40:17Okay.
40:18Don't forget, each time put it in the flour first.
40:20Okay.
40:21And then, stamp out.
40:28Quite enjoying this.
40:29Good.
40:31I like manufacturing.
40:34And I'm going to make mine into little, like, slices.
40:38The most usual savoury scone is a cheese scone.
40:48This one is a pumpkin scone.
40:50Many of us associate scones with Devon and Cornwall.
40:54But some say scones actually originated from Scotland
40:57and were baked on griddles or bake stones.
41:00Can I make another one?
41:02Well, it would be interesting because we're always told not to mangle it.
41:05And so, let's make this one and see if it's much worse than all the others.
41:12Good.
41:13I enjoyed that.
41:14That was good fun.
41:16Right.
41:17Now, I am going to brush my pumpkin scones with a bit of egg wash, which is just beaten
41:22egg with a bit of salt in it.
41:25And then, I'm going to put some pumpkin seeds on top.
41:29Okay.
41:30You're going to brush the top.
41:31Okay.
41:32But don't get it down the walls.
41:33Just get it right on the top.
41:34Okay.
41:35Because the egg will stick it and then it won't be able to rise.
41:38Okay.
41:39Right.
41:40Ooh, this is touch and go.
41:42It's very careful and precise and much neater than me.
41:46But it takes much longer.
41:49So, these scones are now going into an oven at 200 degrees centigrade.
41:54And they're going to be in there for 12 minutes.
41:57Then, we'll have a look at them and probably take out John's scones,
42:00because they're smaller than mine, and shove mine back for a little bit longer.
42:06Can I go and wash my hands now?
42:08Are you desperate?
42:09Yes.
42:11Yes, you can.
42:18I'll just take them there.
42:31Right.
42:32Ah, look at those.
42:33Those against those.
42:35Yeah, those are the ones we were mangling too much.
42:37Yeah.
42:38But I'm sure they'll taste nice.
42:39Well, they've sort of cracked up, haven't they?
42:41I always like that with scones.
42:43Look, I'm just going to put this back a bit, because you can feel it's still got too much moisture.
42:48In it.
42:50While we wait for the pumpkin scones, we need to slice John's scones in half.
42:55The trick about scones, especially when they're hot, is they're very crumbly.
43:00So, I use a small serrated knife, or a steak knife will do.
43:05So, I think my pumpkin ones are done now.
43:10While the savoury scones are cooling, we're finishing the classic scones.
43:14Jam or cream on first is pretty controversial.
43:18I don't mind either way, so we'll do some of each.
43:21But I have been known to put cream on first, then jam on, then some more cream on, and then some more jam on.
43:27Point is to get lots of topping.
43:29You're a bit mean with the jam, John.
43:34Well, I think by the time you put the, it'll just go down the sides.
43:38We have the seventh Duchess of Bedford, Anna Maria Russell, to thank for inventing afternoon tea.
43:45As one of Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting, she became peckish around tea time and requested tea, bread and cake.
43:52And that's where this ritual was born.
43:56Well, now, which do you think looks better?
43:59Jam on top or cream on top?
44:01It's going to be difficult to say I think they both look nice.
44:03They complement each other, otherwise it would be a bit boring.
44:06Okey-doke.
44:10Sorry, darling. Yeah?
44:11I think I need the bottom row for my larger...
44:14OK.
44:15Right.
44:19See, that to me looks extremely appetising.
44:22It does?
44:23Yeah.
44:26I'm getting on with the topping for my squash scones.
44:29Could you put them on in strips or not?
44:31You could.
44:32Shall I give you some strips to be artistic with?
44:34Well, I think the strips would look rather nice.
44:37I'm chopping up some roasted red peppers, but first we add the whipped goat's cheese,
44:42which is just the cheese and cream whipped up together until light and fluffy.
44:47Gosh, that's a lot of goat's cheese.
44:49Well, I like a lot of goat's cheese because I'm greedy.
44:54Am I allowed to put a little bit of red in between?
44:56You can do what you like.
44:58You can add any savoury topping you like to these scones.
45:02Could put chopped olives in with this, would be good.
45:06But I'm adding basil.
45:07Very often, in a classic hotel tea, on the bottom layer would be little finger sandwiches,
45:13no crusts, but, you know, smoked salmon or cucumber.
45:18And then the next layer would be scones like this, and the top layer would be cake.
45:24So, we don't have sandwiches and we don't have cake, but we have lovely savoury scones instead of the sandwiches.
45:31Shall we have a go?
45:32Can I?
45:33Tastes nothing like a scone, but very interesting.
45:46Oh, the texture of a scone.
45:48I would buy them.
45:49And the basil gives a very nice aftertaste.
45:53Shall we try classic scones?
45:55You'll be pleased to know that that was very filling.
46:00So, I probably have one and that's it.
46:05It's surprising how much jam and how much cream you can get on a scone if you try.
46:10It's lovely.
46:11I like that very much.
46:12That's very Moorish.
46:15I could, but I shouldn't have any more.
46:18I'm just keeping going.
46:19Are you?
46:21And, of course, we couldn't have an afternoon tea without some fizz to wash it all down with.
46:28Well, I think that scones have really been a success.
46:32Especially, I'm very pleased with pumpkin scone.
46:34I honestly think that those are the nicest scones I've had.
46:37I'm not just saying that.
46:38I really do think that.
46:40Mmm.
46:41They are so light.
46:42Very nice.
46:44Okay.
46:45Chin chin again.
46:46Well done.
46:47That's all from us.
46:48But next week we'll be back again with some more delicious recipes and another really interesting guest.
46:53Thank you
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