Recently, by lucky happenstance, I ran across Aunt Margaret’s Pudding as I was browsing the online shop of – *wait for it* – HappenStance Press, a small indie publisher based in Fife, Scotland.
Truth is, I simply cannot resist a charming title, especially when it contains ‘Margaret’ (my mother’s name), and the word ‘pudding,’ which usually makes me want to hug myself, it’s so dang adorable.
Aunt Margaret’s Pudding, by British poet Alison Brackenbury, is a collection of poems and recipes inspired by her paternal grandmother Dorothy Eliza Barnes (“Dot”).
Dot (b. 1894) worked as a professional Edwardian cook in Nottingham before marrying a shepherd and living in various cottages around Lincolnshire. She recorded her family’s favorite recipes in a black notebook which Brackenbury later inherited along with Dot’s wooden desk.
The poems are not only a revealing bit of family history, but an interesting glimpse of early 20th century East Midlands farm and country life. This was a time when almost everything was homemade, people walked to work, and neighbors “saved” each other (when Dot was bedridden after the birth of her fourth child, one of her neighbors cooked and washed for Dot’s husband and children for weeks).
Dot herself used to feed itinerant farm workers and invited children waiting at the school bus stop near her gate in for sweets. Practical, frugal, hardworking, and generous, Dot lived a quiet, isolated life. It is interesting to see that her smudged notebook contains not only her small, neat penmanship, but the hands of other women, suggesting that Dot liked to collect recipes from friends and neighbors. Their shared lives were “rich with old knowledge and individual talent.”
Enjoy a little taste of Brackenbury’s book with two sample poems and a recipe. Many thanks to Alison for permission to share her poems and for providing the wonderful photos!
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DOT But you were tiny. Not one toe could stretch from sofa to the floor. Unwise to marry a tall man? For the fourth child left you bed-bound, so kind neighbours cooked. Your eyes were weak, yet blue as harebells. You would go sleepless, to cram old trunks with cake the men took to the Royal Show. I have one picture, leather-bound: you as a young, still-anxious cook, flowered velvet in your collar's tuck. Like food, you could make cash go round. Only your hair grew wild. Its fine strong waves defied your careful buns. French marigolds by your washing line met cabbage, hoed by husband, sons. You never cut your springing hair. Time washed past you like rain, your skin so soft a child's lips would sink in. My face, rough from hill wind, stays bare of blusher, gloss. No powder tins littered your rooms. I stay up, too, cook, type, as horizons dim. My father said I looked like you. * INGREDIENTS Carrots kept Christmas pudding plain. No gold leaf flattered Nottingham. Choclate -- you wrote, brisk, young. What sweetness touched your tongue? Your first friends were cornflour, ground rice. Your middle age still sang with spice, spooned, generous to a fault. Cinnamon. Ginger. Salt? Steam smudged your letters. Leather Cups? I squint. The words are: Quaker Oats. Your trust in brand names shone. King, Country, only one. You knew dessert. You wrote the old name: cocoanut. Through bright Treacle I see the dark Imperial tree. A married student, money short, I spooned rough ground rice at the start -- strong, workaday, low-cost -- like all the tastes we lost.
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QUAKER OAT SCONES
There are seven recipes in Brackenbury’s book: Aunt Margaret’s Pudding, Bakewell Pudding, Flamberries Pudding, Raspberry Buns, Cheesecakes, Vinegar Cake and Quaker Oat Scones.
Dot’s original handwritten recipes are mainly lists of ingredients with minimal, if any, directions. She didn’t need to write them down since she knew them by heart. These are included along with Alison’s updated versions for the modern cook.
We decided to try the Quaker Oat Scones since we had all the ingredients on hand, including Quaker brand rolled oats. Dot’s recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon of B.P. , which I assume is baking powder since no other leavening is specified.
DOT'S ORIGINAL RECIPE 4 tablespoon Quaker Oats 3 (oz) of Flour 1-1/2 (oz) of sugar 1-1/2 (oz) of butter 1/4 teaspoon B.P. pinch of salt. Mix with milk, roll out into scones. Bake 15 minutes in moderate oven
Alison’s updated version includes the same ingredients, with the exception of self-raising (rising) flour in lieu of plain flour + baking powder. And of course it’s easier to follow the modern day format, with ingredients presented in a list and directions numbered.
I doubled the recipe to have more dough to work with, and I managed to get 7 scones using a 2-1/2″ biscuit cutter. My scones spread more than I expected; maybe I added too much milk? If I make these again, I’ll try adding some baking powder to see if I can get more rise. Still, with only 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder in Dot’s Original Recipe, perhaps mine don’t look too different from hers.
In any case, they were lovely warm with butter, as Alison’s recipe states. I thought of Dot while eating them; there is something very special about being able to access a part of family history through a personal recipe.
Quaker Oat Scones
Ingredients
- 4 heaped tablespoons of porridge oats
- 3 oz/100g self-rising flour
- 1-1/2 oz/50g granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 oz/50g butter
- pinch of salt and a little milk to mix
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease baking tray or line with parchment paper.
- Weigh and sieve flour, add salt, mix.
- Rub the chopped butter lightly into the flour with finger tips.
- Stir sugar and oats into the mixture.
- Add milk cautiously, mixing with a knife until mixture binds in a firm ball.
