Vintage Lane - Cherry Afternoon Tea Cakes from the WMU Cookery Book

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How sweet are these little babies?

I made them from this gorgeous WMU Cookery Book from 1952. I can't remember where I got it from, but it's become one of my favourites. This is the 18th edition, printed in Brisbane.

First page is this charming advertisement for a hotel - with hot and cold running water! Other luxuries designed to sweep guests off their feet were reading lamps beside the bed and telephones.

Funnily enough, although it is never mentioned, The Canberra Hotel was actually created as an alcohol-free hotel, as part of the prohibition movement. They named it The Canberra as they thought it sounded terribly patriotic.

The index has chapters including Soup, Fish, Entries, Breakfast Dishes and Meats, Beef and Veal, Bacon and Pork, Lamb and Mutton, Game and Poultry, Gravies and Sauces, Salads and Dressings, Vegetables, Vegetarian Cookery, Boiled Puddings, Baked Puddings, Cold Puddings, Jellies and Creams, Pastry, Pies and Tarts, Sweet Sauces, Cakes, Fruit and Pound Cakes, Sponge Cakes and Sandwiches, Spice Cakes, Afternoon Tea Cakes, Biscuits, Bread and Scones, Icings and Fillings for Cakes, Sandwiches and Savouries, Omelettes and Pancakes, Jams Jellies and Marmalades, Pickles and Chutneys, Beverages, Sweets, Ices, Household Hints and Miscellaneous.

Phew.

In addition to these categories, they've helpfully included weights and measures, a timetable for roasting and boiling meats, vegetables and various other things; and some hints for the inexperienced cook:

Here we learn how to make Beef Tea (whatever happened to that, anyway? It's in every vintage cookbook I own... seemed popular!), how to bake/roast meat, how to make soup, grill, how to make boiled custard, white sauce, glaze for pastry, meringue topping, whipped cream and how to make tea:

Warm teapot by rinsing it out with boiling water. Allow half teaspoon of tea to each person and half for the pot. Use fresh boiling water and pour it on the leaves without moving kettle from stove. Allow to infuse for 5 minutes and stir before serving. See the water has just reached boiling point before pouring it onto the tea leaves.

We're also told what accompaniments go with what meat, and what to do to "help out on occasions when interruptions set catering plans or unexpected visitors arrive", including stocking up with tinned sardines and asparagus tips, and a few quick recipes for such occasions.

I love the "Brief Hints" that throw together some random bits and pieces that the home cook would be glad to know. Such gems like:

A tempting dish for a hot day - Slice finely 2 or 3 onions and brown them in butter, adding salt and pepper to taste. Beat 2 eggs, stir into pan with the onions and cook til set. Serve with hot buttered toast.

*

If you add the juice of a lemon when making a cake with dripping, the cake will taste, when cooked, as though it had been made with butter.

*

Cook dried apricots in a syrup made of half liquid in which they were soaked and half of fresh cold water. Cooked this way they take less sugar and taste like fresh apricots.

There are a few Brisbane-centric ads, which are all delightfully typical of their time.

so cute!

This picture is indicative of the beginnings of each chapter.

Several recipes raise my eyebrows every time I see them, from each chapter. Things like Sheep's Head Broth, Marmite Soup, Bloater Paste, Kidney Mould, Petit Toe Pie, and Queensland Duck which is actually roast mutton and onions.

We're told in the "Garnishings" section that the art is "sadly neglected". Several options are provided to revive the practice, including tufts of parsley and tomatoes cut into shapes for cold meats, Fish should be garnished with tufts of parsley and sliced lemon, and that tinned fruits such as apricots and peaches look dainty with a preserved cherry in the centre of each.

I don't know about you, but I'm bringing back the garnish.

Lots of my recipe books have these little snippets tucked away among the pages.

And this one contains some hand-written extras such as pikelets, lemon meringue pie, chocolate crackles, ginger cake, biscuit pastry, Jean's patty cakes, sponge sandwich, caramel biscuits and ched burgers.

Toward the back we're given some household hints on how to clean the bath, make furniture polish/soap/fruit salts/camphor oil, the value of Borax (every country housewife should keep a supply on hand, as no other article will be found of equal value), and how handy salt is for stains.

