ARROWROOT biscuits

125g (4oz) butter
125g (4oz) arrowroot
125g (4oz) icing sugar
2 eggs
125g (4oz) flour

Beat butter to a cream, add beaten eggs and stir in flour. After beating the mixture well, add the finely sieved arrowroot and icing sugar.

Roll out and cut into oval shapes, place on greased tray, prick with a fork, and bake for 1/2 hour in a slow oven.

Custard Creams

This family recipe is taken from mum's handwritten cookbook (of recipes that were swapped over the kitchen table and the back fence and even included as a note in a letter). It dates to the 1960s at latest, even perhaps earlier. Enjoy!

Biscuits:

6oz (180g) butter
6oz (180g) self raising flour
2oz (60g) icing sugar
2oz (60g) custard powder

Cream butter and icing sugar. Fold in sifted dry ingredients. Place teaspoons on greased tray or form into small balls and press down with a fork. Bake at 425F for 10 to 12 minutes.

Filling:

2oz (60g) butter
4oz (120g) icing sugar
2 tablespoons condensed milk
vanilla essence
yellow colouring

Cream butter and condensed milk and slowly add icing sugar, then vanilla and colouring (you can leave the colouring out if you like). When cold, join two biscuits together with filling.

EASY slice

This recipe has been made in our family for over 40 years. It seems (as the name suggests!) almost too easy...

1 cup self raising flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup coconut
125g (4oz) butter

Melt butter and pour over dry ingredients. Mix. Cook in slice tin in moderate oven 15 - 20 minutes.

Ice while hot - chocolate or lemon

enjoy...

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 (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.