Dossie's Cinnamon Sponge

Mum was a reasonable baker! We grew up at home on only home cooked treats. Her older sister Aunty Dossie (Harris) though, that was a different matter. WOW, could she cook. Everything on her dairy farm was made from scratch. Everything tasted delicious. The pantry was lined with bottles and jars of home preserves from the excess of each season. I can still taste the icecream that she whipped by hand, made fresh from the cream of her own cows. Every Australian country woman could (and most still can) make a sponge cake. That's what you serve when special visitors come. "You whip up a sponge".

Some special recipes in mum's hand written book are designated: (Dossie's). This is one of those recipes.

3 eggs
small 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup arrowroot
2 teaspoons (plain) flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon syrup
(I tested this with golden syrup from the era and my knowledge that is what the I think the recipe meant)

Beat the eggs and sugar for 20 minutes (that's what it says!). Add dry ingredients then fold in 1 teaspoon syrup.

Bake in sandwich tins in a moderate oven for 7 - 10 minutes.

ROSE and COCONUT sour cream cake

This is an adaptation, a new adaptation this week, but I had so many people asking for it that just had to put it down in writing.

125g (4oz) butter
1 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons rose syrup
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
300g (9 1/2oz) carton sour cream

Grease a deep 23cm (9") square cake pan; line with paper.

Cream butter, essence and sugar in small bowl. Add 2 eggs, one at a time and beating after each addition. Add rose syrup, then sour cream and self raising flour (half and half). Finally mix in the coconut. Spoon into the prepared cake pan.

Bake in a moderate oven for about an hour. Stand before turning out.

I made a royal icing (icing sugar and boiling water) and added a tablespoon of rose syrup. The original Australian Women's Weekly recipe suggested Coconut Ice Frosting:

2 cups icing sugar
1 1/2 cups coconut
2 egg whites lightly beaten
pink food colouring

Combine sifted icing sugar in a bowl with coconut and egg whites; mix well. If desired, tint pink with a little colouring.

Rose syrup:

Make sure you use roses that have not been sprayed with insectides (and rose petals that therefore are edible). Place rose petals in 2 cups water and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and measure. Add an equal quantity of sugar to water and bring again to the boil.

Becca's Saffron Ring

generous pinch of saffron threads
2 sprigs lemon thyme
(optional grated lemon rind)
1/2 cup milk
4oz (125g) butter
1/4 cup yoghurt
3 eggs
1 cup castor sugar
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
pinch of salt

Place sprigs of lemon thyme in scalding milk off the heat. Strain, place in a clean saucepan with the saffron and bring to back heat. Add cubed butter to the milk; heat slowly until the butter has melted and remove from heat. (Do not boil) Bring back to room temperature. Mix the yoghurt into the milk and butter.

Grease 8" (20cm) ring pan and line base with baking paper.

In a large bowl, whisk whole eggs and gradually add the castor sugar, making sure the sugar dissolves between each addition. Alternatively add sifted flour, and butter mixture, (1/4 each time) to the eggs and sugar base. (Add optional grated lemon rind) Whisk until light. Pour into prepared ring tin.

Bake in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes. Allow to stand a few minutes, before turning out to cool.

Serving suggestions: lemon icing or with carrot lemon & raisin compote, yoghurt or honey ice cream.

Lemon Yoghurt Cake

Lemon yoghurt cake with peach and blueberry salad 

This cake is inspired by the wonderful cookbook writer Claudia Roden. Her Middle Eastern books are so fabulous. I had the pleasure of cooking breakfast for her once at Australia's national produce celebration The Harvest Picnic. And it was truly an honour. This recipe was collected at a local farmers market and supplied there by Country Valley. Shared, with thanks ... 

4 large eggs, separated 

100 g (3 1/2 oz / heaped 1/3 cup) caster (superfine) sugar 

3 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour 400 g (14 oz / 1 3/4 cups) Greek-style yoghurt 

grated zest of 1 lemon

 

icing (confectioners') sugar for dusting 

whipped cream 

6 ripe peaches, cut into wedges 

155 g (5 1/2 oz / 1 cup) blueberries 

55 g (2 oz / 1/4 cup) caster (superfine) sugar 

grated zest of 1 lemon 

1 vanilla bean 

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Grease a 22cm (8 1/2 inch) spring-form cake tin with butter and line the base and side with baking paper. 

 Beat the egg yolks with the sugar to a thick, pale cream. Beat in the flour, then the yoghurt, lemon zest and lemon juice until it is thoroughly blended. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the yoghurt mixture in two batches. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a skewer. (Check the cake after 30 minutes, and cover with foil if over browning.) Unclip the spring-form tin and slide the cake onto a wire rack to cool. 

Meanwhile place the peaches, blueberries, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in a bowl. Split the vanilla bean lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Add these to the fruit salad and toss all the ingredients until combined. Cover the bowl and set aside at room temperature to macerate for several hours. Transfer the cake to a serving plate and dust with icing sugar. Serve wedges of cake with peach and blueberry salad and a dollop of whipped cream. 

Serves 6

CINNAMON TEA CAKE

60g (2oz) butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1 cup self raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (or paste)
1/3 cup milk

topping (extra)
15g (1/2oz) butter
1 tablespoon castor sugar
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanill then flour and milk. Cook in moderate oven for 15 to 20 minutes. While cooling on cake tray, make topping.

Melt extra butter and brush on top of cake. Mix extra castor sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle on cake.

Delicious while warm. Still delicious when cool.

Date Crunchies

There are a wealth of recipes we grew up on as kids in mum's old hand written cook books. I don't remember anything being bought from supermarkets or shops. Everything was made at home. Here's another of those family recipes to share with you.

8oz (250g) flour
12oz (375g) dates
4oz (125g) rolled oats
6oz (190g) sugar
5oz (160g) butter
grated lemon rind
2 - 3 teaspoons water

Heat chopped dates, rind and water until soft. Pour melted butter over the flour, sugar and rolled oats mix.

Spread half the oats mixtured in greased slice tin and press down firmly. Spread the softened date mixture over the bsed. Sprinkle the rest of the oats mixture over the top.

Bake in a moderate oven for 1 hour. Wait until quite cold before cutting into fingers.

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 ...

Banana Cake

Bananas are right in the peak of the season at the moment, so this is as good a time as any to try out our family recipe for Banana Cake. The original recipe below pre-dates metric weights. I've added the metric in brackets; just make sure to use a smaller teaspoon and tablespoon if you are not using the other metric measurements. The recipe is probably based on a 55g or 60g egg.

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to medium heat (around 165C fanforced or 325F)
• Prepare cake tins - original recipe is for 2 x 7" sandwich tins well greased
• (I use 1 x deeper larger round tin or 1 x rectangular deep loaf tin)
• Mum used to put old butter wrappers in the pans (- I use baking parchment)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups Self Raising Flour
• 2 oz margarine (I shudder of course I use butter around 60g)
• 1 teaspoon Bicarb of Soda
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 egg
• 3 ripe bananas

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar, until pale and lightly fluffy. Add the beaten egg and then the well mashed bananas. Add sifted flour. Dissolve the bicarb of soda in warm milk then add to the rest of the mixture.

Bake for around 20 minutes for two tins. Sandwich together when cold with a cream filling. Sprinkle with sifted icing sugar on top.

(I bake for about 35 minutes in one tin. I serve it as it comes!)

Other:

This family recipe has been used here in Australia since at least the 1950s. I don't know how much older than that it may be.

Enjoy!