Easter Recipe - Delicious Hot Cross Buns

Easter is just around the corner and what better bake is there than traditional Hot Cross Buns?

This recipe comes from one of my favourite recipe books, Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Cook Book from 1959.

Hot Cross Buns

2 packages active dry yeast or 2 cakes compressed yeast

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup milk, scalded

½ cup salad oil or melted shortening

1/3 cup sugar

¾ teaspoon salt

3 ½ to 4 cups sifted enriched flour

½ to 1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 beaten eggs

2/3 cup currants

1 slightly beaten egg white

Sifted confectioners’ sugar

Soften active dry yeast in warm water or compressed yeast in lukewarm water. Combine milk, salad oil, sugar, and salt; cool to lukewarm. Sift together 1 cup of the flour and the cinnamon; stir into milk mixture. Add eggs; beat well. Stir in softened yeast and currants. Add remaining flour (or a little more or less to make a soft dough). Cover with damp cloth; and let rise in warm place till double (about 1 ½ hours). Punch down.

Roll or pat out to ½ inch on lightly floured surface. Cut in rounds with 2 ½ inch biscuit cutter; shape in buns. Place on a greased baking sheet about 1 ½ inches apart. Cover and let rise in warm place till almost double (about 1 hour). If desired, cut shallow cross in each bun with sharp scissors or knife. Brush tops with egg white. Bake at 375° about 12 minutes, or till done. Add confectioners’ sugar (about ¾ cup) to the remaining egg white. Use this as a frosting for piping crosses on warm buns. Makes about 2 dozen.

With love from,

Images courtesy of http://thegraphicsfairy.com/

Elizabeth Craig - A doyenne of home economy (plus her pancake recipe)

Elizabeth Josephine Craig (16 February 1883 – 7 June 1980) was a notable Scottish home economist, cookery writer and journalist. 

(Image courtesy of www.britishfoodinamerica.com)

Elizabeth wrote over 40 cookery books during her 97 years! She first began writing cookery books after the first World War and then continued on until 1980 - an impressive five decades!

Elizabeth starting cooking at the young age of 6, and also began collecting various recipes from the age of 12. Due to this background, she was well-versed in the art of cookery. True to her talent, she was able to create recipes according to the times, whether it was frugal recipes during war time or later years when refridgerators were common. 

I am fortunate to have a copy of Elizabeth's Craig's Home Cooking, a 1961 edition of the original 1949 publication. 

Shrove Tuesday has come and gone but I will feature Elizabeth Craig's Pancake Recipe as we are still nearing Easter! 

Pancakes

3/4 lb. flour
1 large egg
1/2 half pint milk
Pinch salt

Sift flour and salt together into a basin. Make a well in the centre, then drop in the egg. Stir in half the milk gradually, then stir in the flour from the sides by degrees. Beat well and add the rest of the milk, beating all the time. Stand in a cool place for one hour. When ready to fry, pour and scrape batter into a jug. 

 

To fry pancakes

Melt a walnut of butter or lard in the frying-pan. Remove pan from fire and pour in from 2 tablespoons to 1/4 pint of batter, depending on the size of the frying-pan. Move the pan a little to allow the batter to spread over the whole of the pan, then quickly place the pan on heat. Cook till lightly browned below, then toss, by jerking the pan upwards and towards you, or turn with a palette knife. Brown on the other side, then turn on to sugared paper. Dredge with sugar, squeeze a little lemon juice over, then roll up and keep hot while cooking the rest of the batter. Put a walnut of fat into pan before cooking each pancake. Serve arranged on a hot dish lined with a paper doily. Garnish with fingers of lemon.
  

Enjoy!

 With love from,

St Patrick's Day Vintage Recipe

With St Patrick's Day coming up, I thought it would be fun to get into the spirit and feature an Irish recipe!

This recipe comes from the 1965 edition of The Scottish and Irish Baking Book :

Ginger & Walnut Scones

1/2 lb / 226.7g flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 oz / 56.6g margarine

1 oz / 28g castor sugar

2 oz /56.6g chopped preserved ginger

1 oz / 28g chopped walnuts

1 egg

milk to mix

Sieve the dry ingredients, and cut and rub in the margarine. Add the sugar, chopped preserved ginger and chopped walnuts. Beat the egg and add a little milk. Use to mix all to a soft dough. Turn on to a floured board, toss over and roll out about 1-inch thick. Cut into scones, brush with egg and bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes. 

