GOOD FARE FOR CHRISTMAS

Radio Record, 9 December 1938, Page 40

GOOD FARE FOR

CHRISTMAS

HEW!... What a business it has been sorting out the pre winning Christmas Cake and Christmas Pudding from among the hundreds and hundreds of excellent recipes sent in. ‘Aunt Daisy and I didn’t want to rely entirely on our own judgments -even we aren’t infallible, you know!-so we passed over the last batch of 30 recipes to a very wellknown cooking authority in Wellington. I’m sorry I can’t tell you her name but she thought she might be reproached by some of the unsuccessful competitors if they knew who had made the final decision,

Anyway, Chef has very great pleasure in announcing that the prize of two guineas for the best, Christmas cake has been awarded to MRS. J. H, MORLEY, 9 SILLARY STREET, HAMILTON EAST, Her entry is an excellent one and is to be highly commended. For the best Christmas Pudding the two guinea prize has gone to a home cook wellknown to "Record"? readers-

MRS.

E.

JONES

THORP

STREET, MOTUEKA.

Congratulations, Mrs. Morley and Mrs. Thorp-your prize-money will be sent to your before Christmas. To the hundreds of good people who didn’t win a prize I extend my sympathy., But there is one con-solation-you can now add two really good recipes to your collection by clipping the prize-winning efforts published on these pages, A good entry. but not sent in for the Christmas Recipe Competition, came in during the week. It is for Christmas Mincemeat and the recipe which is 150 years old, comes from a Wellington reader. T’ll give it to you here-take one pound of stoned raisins, one pound of unpeeled apples (minced) 2 pound and a quarter of currants, a pound and 9 quarter of raw sugar, half a pound of candied peel, one lemon boiled and chopped fine, one grated lemon rind, half a pound of suet, one teaspoon mixed spice, half a pint of brandy. Mix all fhoroughly together, bottle in air-tight jars. No cooking is required but it is as well to leave it in a cool place for two or three weeks before using. This will keep for years if well screwed down and actually improves with keeping. I am including two or three more good recipes that did not quite qualify for the first prize-but they are well worth your consideration. | And now that we return to normal once more don’t forget ‘that these columns are open to you all every week and there’s a half-guinea prize for the best recipe sent in, Just address your contribution to: Chef, care "Radio Record," Box 1680, Wellington. From Nelson CHRISTMAS Cake: 4 large cups. flour (heaped), 1lb. butter, Lib. sultanas, 12 large eggs, 1b. large raisins, 1b, small raisins, Ub. brown sugar, & eup cream (thick), ib. peel, 1 teasp. baking powder, %lb. almonds, 4% teaspoon salt (level), #}b. ‘cherries, 4% teaspoon each essence lemon, rum and van-

illa, ilb. stoned dates, i1lb. figs, 4 glass port wine. Prepare a large cake tin, Clean and cut up fruit, and flour with a portion of the measured flour. Beat butter till light and creamy, add sugar, beat again, then add eggs, two ata time, Now add the cream and essences, mix a little, and quickly add the flour sifted with baking powder and salt. Lastly the fruit and wine together. Bake 4

to 5 hours,-

-Mrs:

H.

(Upper Mou-

tere, Nelson).

From Oamaru HRISTMAS Pudding: 8028. each of moist sugar, finely chopped suet, sultanas, currants, raisins, 402s. each of flour, breadcrumbs, shredded lemon peel, 202s. almonds planeched, the. grated rind of 1 lemon, 1 saltspoon of ground nutmeg + point milk, 4 eggs, 4 teaspoon of salt. Mix all dry ingredi-

ents together, stir in the wellbeaten eggs and milk, also a little brandy. Mix well and turn the mix. ture into two basins equaily divided and steam 5 hours, Serve with brandy or custard

sauce and whipped cream-

~M rs. ‘

M.

W.

(Oamaru).

From Christchurch HRISTMAS Cake: 120zs, of flour, 8o0zs. of butter, 6ozs. of moist sugar, 1ilbs. of mixed fruit, cur-

rants, sultanas, ilb. of cherries (cut small, Zlob, of mixed peel, 4 eges, 1 teaspoonful of vinegar, 3 teaspoon of baking soda, 20zs, of ground almonds, 2 teaspoons of spice, Beat butter and sugar, sift in flour and mix in a spoonful at a time. Add fruit, peel, cherries, and ground almonds and sola, then add yolks of eggs well beaten, mix for 5 minutes, then add whites whipped

till firm, lastly add vinegar. Pour a tablespoonful of brandy over top. when cooked, while cake is het, Bake in a fairly hot oven for 3%

hours.

Mrs

W.

G.

"yy aN ware sew From Waharoa CHRISTMAS Pudding: Half pound flour, 3lb. suet, %]b. raising, | jb, currants, %lb. brown sugar, little lemon peel, 4b. cooked, mashed carrot, 4lb. cooked mashed potatoes, 1 tablespoon warmed treacle, , Mix well together all dry in--gredients. Stir into these the . mashed vegetables. Mix all together with the warmed treacle, All no other liquid, Do not forget a few threepences for luck. Boil for 6 hours, not necessarily all at onece-put this quantity into two basins-cook them in a saucepan, and have one puudding for Christmas with brandy sauce, The other pudding will keep till the winter time, and share when visitors come, just boiling for an hour

before use.-

E.R.

P.

(Waharoa).

From Ashburton (CHRISTMAS Cake: lb. butter, ib. sugar, 1lb. flour, 10 eggs, 1 tablespoon golden syrup, 4 tea(Turn to page 41.)

