YORKSHIRE is the home of outstanding glorious rolling countryside and Yorkshire puddings!

We also have plenty to smile about up here in the North.

While our home-pride may burn bright all year long, the first of August is the date commemorated every year where we come together to celebrate all that’s great about our beloved county.

I do hope this year’s Yorkshire Day helps you to reflect on our local history, and this goes for people outside Yorkshire as well.

There are many delicious regional recipes to be found within our borders, and our beloved Yorkshire curd tart is one of the best. Sadly it hasn’t made its way out of recipe books for a long time.

Maybe it’s the cheese in question?

Curd cheese can be very hard to find these days, with most people being put off with the bacterial cultures and cheesecloth, transforming old milk into cheese.

But while I find the cheese-making process thrilling, not everyone will have the inclination to spend their weekend elbow deep in curdled milk - for that reason alone.

Try using an alternative product like cottage cheese which the weight watchers would welcome as a healthy bake.

The Yorkshire curd tart may not win any prizes for its looks, however this is all a cunning ploy on the part of us Yorkshire Tykes.

It gives us a sense of exclusivity, as we don’t want the tart to be cheapened by mass production, even though it will satisfy the sweet tooths of the general public.

Look what happened to its good friend the Bakewell tart – it’s barely worth thinking about the poor fate of that fondant fancy.

The truth is, the Yorkshire curd tart is utterly delicious, bursting with comforting custard-like filling flavours that don’t want to attract too much attention.

A recipe being changed or tweaked – ‘faffing around’ we call it in Yorkshire – doesn’t make it an original recipe. It becomes yours when you write it in your own words, and all recipes are really just variants of another.

Yes, we’ve all adapted recipes from recipe books and magazines before: it’s about expressing something to appeal for everyone, and adding your own stamp and twist will bring it back alive again.

Tinkering with a classic Yorkshire recipe will nark a few people and I’m sure I will get it in the lug’ole, but think about it – when was the last time you baked a Yorkshire curd tart?

I rest my case.

Happy Yorkshire Day and get baking!

Yorkshire Day Curd Tart

Ingredients

100g caster sugar

100g butter, softened

200g cottage cheese

2 eggs, lightly beaten

100g currants

10g nutmeg, freshly grated, plus extra to sprinkle over

5g cinnamon

1 lemon zest, optional

375g packet of ready rolled shortcrust butter pastry or homemade

Method

1. Lightly grease an eight-inch tart dish with butter and roll out the pastry big enough to fill it, trimming off the excess pastry from around the edge before pricking the base a few times with a fork.

2. Preheat the oven to 180c/Gas Mark 4.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add the beaten eggs slowly to prevent curdling.

5. Gently stir in the cottage cheese, currants, nutmeg, cinnamon and lemon zest.

6. Add the curd filling to the pastry flan case, smoothing out the top with spatula or wooden spoon.

7. Sprinkle over the top as desired a little more freshly grated nutmeg, before baking for 35/40 minutes until golden brown and well set.

8. Allow to cool in the tin before slicing up and celebrating the day with a brew of Yorkshire Tea.