jubilee cake

this is a cake that my mother used to make when i was a child and it's been one that i've wanted to make for ages..i have fond memories of my mother making it to take on the picnics that we went on regularly..i can make heavy weather of packing for a picnic but in no time my mother would throw together a few chops or sausages, bread, butter and sometimes a jubilee cake and off we'd go..

the jubilee cake or loaf was created in 1936 for south australia's 100th jubilee year and the recipe* was published in the 1936 edition of the 'green and gold cookery book'..i'm not overly fond of using the baking recipes in this book because i find the measurements inexact and the instructions unclear so i used the jubilee cake recipe* in 'the blue ribbon cookbook' by liz harfull..it's a book of recipes and anecdotes from south australian prizewinning country show cooks..

after making the jubilee cake for the first time i can say that it's a winner..the flavour and texture belie the simplicity of the ingredients and how quickly and easily it's made..in a way it's a bit like scones in the sense that it can be made and served in no time and with staple pantry items..it's the sort of cake i'd now make for impromptu guests or if i wanted something with a cup of tea after a day in the garden..

best eaten slightly warm with butter

note: * for copyright reasons i'm unable to post the jubilee cake recipe from 'the blue ribbon cookbook' but the recipes from the 'green and gold' are quite similar but this recipe from the cwa (country women's association) offers a different method..

porter cake

for as long as i've been cooking i've been interested in feast day foods from different cultures..the two cultures that i have had the most association with though are british and greek since my ancestral background is a mix of english and scottish (and french way back) and i've lived in greece, i married a greek man and i have three half greek children..as a result i tend to recognise the feast days from these two cultures a lot more than others..

just this last sunday 17 march was st patrick's day..st patrick, the patron saint of ireland, was the son of a roman tax collector who lived in wales and was captured at the age of sixteen and sold into irish slavery..he escaped though and entered the priesthood, returned to ireland and converted his capturers to christianity..

even though i don't have any irish blood the australian psyche is awash with irish narrative because of the large numbers of irish who came to australia during the early period of settlement and later on and the subsequent contribution they made to the australian way of life..

up until this week i was only aware of a few well known st patrick's day culinary traditions such as soda bread, beef and guiness, corned beef and cabbage and shepherd's pie..but while looking for other more obscure traditional foods i came across a cake called a porter cake that i'd not heard of before and so i made it out of interest and to celebrate the day..

porter is a type of dark beer that got it's name from its popularity with london's river and street porters.. it began being brewed in england and ireland in the 1700's and porter cake evolved sometime in the 1800's when it started being added to fruit cake..guinness seems to be the most common substitution for the harder to find porter which makes sense given that guinness was originally marketed as porter..

porter cake

from here

ingredients cake batter

175 gms butter

190 gms muscovado sugar

320 gms flour

100 gms sultanas

100 gms currants

100 gms raisons
100 gms dates chopped
300 mls guinness

3 eggs beaten

60 gms mixed peel

grated rind and juice of an orange

1 teaspoon (tsp) baking powder

2 tsp mixed spice

ingredients topping

20 gms muscovado sugar
almonds of choice (whole almonds, blanched, slivered or flaked)

method

~ line a deep 20 cm cm cake tin with 2 layers of brown paper and one of baking paper
~ place butter, dried fruit, guinness and orange juice and rind in a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil stirring
~ once boiling reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes then take off the heat and cool for 10 minutes
~ sift dry ingredients together
~ add a little of the still hot mix to the beaten eggs while stirring* well then slowly add the egg/hot mix to the saucepan mixing constantly to prevent curdling of the egg
~ fold in flour mix
~ spoon into cake tin, sprinkle with topping sugar and decorate with almonds as desired
~ bake at 160 deg centigrade for 1 1/2 hours covering the top after an hour to prevent the top burning
~ remove from oven and cool in the tin for 20 minutes and then remove the papers and cool on a wire rack

an interesting aspect of this cake which i'd not come across before was in the method where the heated mix was not completely cooled before the remaining ingredients were added..i've included an additional step (see *) not included in the recipe i used because there's a danger that unwary cooks could curdle the mix if all the egg is added at once..  

when i first cut this cake i didn't think i was going to like it because it looked too moist for my taste..you see, from what i've noticed, there seem to be two types of fruit cakes..the very moist solid ones and then the dryer lighter variety..and then there are the people who favour one more than the other..well, i'm definitely a dry cake aficionado..but i was surprised to find that even though it looked heavy and moist it was really good..and i wondered about the sugar on top..i thought it would just add to the overall sweetness of the cake but it added more in the way of a surprising and gentle crunch..overall it thought it had a lovely treacly flavour and it wasn't sickly sweet like i find some fruit cakes to be..