- Turn scone dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Gently flatten with lightly floured rolling pin.
- Roll it out carefully until roughly as thick as the top joint of your thumb.
- Cut into scones with scone cutter or knife.
- Glaze top of each scone with a little milk or beaten egg.
- Place scones, evenly spaced, on baking tray and put in oven.
- Check after 12 minutes. They will be light gold all over when done.
- Eat warm with butter.
*
AUNT MARGARET’S PUDDING
written by Alison Brackenbury
published by HappenStance Press, 2018
Poetry Collection, 51pp.
*Includes Author’s Note on Dot’s Life
♥️ Learn more about Alison Brackenbury’s life and work here.
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The lovely and talented Janice Scully is hosting the Roundup at Salt City Verse. Meander on over to check out the full menu of poetic goodness being served up around the blogosphere this week. Have a nice weekend!
*Copyright © 2023 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 
So interesting to read about Dot, Jama. Your photos are beautiful, as always, and now I’m hungry for scones! Thanks for sharing.
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Dot sounds like a fascinating person, doesn’t she? I enjoyed learning a little about what her life was like back then.
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I just love to look at old recipes and try to figure out the methods used by cooks like Dot. I would love looking through Aunt Margaret’s Pudding. Women did so much work cooking and helping neighbors and I love how you recognize and celebrate them. Those scones look very tasty!
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Old recipes are fascinating to me too. Much harder for the people back then to cook without the food processors and fancy stoves we have now.
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Yum what a Delightfully delicious book, and mouth-savoring good to wake to! Also loved the poems,
“Time washed past you like rain.” And
“Your middle age still sang with spice,
spooned, generous to a fault.
Cinnamon. Ginger.” I might have to make some ginger oat scones and eat them with a few blackberries—mmm, thanks this lovely post and pics Jama!
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Scones are calling your name this week, Michelle. 🙂
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A feast for sure! I’m a sucker for a charming title, too…and I adore handwritten anything, but esp. recipes. (One of my favorite projects was creating a recipe/photo/story book for my mother-in-law, from her stash and from her life. She learned to cook when she got married, and she taught me so much–not just about cooking! Miss her every day.) xo
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Handwritten anything is a rare commodity these days. Wonderful that you made that book for your MIL. Precious keepsake to pass down.
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It’s a book that must make Alison so proud, to have written it for her Grandmother Dot, Jama. I enjoyed the poem and also reading about those times long ago, the lives lived both gracious and challenging.
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Cooking was so much more time consuming then than it is now. It was nice to see women sharing their recipes by writing them down in Dot’s book. 🙂
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Oh my this looks divine! You know I love anything embracing grandmothers and food Jama! My Yaya is beaming from above. I need this book!
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Yes to grandmothers and food! I hope you’re able to order this one.
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Sadly Jama, it won’t let me buy this book because I’m not registered on their site, and when I try to register, it says “registration not allowed.” I am simply undone by techno worlds!
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I was able to register without any problem even though I saw the note that said, “registration not allowed.” Have you tried to fill in the info anyway?
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Yes I have. It’s an endless sad loop!
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Sorry to hear that. I recommend sending an email via the contact form explaining your problems with the site. Usually Nell replies pretty promptly. Good Luck!!
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Sweet book (and post). Felt so close to Dot! Your scones look tasty.
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I imagine Dot is smiling down on Alison. 🙂
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Sometime, Jama, please take us through your process of finding, researching, writing these amazing poets/posts! I have to say, my favorite line is “Your first friends were cornflour, ground rice.” Close second: “You knew dessert.”
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Glad you enjoyed the post! No set process — but I will say sometimes the hardest part of creating posts is finding the right poem to feature — something I feel strongly enough about to want to write about it, and a poem for which I can find/take images.
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What a sweet book! I love your hint about grating the butter instead of chopping it up. The scones look delicious. Thanks for the fun post.
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I do find grating frozen butter is much easier that using chopped pieces. 🙂
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Jama! I love this post. Just like so many women…I inherited a box of recipe cards from my grandmother and I cherish them. I wonder if there are some poems hiding in them too? What a wonderful post and link to a publisher I’ve not heard of before. Thank you so much!
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I’m sure there are poems in your recipe box! How lucky you are to have such a precious keepsake from your grandmother.
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Thank you for sharing Aunt Margaret’s Pudding with us, Jama! What a treasure! I created a book of family recipes for my husband’s family and was working on one for my maternal cousins, but got sidetracked by other projects. This post is the inspiration I needed to pull it our and finish it!
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Sounds like a wonderful project, Catherine!
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Ah, my Sunday enjoyment-a visit to your blog. Of course, I am delighted to read this one because it talks about topics I love: family recipes, historic pieces, scones, and background history all rolled into poetry. Lines I love from the poem:
Choclate — you wrote, brisk, young.
What sweetness touched your tongue?
Enjoy your Sunday Jama. I am bringing 2 varieties of homemade chocolate chip cookies to my sweet little granddaughters. I am babysitting them while their mother goes to the hospital to be induced with baby girl #3.
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Oh, another granddaughter on the way! How exciting. Hope all goes smoothly with the delivery. Yum to homemade chocolate chip cookies. What a treat! 🙂
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Charming through and through, and informative too!
And not only does this book have a charming title, the publisher’s name is delightful as well. 🙂
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