Whatever couldn't be fit into various topics were collated in the Miscellaneous section. Hints such as:

Rosine is as good as cochineal, one drop is enough

*

Raw white of egg or boracic acid for cuts

*

A raw egg, if swallowed immediately, will effectually catch a fish bone that has stuck in the throat

*

Damp salt will remove the discolouring of cups and saucers caused by tea and careless washing

*

A little method is worth a good deal of memory

*

Nervous people will find time, used as tea, give them relief

*

Methylated spirits rubbed into tired feet will greatly relieve them; also dust with boracic powder before putting on stockings

*

An excellent way to cook an old fowl is to place a piece of fat bacon inside the fowl, roast or boil, and the flesh will be quite tender

I took the liberty of baking you the cherry cakes from the Afternoon Tea Cakes section. You're welcome.

Beat 4ozs. of butter and 4ozs. sugar together, add 3 eggs, one by one, beating well, then add 6ozs. of flour, with 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder. Shake in a little grated lemon rind and 4ozs. crystallised cherries cut up. Bake in fancy tins, and when cold ice and top each cake with a glace cherry.

I didn't have any preserved cherries, so I used maraschino cherries from a jar, and used the syrup to mix with icing sugar for the icing.

They were actually delicious. Not light and fluffy, but soft and moist and dense, with a gorgeous crunchy crust. I absolutely loved them because of it. The crust was the best part, and the cherries were very cute flecked pink throughout.

There are so many other things I've made and will make from this book, so stay tuned! If you want to see some more of my vintage cookbook collection, go here, or click "vintage" in the navigation bar at the top of the page :)

Vintage Lane - Cherry Ripe Slice from the Harston CWA Recipe Book

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This little gem of a cookbook was once owned by my great-grandmother, and was given to me after my nana died. I couldn't make the interstate funeral, so my mother brought me back some of her aprons and all the cookbooks she could find. This one has all the recipes for slices and baked goodies I remember eating when I was a kid in the '80s, when it was the thing to do to bring a chocolate mint slice or tupperware container of honey joys to a potluck or backyard barbecue. And it was the thing for me to do to hover around the table and gorge on as many of them as I could...

Oh, hey Granny!

This book is dated October 31, 1981 and the foreword congratulates the Harston CWA members on 25 years' service to the community, and mentions that this cookery book is hoped to be a "challenge to the experienced and an aid to the newly-weds".

My favourite part of the book is this: an aid to good people everywhere.

Disgusting, yet helpful...

Something for everyone

I've said it before, but I'm totally bringing back the word "luncheon" to describe the midday meal. And I get a little excited when something is termed "savouries"... this book gives recipes for curried eggs, savoury tuna slice, toasted cheese sticks and a "desperation dinner" - meatballs in savoury sauce with potatoes on top... all stuff you'd normally find in a pantry.

Other highlights include boiled chicken loaf, rice a riso casserole, braised rabbit, golden syrup dumplings (yum!), jelly slice, and pickled zucchini.

This page looked especially popular:

Mmm flour that's as old as I am...

Casting my mind back to those barbecue tables all those years ago (ahem), the standout favourite for me was the Cherry Ripe Slice. Therefore, it's vitally necessary that I re-live those wondrous moments...

Recipe: Cherry Ripe Slice

Ingredients:
1 lb malt biscuits
2oz chopped glace cherries
1/2 teaspoon cochineal
1 tablespoon caster sugar
3oz Copha
1/2 lb coconut
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 tsp almond essence

Directions:

Grease a 7" x 11" swiss roll tin and arrange a layer of malt biscutis in the base. Melt copha and mix in remaining ingredients, blending thoroughly, spread over layer of biscuits. Top with another layer of biscuits, pressing them firmly into mixutre. Ice with chocolate icing when set, cut into small squares. Cherries and almond essence may be omitted OR replace evaporated milk with 3/4 cup condensed milk and cut out caster sugar.



I totally forgot the caster sugar (but it didn't seem to make a noticeable difference), and only used one packet, or 250g of the malt biscuits. Nor did I grease the tin, but did put down a piece of greaseproof baking paper. Still tastes just as I remember it!

Vintage Lane - Chocolate Mocha Cake from Gold Crest Recipes

Normal and Formal - for every occasion!

Vintage Lane is going to be a regular feature on Veggie Mama - to bring you up to speed, go here, or click the "Vintage Lane" tab.
Cute, right?

This book is part of a collection given to me by my sister, and it was once owned by her husband's grandma. She wrapped them up all pretty in a box and gave them to me for Christmas. Good sister!

The introduction tells us that there was "tremendous demand" for copies of Gold Crest's last recipe book, containing "inspiring and practical recipes to please every member of Queensland families".

I have to tell you, the cake I made did just that. Not much of a cake eater, I ate three cupcakes in a row, and I even received glowing reports from Veggie Dad.

