Recipes taken from the Complete Traditional Recipe Book by Sarah Edington.

Mulled Ale

© National Trust Books

Who better than Mrs Beeton to provide a recipe for Mulled Ale? She considers the amount below ‘sufficient for 4 persons’, and the cost, in my edition of 1881, is given as one shilling.

• 1.25 litres (2 pints) good ale
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1⁄2 standard wine glass rum or brandy
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

Serves 4

Heat the ale with the sugar and cloves. Don’t allow it to boil. At the same time, warm a jug by rinsing it out with boiling water. Pour the hot ale into the jug, adding the brandy or rum and grated nutmeg to taste.

Lemonade

© National Trust Books

Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent on a very hot day – not only were the flowers wilting, but so was I. I was rescued with a glass of home-made lemonade, so I rang up Mark Britcher, head chef at Sissinghurst Restaurant, for the recipe. It is simple, but carefully thought out – and he should know what works best: on some hot days they make over 114 litres (25 gallons) of lemonade for their thirsty customers. Lemonade is best made the day before you intend to serve it.

• 3 unwaxed lemons
• 75g (3oz) granulated or lump sugar
• 750ml (11⁄4 pints) water

To serve

• Ice cubes
• Mint leaves or borage flowers and leaves

Makes 6 glasses

Chop the lemons and put them in a food processor with the granulated or lump sugar. Process until you have a fairly fine pulp: the processing ‘pulls’ the natural oils from the lemons. Put the mixture in a glass jug and stir in the water. Chill overnight before use. Serve with ice cubes and a sprig of mint or borage. This lemonade will keep for two to three days in the fridge.

The Complete Traditional Recipe Book contains more than 300 recipes.