Susie Blake views food as “fuel”.

Currently on a long tour of Torben Bett’s comedy thriller Murder at Midnight, Susie admits she doesn’t feel comfortable using someone else’s kitchen when touring.

“So I tend to have pre-prepared food from the supermarkets, eat in a café or pop into Marks and Spencer and get one of their poke bowls, which really sustains me and keeps me going,” says Susie.

When she’s at home, Susie, who doesn’t own a microwave, chooses things that are simple to cook – fish being one of her regular favourites.

But she admits to having a sweet tooth and absolutely loves cake. “If I could live on it, I would. But it has to be homemade or from a bakery. I don’t like that sugary taste you get from bought cakes that are manufactured in bulk. I’m also a pudding lover, and when I go out for a meal, I confess, I always look at the dessert menu first and choose my pudding before my main course.”

Susie admits that when she goes to a restaurant, she is “quite critical”. “Someone else is cooking, and you are paying, so you expect it to be better than you yourself would produce.”

Annette Mills, an actress and the famous BBC TV presenter known for Muffin the Mule in the early 50s, was Susie’s grandmother. Annette was a vegetarian, which, according to Susie, influenced her mother’s cooking.

“We were allowed to eat meat, but it was raw food Mum was good at preparing. She would add grated cheese and sliced-up eggs to vegetables and salads and made a wonderful potato salad. She cooked chops in the frying pan with a delicious sauce, but one thing we used to love as kids was plaice.”

“When we went in the summer to the tiny flat we used to visit in Broadstairs, Mum would cook plaice with peas and new potatoes. She would coat the fresh plaice fillets with egg and breadcrumbs; it was just so delicious.”

Susie starts her day, mostly as she has done for the last 30 years, with granola, muesli, fruit and yoghurt, but in winter she does deviate.

“I always have porridge in winter with plums from my two plum trees. I pick and make a compote with them or just cut them in half and freeze them, and they last me up to Christmas.”

When on tour, Susie will usually eat about 2 hours before the show. “Last week in Birmingham I discovered The Early Bird Bakery that was also a coffee shop with brunch options.

“There was a queue outside, and everything looked so delicious. I had a chicken burger with crunchy bacon. It was packed with lettuce, corn on the cob, and salad, and it had a beautiful sauce on it. The whole thing was 5 inches high!”

“Halfwaythrough I knew I wouldn’t eat it all, so I asked for a doggy bag, and it tasted so good I just didn’t want to finish it!” “And guess what,” says Susie. I went back the next day for another one.”

Fruit Cake - inspired by Farmhouse Kitchen


Ingredients
1.125g Stork
2.175g Dark Brown Sugar
3.300g mixed fruit
4.90g chopped ginger in syrup and good glace cherries
5.225ml water
6.1 level teaspoon bicarb
7.1 heaped teaspoon mixed spice

Put all this into pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 min.
Put aside to cool.

Now get the other ingredients
2 beaten eggs
125g plain wholemeal flour
125g self raising flour
pinch of salt

Heat oven F.160. Please cooled mix into bowl and add other ingredients. Stir well and cook in pre-heated oven for one and quarter hours

Press top to see if firm - if not, another 10 mins

Susie Blake

Murder at Midnight is at The York Theatre Royal from 21st – 25th October then touring to: -
The Lowery Saltford 19-24 January
Grand Theatre Blackpool 28-31 January
Darlington Hippodrome 1-4 April