The contents include recipes for cakes, puddings, pastry and biscuits, as well as "Special Meat Dishes" (goulash, salmon balls, casserole chops and more), fillings (not the dentist kind... though they might send you there), cookery hints, weights and measures and a list of equipment one should own when setting up their own kitchen.

The Faithful Rainbow Cake is presented in full colour, and we are told it has been reproduced by popular demand. Looks good to me!

Pretty in Pink

There's even an Oriental Cake (which only has cinnamon, cocoa and vanilla for flavouring, so I'm slightly confused... ), Rice Custard Pudding, Cornflake Tart, Cornish Pasties, Iced Vo-Vo Biscuits, and Monte Carlos, among others.

I can't tell when this cookbook was made, as a google search of just about every word combination I can think of comes up with nothing. It was obviously a time when offal was a regular feature in a cook's repertoire...

Om Nom Not:

Tasty: so subjective!

and now for the featured recipe... Chocolate Mocha Cake

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups Gold Crest self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons cocoa
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup cold milk
2 teaspoons coffee essence (I used two tablespoons espresso)

Mocha Frosting:
2 cups sifted icing sugar
pinch salt
2 tablespoons cocoa
3 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 tablespoons coffee
1/2 teaspoon Gold Crest vanilla essence

Directions for cake:

Sift the flour, salt, soda, cinnamon and cocoa together twice. Add coffee essence to milk. Cream the butter, add sugar gradually. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sifted dry ingredients, alternately with liquid mixture, a little at a time. Beat very smooth. Bake in two greased and floured 7in sandwich tin in moderate oven 30 minutes.

Directions for frosting:

Sift the sugar, salt and cocoa together. Cream butter until soft. Add part of sugar mixture gradually, beating thoroughly. Add remaining sugar mixture alternately with warm coffee, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla.


This made a very light cake, with a rich, buttery frosting - really delicious. The batter was so fluffy, and was interesting to see - the addition of cocoa only made it a very light brown, like the cakes I used to make when I was a kid (I only had one recipe book and it was sooo old), compared to the deeper browns of mudcakes and boxed cake mixes.

Verdict?





NOM!



A Walk Down Vintage Lane - The Ladies Handbook

One of my favourite things to do besides cook is read. And the older the book, the better. My two loves often combine in antique or vintage cookbooks, which provide a lot of joy, but not a lot of recipes (beef tea, anyone?). I adore the old ads, the sensible advice, the ingenious use of staple ingredients, and just, well, the look of these books. So I decided this year to share some of my collection with you as sometimes they're not just pretty, but downright hilarious, too. It's sweet to look back at what mattered most back then - being an able housewife, a competent nursemaid to ill relatives, creating a warm and loving nest for your family, and 100 ways to make jellied salads. Boy did they love their aspic.

Being as I'm 32 weeks pregnant, I decided to begin with The Ladies Handbook, an all-round useful tome for women getting married, raising families, feeding the families, going through 'the change' and being always on the lookout for economical recipes. It's adorable and it has surprisingly useful advice on pregnancy and labour (they assumed you'd be doing it at home) and how to care for your bonny bairn.



This particular issue was printed in 1947, and it's full title is The Ladies' Handbook of Home Treatment: containing the best modern methods for treatment of women's and children's diseases, with a comprehensive index of symptoms.

Thorough.

Anyhoo, one of my favourite features is this cutting-edge-for-its-time "manikin" of the pregnant female body, showing what goes on inside.




Pretty cool, huh?

 

It also has some pretty graphic drawings of scabies and cancer of the breast, but in the interest of keeping your lunch down, we'll leave those to your imagination.



Ah so that's where those birds and bees stories started...



Now, before we go leaping straight for motherhood, everybody in 1947 knew you weren't doing it solo. So the first chapter helpfully describes how to go about getting yourself married to a respectable man who was going to look after you. We are informed that in choosing a partner for life, there were many things to be considered: one should choose a man of high ideals, noble character and a pure life; a man of sound constitution and good heredity. He should be of suitable age, of pleasing disposition, and one's equal, but not one's superior in social position. He should be a young man of proven worth, not flitting from one position to the other and making a success of none. He should have demonstrated his ability to earn a reasonable living and to provide for the necessities and comforts of a family.

Lucky for me I found such a gentleman before I had been informed of such requirements. Only nobody told me I'd also have to start watching rugby league, listen to punk music ad nauseam and be able to drink like a sailor. Added benefits, let's call them.

Only kidding Veggie Dad, you rule.

