Vintage Christmas Recipe Series #1 : Christmas Cottage Cake

Welcome to the first post in the Vintage Christmas Recipe Series Series. It is one month today until Christmas and time to get cracking on festive bakes!

This delightful Christmas Cottage Cake comes from Good Housekeeping's Picture Cake Making book dating from 1952 :

Christmas Cottage Cake

Any cake mixture (other than a very light sponge) may be used to form the foundation of this cake. It is baked in a rectangular tin, and the curved top of the cake, when risen, forms the basis of the roof. Make 1 lb. (454g) almond paste, and colour half of it with 2 tbsp. chocolate powder. Brush the sides of the cake with a little melted jam then cover them with the chocolate almond paste, reserving a little for the chimney. Build up the roof with the uncoloured almond paste, forking it up to give the effect of a thatch. Make a hole in the roof and set in it a chimney made from the chocolate almond paste. Now, using a writing pipe and a little butter or royal icing, mark in the door and windows. Stand the cake on a board and make the garden and path with plain chocolate almond paste, if available, and sprinkle with a little icing sugar to represent snow. Failing almond paste, sprinkle the cake board with icing sugar. 

If you bake from this recipe, please send pictures! Look out for the next Christmas Recipe post!

With love from The Vintage Kitchen, 

Vintage Christmas Recipe Series

Yes, Christmas is just over a month away! To celebrate the season in true vintage style, I will be doing a Christmas recipe series here on the blog.

From classic festive bakes to traditional Christmas confectionery - be sure to visit the blog from Tuesday the 25th November for inspiration! 

From the Vintage Kitchen with love, 

Cake Icing & Decorating - Jean Bowring

This lovely lady is Jean Bowring, who was an Australian writer and TV chef who hosted her own TV show 'The Jean Bowring Show' in Melbourne from 1957 to 1960.

Jean wrote this classic book, Cake Icing & Decorating, which is a guide to creating gorgeous cakes. One of my favourites in the book is this Tapestry Bag cake :

I love the fabulous pictures in this book, and though cake trends come and go, these cakes will always be classic!

This book is definitely worth adding to your collection!

Mrs Beeton - Cookery Book Pioneer

Many people are aware of Mrs Beeton, but you may not know that this British housewife contributed greatly to the field of home making in her short 28 years! 

                                                           

Isabella,12 March 1836 – 6 February 1865, the wife of a publisher, wrote a monthly supplement to The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine. These supplements, which dealt with household management as well as cooking, were published as a single volume in 1861. The rather long title of this volume was, ''The Book of Household Management, comprising information for the Mistress, Housekeeper, Cook, Kitchen-Maid, Butler, Footman, Coachman, Valet, Upper and Under House-Maids, Lady’s-Maid, Maid-of-all-Work, Laundry-Maid, Nurse and Nurse-Maid, Monthly Wet and Sick Nurses, etc. etc.—also Sanitary, Medical, & Legal Memoranda: with a History of the Origin, Properties, and Uses of all Things Connected with Home Life and Comfort'. {Sounds like a lot of the servants in Downton Abbey listed here!} This book is more well-known as Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management. 

This tome of household wisdom comprises of 1,112 pages, with over 900 of these pages containing recipes. 

From this large book, smaller books have been created, such as the volume I own : Mrs Beeton's Jam-Making.

These books are treasure indeed, so if you come across one, be sure to snap it up!

Recipes From Mrs Beeton's Jam Making

As promised, I am posting a recipe from the beloved Mrs Beeton’s Jam Making recipe book. I have included two recipes, just to ‘spice’ things up ;)

The images below are taken from the classic book and this is from a well-used and well-loved copy.

Everything you need to know about Jam Making including pickles, relishes etc are to be found in this marvellous book. I was delighted to have found this book a few years ago at a charity shop for about R10, especially since they sell online for around £17.

Mrs Beeton's Jam Making

Today I wanted share with you one of my favourite cookery books from a famous author - Mrs Beeton!

I am thrilled to have in my collection : an early copy of Mrs Beeton's Jam Making. The book is probably dating from between 1915 - 1924.

This is a peek inside this vintage delight, and next week I will post a recipe from this treasure, as well as more about the delightful Mrs Beeton.