This is one of my Mum’s recipes, so for me it conjures up images of my childhood, but most of all, to me, it’s comfort food.
I wonder…can a cake-type treat be described as “comfort food”? Perhaps not, unless you were with me in my Mum’s kitchen, when I was a child, looking forward to our malt bread coming out of the oven!
Mum had one particular loaf tin that she cooked this recipe in, and now I have the same tin. There are no signs of rust on the tin at all even though the tin must be around fifty to sixty years old, bought around the time that my parents emigrated to Australia from England.
The recipe is very basic, only requiring seven ingredients. I recall that it was the very first loaf that I made alone, without Mum’s help. I will include both imperial and metric measurements here, as my recipe is actually in ounces.
So here it is, my taste of nostalgia!
Malt Bread
Malt Bread
Put into a jug – ¼ pint of milk (1/2 cup) and ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda.
Warm in a pan – 2 tablespoons each of Golden Syrup and Malt Extract.
In a basin – 8oz. Self-raising flour (225g)
4oz. Sultanas (120g)
1 egg
Add both the milk mixture and the malt mixture to the basin and beat together well.
Cook in a well greased and baking paper lined loaf tin at 350 degrees F (180deg. C) for ¾ to 1 hour.
This Easter just passed, rather than let the family eat Easter eggs all weekend, but still staying with the chocolate theme, I made my favourite version of good old fashioned chocolate cake.
During all of my years of hosting children’s birthday parties and a multitude of various other family events I have yet to find anyone who doesn’t enjoy a slice of chocolate cake. If it isn’t the number one choice of preferred cakes, it always runs a close second.
Although I have many chocolate cake recipes, this is the recipe that I invariably choose, time and time again…in fact, I first made this particular cake when I was roughly fifteen years of age and living at home with my parents!
Served with a hot cup of coffee, this cake is close to perfection!
Chocolate Cake
90g butter, at room temperature
Chocolate Cake
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs, separated, and at room temperature
1 tablespoon rum or water
1 ¼ cups self-raising flour
Pinch salt
¼ cup cocoa
½ cup milk
Grease a 25mm ring tin and pre-heat oven to 190 degrees C.
Beat the butter and sugar together, add the vanilla essence and continue to beat the mixture until it is fluffy and light in colour.
Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, then add the rum or water.
Sift together the flour, salt and cocoa and measure the milk.
Using a large metal spoon fold the sifted dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix lightly but thoroughly.
Beat the egg whites until they are firm and stand in soft peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the cake mixture.
For as many years as I can remember Good Friday has been a baking day at my house and this year we have continued the tradition.
This morning we were so pleased with our first batch of hot cross buns, we made a second batch!
This year was the first time that my twelve year old son has wanted to be involved (apart from eating them, of course!). He watched everything I did along the way, checked for when they had doubled in size and were ready for the next step, piped the crosses on the top just before they were baked and made the glaze to brush over the buns when they came out of the oven. He did well!
My eldest daughter moved out of home a couple of years ago. Much to my dismay, she has never shown any interest in anything involved with cooking in her life….(no, I take that back; she can whip up a mean bowl of fruit salad!) I was comforted though, by the fact that her boyfriend can not only cook, but shows a very creative interest in cooking, so at least she doesn’t starve!
This year my daughter decided to excel herself to the nth degree…she asked for my Hot-Cross Buns recipe!
She used a plastic salad bowl to mix them in and had to look up the conversion of the measurements to cup quantities on the internet, then they were baked on a pizza tray, but she did it! I am so proud of her….she phoned to tell me that her first attempt at Hot-Cross Buns was a success! Her boyfriend, The-Good-Cook-In-The-House, even gave them his stamp of approval.
There will be no Easter Eggs for my daughter this year…while she is so inspired by cooking, I am giving her a glass mixing bowl, a baking tray and a set of kitchen scales instead! 🙂
No excuses now, give this recipe a try….if my daughter can make them, so can you!
A couple of tips from my daughter….she will keep practising the recipe throughout the year by making them without the crosses, calling them fruit buns and has individually wrapped some of the buns and put them in the freezer to keep them fresh longer.
Happy Easter Everyone! 🙂
Hot-Cross Buns
2 x 7g sachets dry yeast
Hot Cross Buns
300ml milk, warmed
4 cups plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon cinnamon
90g butter, cubed
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ cups mixed dried fruit
1 egg
Crosses – ½ cup plain flour
4 to 5 tablespoons water
Glaze – ½ cup water
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon mixed spice
Combine flour and cinnamon in a bowl. Rub in the butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Stir in dried fruit, sugar and yeast.
Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture and add the beaten egg and lukewarm milk.
Combine the mixture well. Turn out onto a lightly greased surface and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. This will take approximately ten minutes. (Alternately, the kneading process can be done in an electric mixer with a dough hook). The mixture should ideally remain tacky and moist, as this will produce lighter buns when cooked.