chocaroon cake

ever since i saw this cake in the cookbook, 'a second helping: more from ladies a plate', that i bought in new zealand a few weeks ago i've wanted to make it..i even started getting the ingredients out to make it a while back only to find i didn't have any desiccated coconut..anyway today i had everything on hand and also it was time for a little treat after two five hour gardening days..

i love this book because the author alexa johnston has compiled the recipes from community cookbooks, hand written recipes that she's borrowed and from family and friends..and she's tested them all too..i've also been collecting old recipe books so it's no coincidence that i'm enamoured of the style of this recipe book..i love the idea of dusting off neglected recipes and giving them an airing..having said that it's time to test out the chocaroon cake with a cup of tea!

mmm..it's really really good..

chocaroon cake

from 'a second helping: more from ladies a plate' 

alexa johnson

the recipe is from a community cookbook called 'our recipe book' published in 1967 by the karitane public hall building committee

 before making the cake

~lightly grease a 22 cm x 11 cm loaf tin and line the bottom with baking paper

~pre heat the oven to 180 deg c

ingredients

for the cake

85 gms butter

115 gms sugar

1 teaspoon (tsp) lemon zest

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 egg yolks

170 gms self raising flour

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons (tbs) apricot jam

for the chocaroon layer

2 egg whites

30 gms sugar

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1 tbs cocoa sieved 

method

chocaroon layer

~whisk egg whites until they are stiff and then continue beating and gradually add sugar

~fold in the coconut and cocoa

~put aside

cake layer

~beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy

~beat in vanilla and lemon zest

~add yolks and beat well

~gently fold in flour and milk

assemble

~spoon half of the cake mixture into the tim

~add half of the chocaroon mix spreading it as evenly as possible

~top with the remaining cake mix

~spread with the jam (it helps the topping adhere)

~top with the remaining chocaroon mix

then

~bake for 45-50 minutes

~cool in the tin

~dust the top with icing sugar before serving

i hope you've had an enjoyable weekend..x

poor soldier's cake..

this is a cake i started making when my husband was in the army in greece..i'd make a couple of loaves when i knew he was staying overnight in the barracks or when he went on bivouac..he used to share slices of it with the soldiers doing sentry duty who like most of the others in the barracks were away from home for many many months and they relished a piece of home made cake particularly in winter when the temperature would get to minus 15 deg c..

as a novice cook i started making the cake as per the instructions in the iconic 'green and gold cookery book'*..it's a funny little book that was first published in 1923..the copy i own is a 34th edition and there have been several editions published since..the recipes in the book were put together to raise funds for king's college in adelaide by a group of four women..apparently some of the recipes were obtained through members of the school community but many must have been sourced through some other means because many of the recipes have the name of the person who contributed the recipe and the town/city where they lived and some like my maternal grandmother lived in ardrossan 150 kms away from adelaide and many others lived in other states..

i haven't made this cake for years but my daughter is coming over tomorrow to do some renovation work with me and i thought, for old times sake, it would be really nice to have this cake with our morning and afternoon tea..over time i have tweaked the recipe a lot..fairly soon after i started making it i added an egg to the batter and then i decided walnuts would be a nice addition and i used to vary the spices according to my mood..today's alterations mean the cake is not quite as poor these days..

poor soldier's cake..poor photo!

poor soldier's cake

ingredients

1 cup raw sugar

1 cup of strong tea

115 gms butter

250 gms chopped dried figs

1/2 cup walnuts cut medium

2 tbs cumquat marmalade

150 gms plain flour

150 gms self raising flour

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp sodium bicarbonate

1 egg beaten

method

~put sugar, tea, butter, figs, marmalade, and spices on to heat and let it just come to the boil

~take off the heat and add the sodium bicarbonate

~allow to cool and add egg and vanilla 

~heat oven to 175 deg c

~add sieved flours and walnuts and mix well

~bake for 60 mins or until browned and cooked when tested with a cake skewer

note

* recipe for original 'poor soldier's cake'

ingredients 

one cup sugar

one cup water

half cup butter

1/2 pound raisons

one teaspoon carbonate soda

one teaspoon ground cloves or other spice.

