Dossie's Chocolate Cake

Aunty Dossie was one of my first cooking inspirations. When I was younger I would go and stay on her dairy farm where I had my first 'farm to table' experiences. In fact, it was those authentic and truly fresh flavours that ignited my interest in cooking. She is no longer with us, and here is her Chocolate Cake recipe, shared in her memory.

125g (4oz) butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons coconut
1 heaped cup Self Raising Flour
3 level tablespoon Drinking Chocolate

Besat butter and sugar, add milk and vanilla, then chocolate, flour and coconut.

Put into a greased sandwich tin. Bake in a moderate oven.

The recipe is simple and economical and most probably at least 40 to 50 years old.

Boiled Chocolate Cake

It is such a delight to read and cook and taste the recipes from my childhood. These all came from mum's old hand written cookbooks, from recipes that were passed over a kitchen table and a cup of tea, posted from relatives or swapped over the backfence.

Bring slowly to the boil, stirring continuously:
1 cup water
2 tablespoons cocoa
125g/4oz butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Allow to cool.

When cold, stir in 2 well beaten eggs, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 2 cups self raising flour.

Pour into greased tin and bake in a moderate oven for 35-40 minutes.

Boiled (and moist) Fruit Loaf

Sometimes these old family recipes seem a bit old-fashioned when I check out the latest food magazines, TV shows or food blogs. They are however my old favourites, and the favourites I was brought up on and all come from mum's handwritten old recipe book, from recipes that were shared and passed on pieces of paper over the kitchen table, over the back fence, and sometimes in a letter ... how things have changed!

Put 1 cup water, 1 cup raisins, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 cup sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and cool.

Add 1 cup self raising flour, pinch of each salt, ground nutmeg and allspice, with 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. Mix. (The mixture will be rather runny).

Pour into a well greased loaf tin and cook in a moderate oven until the edges are coming away from the tin. Leave for a few minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Varations: try mixed fruit, or dates instead of raisins - I'm going to add a little bit of dried apricots or dried figs in with the raisins next time ...

Salted Peanut Biscuits

A very simple recipe that was used in our family for the last couple of generations - good food for kids (little or big):

1 cup self raising flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup corn flakes
1 cup sugar
125g butter
1 egg
30g salted peanuts

Melt butter and add to beaten egg and sugar. Mix in dry ingredients and peanuts.

Place spoonfuls on greased tray and bake in moderate oven 15 to 20 minutes.

Golden Crunchies

Mum made these for us when we were kids. And, the recipe now comes to you from her hand written recipe book:

Golden Crunchies

2 cups self raising flour
1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
125g butter
125g sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 dessertspoon golden syrup

Heat milk, bicarb of soda and golden syrup. Beat butter and sugar until creamy then add hot liquid. Stir in sifted flour.

Drop teaspoons on a greased tray allowing room to spread. Press down with a fork. Bake in moderate oven 10 to 15 minutes. While still hot lift on to cooling rack.

(note from Becca - I make the mixture more rounded like a ball before placing on tray and pressing with a fork)

Coconut Biscuits

There are lots of delicious ways to use coconut in sweet dishes. These biscuits are a simply no fail recipe. Hope you like them.

4oz (125g) butter
1 cup sugar
Cream with vanilla

Add 1 egg, then 1 cup self raising flour and 8oz (25og) desiccated coconut.

Roll into balls and press down with a fork on greased tray.

Bake in moderate oven 10 to 15 minutes.

Another family recipe from mum's old hand written recipe book

GEM scones

for anyone that's new - these are old family recipes from mum's handwritten notebooks - the kind of things I grew up on as a kid and she grew up on when she was a kid - enjoy!

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 large cup self raising flour
1/2 cup milk
vanilla

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add milk and egg, then sifted flour.

Have gem irons heated and greased. Cook in hot oven about 10 minutes.