Once you've been sufficiently wooed and you've embroidered yourself a lifetime of tablecloths, it's time for the biblical sex-talk. You want babies, you understand how plants reproduce first. Then we'll use these euphemisms to describe what goes on between the starched sheets. Seeds, eggs, nests, a baby is really just like a newly-sprouted dahlia. After leading you in gently, it actually provides some legitimate and correctly-termed information about pregnancy and gestation.

Now, we are reminded that the need of maintenance after marriage of the fight against excessive sexual indulgence is incumbent upon all. (No I'm not making this up). It is a natural instinct, as is thirst and hunger, but as we can careen dangerously into gluttony and drunkenness, as can we dive headfirst into sexual gluttony, which we're told is utterly inescusable.

If you are chaste, clean, pure and morally upright, this shall be your reward:

One is advised to get plenty of fresh air and sunshine as a pregnant woman, and eat sensibly. In fact, we are warned against eating too much animal protein, and to focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, beans and grains, as meat was thought to be taxing on the kidneys. What follows is a helpful section on vitamins and minerals, recipes for laxative treatments and advice on what to wear. It's all much the same as what we are told now, except this interesting contraption: the abdominal belt.



Comfortable, yes?



For those who long for the support of the corset in the latter stages of pregnancy. No need to buy one ready-made, just wrap a towel around yourself, sew on some straps and safety pin yourself into abdominal comfort.

What comes next is the pointy end of the business - "the confinement". Again, much the same as what we're told now, except during the pushing stage, one is required to be bedridden, not getting up for any reason whatsoever. And there is a long list of things that need to be boiled and sterilised and that we'll be unconscious by the time baby arrives, thanks to the miracle of modern painkillers, of which we have no choice but to be given. Oh - and it's strict bed rest for two weeks post partum, eventually getting up here and there during the third week, with the baby only brought to you at feeding time, and no visitors.

I am firmly convinced that is is the reason my grandmother had eight children (Catholocism notwithstanding): she was hanging out for those three weeks where everyone would just leave her the hell alone.



um, cute!



We are instructed as to how to choose a nurse, and what sorts of qualifications and personality traits she should have. She should preferably look like this:



Nightmares? never heard of such nonsense.



Care, bathing, feeding (fried foods and pastry are not suitable for young children, here's a recipe for swede turnip juice) and keeping your child free from illness ensues. Puberty, middle age, and the menopause follows, and then is all neatly tied up with descriptions of just about every illness concievable, and some first aid tips. One hell of a comprehensive handbook for a lady indeed. Her and her family's physical and mental welfare are considered and advice helpfully given. Perhaps one of the coolest things in this book is the inscription at the start, a reminder to all:

THEY say that man is mighty,

He governs land and sea,

He wields a mighty sceptre

O'er lesser powers that be;

But a mightier power and stronger

Man from his throne has hurled,

For the hand that rocks the cradle

Is the hand that rules the world.

-Wm. Ross Wallace.

Now try to stop thinking of Rebecca deMornay...

Entertaining without a what now?

Darn. There goes the gourmet 14-course candle-lit supper for 12 I was planning. Sorry guys!

Care of the vintage invalid.

While reading The American Frugal Housewife (1828), I came across a few gems. In fact... the book is full of them!

This would have to be my favourite so far: "A good quantity of old cheese is the best thing to eat, when distressed by eating too much fruit, or oppressed with any kind of food. Physicians have given it in cases of extreme danger."

Um ok... what constitutes extreme fruit-consumption overload danger? And how often do doctors have a "good quantity" of old cheese on hand for emergency cases such as this? 

Anyone that knows me will know I have a deep aversion to fruit... and chocolate, but that's a story for another day... and a deep, abiding, life-long love of cheese.

This book obviously validates my cheese-over-fruit choices, and I'm sticking to it. Scurvy be damned!

Now I advise those with weak stomachs (or just common sense) to not read on.

Still reading, huh? Well... it's your funeral.

Bear in mind that this poor chap is already feeling ill...

"Wine whey is a cooling and safe drink in fevers. Set half a pint of sweet milk at the fire, pour in one glass of wine, and let it remain perfectly still, til it curdles. When the curds settle, strain it and let it cool. It should not get more than blood-warm. A spoonful of rennet-water hastens the operation."

What a waste of a glass of wine! So you're feeling queasy, and somebody brings you a warm, curdled milk-and-wine concoction... uh... thanks?

Vintage Values

I know it's oh-so-unfeminist, but I love it.

Considering my husband is the only person that eats my baked treats, it's not too far off the mark for my home...

Courtesy of my American Woman's Cookbook, 1944.