method

~put all ingredients into a saucepan and let just come to the boil

~allow to cool and add sufficient flour to make a thin batter (about a cup and a half flour)

~bake in a moderate oven for one hour

                                                              

i hope your week is happy, productive and safe..x 

apricot cakes

i found an old recipe book circa about 1950-1960 (there's no date printed in the book) in my local op shop last week..when i was reading it i came across a recipe for 'apple cakes' that transported me back to the wonderful fruit filled summers of my childhood..

we had many fruit trees growing in my childhood garden but the one that invokes the strongest and most poignant memories is that of the apricot tree..early on in the season it was festooned in luscious orbs that we were encouraged to eat as snacks or after meals if we wanted something sweet..then later in the season i can picture the ground covered in apricots at varying stages of disintegration with multitudes of bees buzzing frenetically about the pulpy orange mass..

my mother's lamentations about her fear of waste would be the same each summer as she picked the early apricots for bottling and then as she valiantly tried to salvage as much of the fruit on the ground possible..this she turned into various sweet edibles such as delicious ice blocks which she served to us in flat bottomed icecream cones..another sweet she made were little apricot filled cakes with a simple lemon icing..

the reason the apple cakes evoked my childhood so strongly was because they sounded so much like the apricot cakes my mother made..i vowed this week to buy some fresh apricots and make them to see if the recipe was as i remember it but unfortunately my greengrocer didn't have any australian apricots..so, remembering that my mother also used dried apricots for this recipe, i bought some juicy looking australian dried apricots instead of imported fruit..

apricot cake recipe (with australian dried apricots)

ingredients

280 gms self raising flour

113 gms butter

85 gms sugar

1 egg

1 tbs milk

approx 20 apricots

extra sugar

water

apricot jam (i used home made apricot and brandy jam)

1/4 cup of pure icing sugar

lemon juice

method

heat oven to 180 deg c

grease a shallow patty pan tray

put apricots in a saucepan with a little water and about 2-3 tbs sugar and cook with a lid over low heat, adding water if needed, until the fruit is softened..check for sweetness as the apricots soften and add extra to taste..put aside to cool while preparing the pastry..

mix flour and salt and either rub in butter by hand or in a food processor

add sugar

beat egg and milk together and add to the dry ingredients and mix until it forms a ball (this is a very soft dough and because the weather is warm i proceeded in the following manner rather than as directed in the recipe book)

cut the pastry in two and put one half in the refrigerator while working on the other piece..

place the dough in between two pieces of baking paper and roll out thinly..cut 12 larger circles to fit the bases of the patty pans..carefully lift the circles with a spatula and place in the tray using a small piece of dough to press the dough into the cavities..place the tray in the fridge..

roll the second piece of pastry out in the same manner but cut 12 smaller circles to fit the top of the tarts..place the circles of dough in the fridge..

remove the tray from the fridge and place half a teaspoon of apricot jam in the base of each pastry shell..then add an apricot..remove pastry lids from the fridge..wet the edges of the lids with a little water and press them gently onto the pastry bases..make a small incision in each lid..

bake for 25-30 minutes or until well browned

allow the cakes to cool a little in the tins and then remove them and set aside to cool..

mix the icing sugar and lemon juice to a thick but manageable consistency and ice the apricot cakes when cooled..

these apricot cakes are similar to those that my mother made but the pastry is different..next time i will make them with a sweetened short crust pastry because i have a feeling that's what she would have used..but having said that this version is highly acceptable..

it was a sweet weekend..

because my eldest daughter came over on saturday and we had afternoon tea and and then we spent about 4 hours doing patchwork..my daughter is making a large paper pieced hexagon patchwork quilt using woollen fabric that my mother had..some of which are pieces left over from clothing she made for herself so it is going to be very special to my daughter because of the provenance of the fabric..

for afternoon tea we had macaroons because i had two egg whites left over from a custard i made a few days ago and because i am trying to make an effort to reduce the fat in our diets..macaroons are easy to make but they seem to have lost favour unlike macarons which are very popular.. i find macaroons quite sweet so in order to tone down the sugar blast i added very finely grated orange rind and i put a small piece of my candied orange on top..and just for fun i added some pink food colouring..

because they were a bit of an experiment i wasn't sure how they would taste but they were surprisingly good especially with 'vanilla and earl' tea..next time though i will tweak the recipe a bit and add extra coconut to offset the effect of the addition of the colouring in loosening the mixture..

i hope you had a sweet weekend too..jane