Place the mixture in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a tea towel. Allow to rise in a warm, draft free place for about 45 minutes, or until doubled in size. (My hot water heater is inside a cupboard and placing the bowl on top of the heater keeps it lovely and warm for rising).
Punch down the dough with your fist to release the gas. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces. Knead each piece for a minute and shape into rounds.
Place onto a greased oven tray, cover and allow to rise again, until buns have doubled in size.
Mix together the flour and water and pipe crosses onto each bun. If you don’t have a piping bag, place flour mixture into the corner of a plastic bag, snip off a very small bottom corner of the bag and pipe the crosses on by squeezing the flour mixture out of the tiny hole in the bag.
Bake the buns in a hot oven, 220 degrees C, for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 200 degrees C and cook for a further 10 minutes. They are cooked when they sound hollow, when tapped with your knuckles.
Place the glaze ingredients into a small saucepan, bring to the boil while stirring then simmer for 1 or 2 minutes without stirring. Brush the glaze over the buns while still hot.
There are those who think that I am strange as I have always liked zucchini’s. I will state my case here and you can decide for yourselves. I’m hoping to convert some non-believers!
Zucchini’s are such a versatile (and under-rated) vegetable. They are easy to grow in either full sun or semi-shade and in the area that I live, can be grown all year round.
They are a member of the marrow family and both the vegetable and the zucchini flower can be eaten. Zucchini’s are delicious served simply as a raw, grated vegetable, added to a tossed salad, or as elaborately as the flowers being stuffed and deep fried.
The vegetables should be picked when still quite small, no more than 10cm in length. This is when they have the best flavour and it also encourages the growth of more vegetables. On average, a plant will yield up to 40 zucchini’s per season.
Zucchini’s have a rather subtle taste and a slightly crunchy texture. They should not be over cooked as this will make them “mushy” and watery.
Zucchini’s can be washed, (no need to peel!), sliced and cooked for 3-4 minutes in boiling water, tossed in butter or olive oil and served as a side vegetable. For extra crunch and flavour, garlic, soy sauce and sesame seeds can also be added.
Alternatively, zucchini’s can be sliced, sprinkled with salt and left to drain for 1 hour (2 teaspoons salt per 500g zucchini). Pat slices dry with kitchen towel and deep fry.
Knowing my affinity with zucchini’s, my mother passed on this recipe to me after it was given to her by a friend. I have enjoyed making this zucchini slice for many years. It is perfect for a light weekend lunch, at any time of the year.
Zucchini Slice
3 cups grated zucchini (4-6 depending on size)
Zucchini Slice
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 rashers bacon, finely chopped
1 cup (125 g) grated cheese
1 cup self-raising flour
Fresh parsley, basil, oregano and rosemary (to taste) chopped
Pepper to taste
1 vegetable stock cube
5 eggs
½ cup milk
Combine zucchini, onion, bacon, cheese, flour, herbs and crumbled stock cube in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, lightly beat eggs and combine with milk.
Fold the egg mixture through the zucchini mixture, combining well.
Pour mixture into a large, well greased quiche plate and bake for 35-40 minutes at 180 degrees C, or until set.
If he were here today, my father would be coming to my home for dinner tonight, to share his special day with my family.
I’m sure that there wouldn’t be any of the fuss and fanfare of a large party of any description. Dad wouldn’t have liked that. No, Dad would have perhaps gone for a walk, or a drive, to the beach, just to watch the ocean and the waves crashing on the shore. Or he may have spent some time at home, reading a book. He loved reading.
He would have enjoyed a roast dinner, with gravy. And soft bread, with a crunchy crust. We may have been able to convince him to have a glass of champagne, just for his birthday. But after dinner, he would like his cup of tea, for sure. Dad was a true Englishman.
For sure, I know what he would have wanted for dessert. Apple Pie. Dad loved my apple pie. And I loved to make it for him, because I knew how much he loved it.
Happy 90th Birthday, Dad……
Apple Pie
Pastry: 1 ½ cups plain flour
¾ cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup custard powder
1/3 cup cornflour
Pinch of salt
185 g butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
Extra sugar
Sift flours, custard powder and salt into a bowl. Rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add sugar, mix well.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add egg and water and mix to a firm dough. Knead lightly. Refrigerate pastry for 1 hour.
Roll out just over half the pastry and line a pie plate. Spread 2 tablespoons of apricot jam over the base of the pastry shell. Add the cooked and drained apples. Roll out the remaining pastry, cover pie and press the edges together firmly. Trim, decorate and cut a few slits in the top. Sprinkle the top with extra sugar.
Bake at 190 deg. C for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 180 deg. C for a further 20 minutes or until pie is golden brown.
TIP: Roll out the pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper. Lift the pastry carefully with the bottom sheet of baking paper and turn, pastry side down, onto the pie plate.
Apple Filling: 7 large cooking apples
Grated rind of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons sugar
½ cup water
Peel, quarter and core apples. Cut each quarter in half lengthways. Put all ingredients into a pan and cook, covered, until the apples are almost tender and still holding their shape, approximately 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and allow apples to cool.
In My World 