Recipes from Mellerstain - Sweet Autumn Treats
With thanks to Gill Harrop, Administrator at Mellerstain for these wonderful seasonal recipes! Enjoy these bakes for yourself at the Mellerstain open day on Saturday 25 October 2025, 11am-5pm surrounded by stunning autumn colours. Find full details of the open day here. The garden is also open to visit regularly until 31 December, 11am - 5pm.
Sticky Gingerbread Loaf – makes two 2lb loaves
Ingredients
300g margarine *
300g caster sugar *
300g treacle *
3 eggs beaten
525g plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons bicarb of soda
3 teaspoons ground ginger
375ml boiling water
Oven 180°C ,160°C (fan oven), gas 4
1. Melt starred ingredients in a large pan. Leave to slightly cool.
2. Add in sieved flour, bicarb and ginger.
3. When cooled slightly add eggs, stirring well. Add boiling water and beat well until the mixture is runny.
4. Pour into 2 lined and greased loaf tins.
5. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes.
These keep well in an airtight tin also freeze as well.
Apple Crumble Cake
Ingredients
500g margarine
250g caster sugar
250g demerara sugar plus one tablespoon
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 large eggs
600g plain flour plus 7 tablespoons
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
500g baking apples
Heat oven to 160°C, 140°C (fan oven), gas 3
1. Grease and line the base and sides of a deep 25cm round cake tin.
2. Put the butter, the 2 x 250g sugar and vanilla into a large mixing bowl, beat until light and fluffy with an electric whisk.
3. Beat in the eggs one by one then fold in the 600g of flour and baking powder.
4. Spoon out 85g of this mixture into a separate bowl with the extra 7 tablespoons of flour and cinnamon cut the mixture with a cutlery knife so it becomes crumbly.
5. Peel and slice the apples into slices or small chunks, add this to the first mixture, tip into the baking tin and then crumble over the crumble mix. Top the mixture with the additional one tablespoon of sugar
6. Bake for 1 1/2 hours to 1hr 45 minutes. Check it is cooked when a skewer comes out clean on testing. Leave in the tin to cool.
7. Slice and enjoy
Freezes well.