Enjoy! Or 'taitneamh a bhaint as'

With love from,

Vintage Brown Sugar Fudge Recipe

This very delicious recipe comes from the 1975 edition of  'Candy Recipes and other Confections' by May B. Van Arsdale and Rush Parrish Casa Emellos. This book was compiled from recipe leaflets from the 1940's.

Brown Sugar Fudge

Large Recipe

Brown Sugar, 1 cup

Granulated sugar, 1 cup

Milk, 2/3 cup

Chocolate, 2 squares (2 oz. / 56g)

Butter, 2 tablespoons

Vanilla, 1 teaspoon

Small Recipe

Brown sugar, ½ cup

Granulated sugar, ½ cup

Milk, ½ cup

Chocolate, 1 squares (1 oz. /28g)

Butter, 1 tablespoon

Vanilla, ½ teaspoon

Break the chocolate into small pieces so that it will melt easily. Put the sugar, milk, and chocolate into a saucepan and cook slowly, stirring constantly, until the temperature (236° F. / 113° C) is reached.
Remove from fire, add butter without stirring, and set aside to cool. When the candy has cooled to 110° F. / 43°C (luke warm), add vanilla and begin beating. Continue beating until the fudge has lost its shiny look and a small amount dropped from the spoon will hold its shape.
Pour into greased pans.
When cold cut into squares.
Cold water test when candy reaches (236° F. / 113° C) soft ball.
Yield (large recipe): number of pieces - 36 (one inch square and at least one-half of an inch thick). 

Enjoy!

 
With love from,

 

Retro Valentines Cake Recipe

 

This Valentines Cake is truly delicious as it includes a mouth-watering Strawberry crème au beurre icing. This fabulous recipe comes from a 1976 recipe book called Woman’s Realm Cake Icing by Christine France. Spoil your Valentine or yourself with this 'retro' bake!

Retro Valentines Cake

1 quantity Genoese sponge mixture
1 1/2 quantities Strawberry crème au beurre
175g fresh strawberries
1 (25cm) heart-shaped or round cake board
75g plain dessert chocolate

Strawberry Crème Au Beurre (1 Quantity, adjust for extra 1/2)

75g castor sugar

4 tablespoons water

2 egg yolks

175g unsalted butter

50-100g strawberry purée 

Put the sugar and water in a heavy-based pan and dissolve over a gently heat, stirring occasionally without allowing the mixture to boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, bring to a rapid boil and boil without stirring for 2-3 minutes until the temperature reaches 107C on a sugar thermometer. Beat the egg yolks lightly in a bowl and pour the hot syrup into them in a thin, steady stream, whisking hard all the time. Continue whisking until the mixture is thick and cold. Cream the butter until soft and beat into the mixture with the strawberry purée.

Genoese Sponge

40g unsalted butter

65g plain flour

1 tablespoon corn flour

3 large eggs

75g castor sugar

Melt the butter very gently and allow to cool for a few minutes. Meanwhile sift together the flour and corn flour.

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl over a pan of hot water until light and creamy and the whisk, when lifted, leaves a ribbon trail for a few seconds into the mixture. Then remove the bowl from the heat and continue whisking until cool. Fold in half the flour using a metal spoon. Pour the butter around the inside of the bowl while folding in the remaining flour as quickly as possible, as the sponge will soon lose volume after the butter is added.

Baking & Assembling

Set the oven at moderately hot (190C). Grease and base-line a 1.15 litre heart-shaped tin and bake the cake mixture in it for 20-25 minutes. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.
Divide the crème au beurre into four equal portions. Slice the cake in half horizontally and spread one portion over the bottom half. Reserve two strawberries for decoration and roughly chop the rest.
Arrange the chopped strawberries over the layer of crème au beurre and sandwich the two halves together.
Place the cake on the board. Spread the top and sides of the cake with two more portions of crème au beurre, swirling in circles with a palette knife.
Melt the chocolate and dip each reserved strawberry into it until half-coated. Leave to dry.

Pour the remaining chocolate on a sheet of waxed or non-stick paper and allow to cool. Cut out small hearts with a heart-shaped aspic cutter.

Place the remaining crème au beurre in a piping bag fitted with a No. 12 shell nozzle and pipe a border of shell around the top edge of the cake.

Decorate with the strawberries and chocolate hearts. 

Enjoy!

 With love from,