We’ll make Christmas work for Grandma
As for many families, 2020 has been a hard year, and Christmas still has its uncertainties because of the fluid nature of social distancing rules.
Jess, who started baking in mum Helen’s kitchen alongside her grandma, says, ‘We usually start a month before Christmas, which is always a big family a air. My family live near Stroud, Gloucestershire, while my grandma lives in Welwyn Garden City.
‘We usually all get together at my mum and dad’s house with my brother, cousin and two sets of grandparents on my dad’s side. We decide who is bringing what dessert, as that’s the main thing for us. We’ve also had homemade lasagnes, hand-raised pies and more.
‘But this year, we’ve been running through options on how we’re going to operate. As I’m not living with my parents, it’s a risk just travelling home to see them.
‘Our house is normally full of family from Christmas to New Year, so it will be completely alien to have a quiet house for the first time in my memory.
‘I think the person it’s going to a ect the most is Blackberry Grandma. She travels a lot for Christmas, seeing family and friends as well as going to church services and other events.
‘But, as we have since February, we will continue to take our lead from her. We’ll adapt, much like we have with everything else. If it means video calling as we open presents and eat our Christmas dinner, we’ll find a way to make it work. We’ve even barbecued in the snow before, so I’m not against sitting in a garden to have a socially distanced Christmas!
‘Our family is spread across the UK, so popping round to wave through a window isn’t really an option. I know there are families up and down the country having the same di cult conversations with their loved ones as we are right now.
‘Keeping our family safe is the priority – there will be more celebrations and holidays in the future, and being able to see each other again will be a celebration in its own right.’
Until then, Jess, a freelance TV production assistant, will hold dear the memories of times she spent with her grandmother when, as a young intern, she stayed with her for weeks at a time.
‘I’d come home to grandma’s shepherd’s pie and rhubarb crumble, and we’d sit and enjoy it together while watching the Great British Bake O .’
Baking has always brought Jess and her grandma together. Even before the lockdown, Joan would hand-write her recipes and post them to Jess to keep for reference.
One of her favourites is a chocolate crunch recipe (recipe overleaf) passed down through the family to Joan from her mother Cicely – Jess’s great grandmother – who worked at Stutton Hall, near Woodbridge, Su olk as a teenager.
Jess says, ‘Back then you’d marry and have kids, but at 19, Cicely was already head of the kitchen and an excellent baker. She was a clever, creative and hardworking woman who made prize-winning cakes and the most stunning apple turnovers.
Jess, her mum and grandma
celebrating Christmas 2019
Jess’s homemade bake inspired by ‘Blackberry
Grandma’
‘During the Second World War when my grandma and her brother and sister were young, icing sugar was illegal. Cicely watered down dried milk to a paste that resembled icing so the kids could have iced buns for their birthdays.’
No doubt Cicely’s experiences made Joan creative and adaptable. Even so, this year has tested the family in ways they couldn’t have imagined, but Jess has discovered a new way to bond with her grandma.
‘I‘ve been making my way through a vintage cookbook by Ambrose Heath, after realising I wanted to bake my way through a book to broaden my knowledge. I found a copy of Good Cakes, Bread and Biscuits online. It still has the handwritten name of the person who owned it before and it’s very sweet.
‘What I didn’t bank on was all the old school measurements like tea cups and breakfast cups, and how the methods skip steps, assuming you already know how to make the pastry or how long to bake it for. I’ve been calling grandma and she’s been helping me through the recipes and though we’re many miles apart, it’s been really nice to work on them as a team.’
Jess is now documenting her e orts as she works through the book on Instagram @dearambrose, learning lots of baking tricks from Joan and the book.
‘Grandma says learning to bake is something you just “breathe in” when you spend time in the kitchen. She picked it up simply by being surrounded by it, which then passed on to her daughter – my mum – and now me. I’m so grateful to be the fourth generation of women in my family with this passion for baking. It binds us all together, even during di cult times like these. It’s magical.’
zTurn the page for Joan’s chocolate crunch recipe