‘Christnas Cake TNGREDIENTS: ilb. flour (plain), lb. self-raising flour, 8 eggs, 1Ib. butter, 1i1b. sultanas, 3lb, raisins, 1iib. currants, 3{b, dates, 1ib. cherries, jib. candied peel, jlb. almonds, 2 teaspoons mixed spice, 1lb, brown sugar, a few drops of Hansell’s cloudy vanilla, rum and almond flavourings, 3 tablespoons of brandy, and grated rind of one lemon and one orange, 13 tablespoons of caramel or one tablespoon of treacle, 4 teaspoon salt, Sift flour with salt and spices, cream butter, add the sugar, beat well, add eggs (one at a time), add brandy, the three fiavourings, rind and three-parts of the flour, mix in, add rest of flour to fruit and mix well. Add mixed flour and fruit to cake, blend well, put into’ tin, which must be lined with two thicknesses of brown paper and one of white. (it is not necessary ~ to grease the paper, sufficient grease in the cake-mixture will prevent it from sticking.) Bake for four Fours, have hot oven for. the first half-hour, then lessen the heat. This is a rich, dark cake and will keep for 12 months. Almond Paste For the size of the cake, you will require these quantities: 80z. ground almonds and 6o0z. each of icing and castor sugar, mixed well together with almond essence and a dessertspoonful of lemon juice and enough beaten egg to bind. Don’t knead or you will work oil out of almonds-just pack it up, dusting your hands with icing sugar. It should be of the consistency of short paste-roll in to a ball, roll out to fit the cake, ease it smoothly over the cake with the palms of the hands. Rub a little white of egg on paste before icing. Royal Icing Beat one and a half to two pounds of icing sugar by degrees into three very stiffly-beaten whites of eggs, add two tablespoons of lemon juice, heat for quite a long time. (insufficient heating is the cause of hard, chippy icing.) Put as much on the cakes as you require, and level it over with a palette latfe, dip knife in water for the final smoothing over.

-M rs.

J.H.

M.

(Hamilton East)"

(Continued from previous page.) spoon soda, ilb. sultanas, ilb, currants, 4lb. raisins, #lb. dates, Ib. peel, 4b. prunes, 41b. cherries, 1b. almonds, 1 teaspoon vanilla. e8sence,. lb. figs, 1 teaspoon almond essencfi, 2 tablespoons brandy, 1 teaspoon lemon essence, 14 teaspoons mace, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, Cream butter and sugar add eggs one at a time, beating each well, add syrup, then flour, spices

fruit and lastly essences. Bake in 2 moderate oven from 4 to 5

hours.-

-M rs.

L.

S.

(Ashburton).

From Hokianga CHRISTMAS Pudding: ilb. seedless raisins, 14 cups finelychopped or ground suet, ilb. currants, 4 cup sliced criton peel, 4 cup fruit juice with wine or brandy flavouring addde, % cup orange marmalade, $$ cup nut meats (mixed), 23 cups flour, 24 cups fine dry breadcrumbs, 4 eggs, 2 cups golden syrup, 2 teaspoons soda, 2 cups buttermilk, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon each cloves, allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon. Prepare fruit and nutmeats and dredge with 1 cup of the Hour.

Beat eges until light and fluffy, add syrup, then buttermilk, suet and flavoured fruit juice. Stir in breadcrubs, then remaining flor, which has been sifted with soda, spices and salt. Add dredged fruits and nutmeats an mix. Pour into two greased, lb. moulds, cover and steam for 3 hours. Cool puddings, wrap in heavy wax paper and store. The puddings keep for weeks in a — coo Iplace, Re-steam and serve hot with your favourite hard

Bauce:

V.A.

O.

(Hokianga)

Stuffed Rabbit HOOSE two young rabbits which have been left in salted water overnight and stuif with a tasty stuffing; sew up and place in a baking tin with a little dripping; season salt and pepper, dredge with fiour and cover with another dish or piece of butter paper. Bake slowly 1 hour, then lift out dish; drain off some of the fat, place all round rabbits some sliced onions and a little boiling water to prevent burning. Cook until onions are tender and when tomatoes are plentiful about twenty minutes before dishing up arrange sliced tomatoes on top of

rabbits and bake fill soft.-

Lulu

Christmas Pudding ALF-A-POUND of muscatels, jib. sultanas, jib. currants, iIb. shredded beef suet, ilb. sugar, two ounces almonde, a pinch salt, a little milk, two ounces blanched almonds (for decoration), four eggs, oné-ounce of lemon peel, one-ounce orange peel (grated), quarter teaspoon ground ginger, iIb. fine breadcrumbs, six ounces flour, jIb. Chopped dried apricots. Mix together prepared fruits, peel, almonds, flour, breadcrumbs, sugar, suet and spices and stir until well blended. Beat eggs thoroughly, and add these with a little milk to the pudding, stir thoroughly. Steam in a large greased basin (covered with floured cloth) for eight hours, and when required just steam for one hour to heat through, when ready to serve stick the spiked blanched almonds over and serve with‘Brandy Sauce QNE gill milk, one teaspoon cornflour, yolk of one egg, two tablespoons brandy, one teaspoon castor sugar. Mix cornflour and milk together, stir all the time until it boils and add sugar, beat the eaqg-yolk and add the brandy, then pour all into the —

sauce, stirring until it thickens.-

Mrs.

E.

J.

(Motueka).