DOWN ON THE FARM…

Paul Hilton recalls time spent on his grandparent’s farm where he enjoyed his gran’s wholesome home-cooking – from pies made with fresh fruit from the orchard to delicious cakes, including Sticky Bread!

As a child Paul Hilton spent much of his summer holidays at his grandparent’s farm, playing in the fields with his cousins, helping with the milking and haymaking – and enjoying the wholesome home cooked food that his gran Ethel made for family.

“I am extremely lucky to have such happy childhood memories – and food was very much part of that,” explains Paul, who works as a warehouse manager for Booths.

One of his gran’s favourite recipes, and one that members of the family still make to this day is Granny Hilton’s Sticky Bread – a nourishing, unctuous cake that has just five ingredients.

So, when Booth’s asked workers to submit their favourite recipes to feature on the supermarket’s renowned recipe cards, Granny Hilton’s Sticky Bread was a sure-fire winner! “It is one of the simplest recipes but everyone loves it,” says Paul.

Featuring plain flour, milk, golden syrup, sugar and bicarbonate of soda, Granny Hilton’s Sticky Bread recipe has been passed down the generations.

“Gran made it when I was growing up in the 70s but I think she made it years before that. It was passed down through the family of her husband Dennis. Gran was a typical farmer’s wife. She would allocate a day for cleaning, a day for washing and a day for baking – she also helped out on the farm, feeding lambs – it was certainly a busy life. I remember, whoever tipped up she would always make a fuss of them and you couldn’t get away without being fed!”

“Her cooking skills were second to none. She would make currant cake, coconut slices, pressed beef, huge meat and potato pies, delicious fruit pies as they had an orchard and of course there was always Bonds ice cream.”

“Farmers generally had ‘a lump of pie and a lump of cheese’ which brings to mind the saying. ‘Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze’! My partner Kathryn had never heard of it and thought I had made it up until one day she was watching James Martin on TV and he came out with the exact same phrase!”

“As farmers were working in the fields then it was easier to eat out of your hand. You would have your ‘baggin’ – your sandwiches, pie and cheese – out in the fields and eat it there.”

Being on the farm, Paul recalls that everything was fresh – from the vegetables in the fields to the fruit in the orchard and milk that came from the cows each morning.

“We would have porridge with brown sugar and cream poured on top that had come from the cows only hours before. I remember waking up to the sound of the milking machine.”

As a youngster Paul, who has lived in Longridge for most of his life, learnt a lot about farming and is delighted that his time spent at Throstle Nest Farm in Inskip has resulted in many fond memories of a happy adventure-filled childhood.

“I remember helping out – chucking hay bales on the escalator late at night after hay timing and then there would be 15 or more of us sat around a table eating at midnight. Food always played a big part in bringing everyone together.”

“Granny Hilton’s Sticky Bread certainly brings back happy memories whenever I make it. There is a special technique too – you need to take care when mixing and once baked and cooled it is best left for a couple of days with a lid on giving it time to ‘sticky up’ as we say in the family!’

GRANNY HILTON’S STICKY BREAD
Ingredients
2 pint plain flour
1 pint milk
1 pint golden syrup
half pint sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 160˚C / fan 140˚C / gas mark 2 and line a 2inch tray tin with greaseproof paper – don’t forget to butter the tin first.
2 In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar and bicarbonate of soda.
3 Put the milk and golden syrup in a microwave safe container and melt for one minute. Alternatively place the milk and syrup into a saucepan on the hob and heat on low for a few minutes until warm then mix together to make a consistent fluid.
4 Mix everything together being careful not to put in too much air. The mixture will be the consistency of cake batter. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for one hour until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5 This is delicious warm from the oven but is at its best when left for at least two days (cooled then covered with a lid) to become nice and sticky. Once ready, cut into slices, butter and enjoy with a brew.

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