Recipes

Well we got rained out this morning so no Builder Bob for now. In the meantime I thought it would be fun to share some of the recipies we'd been using here in case anyone wanted to try them back home.

The first is the Melting Moments - Buttery Cookies with Icing Sandwiched from Edmonds Cookery Book

200 g (bit less than 1/2 lb) butter, softened
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 cup cornflour (corn starch)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Butter icing or rasperry jam

Cream butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Sift flour, cornflour, and baking powder together. Mix into creamed mixture, mixing well. Roll dough into small balls the size of large marbles and place on a greased oven tray (we used baking paper and make sure to leave plenty of space between them as they will flatten out to be ~ 2" in diameter). Flatten slightly with a fork. Bake at 180C (350F) for 20 minutes or until cooked. Cool and sandwich two biscuits together with Butter Icing or raspberry jam. Makes 16.

Butter Icing (for filling)

100 g (~ 3 ounces) butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1-2 tablespoons hot water

Cream butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Gradually beat in icing sugar, beating until smooth. Add sufficient water to give a spreading consistency. Can flavor with cocoa, lemon, strawberry shake mix, tummeric (tried this to color the lemon flavor but it didn't work - grin ).

Now you have an idea of how buttery these cookies end up!

The other was for Cockeyed Cake from "I hate to cook book" by P Bracken. It is quite easy and fun to make and results in a delicious moist chocolate cake.

1 1/2 cups sifted flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspooon Bicarb of Soda (baking soda)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup cold water

Sift together flour, cocoa, soda, sugar, and salt right into greased cake tin (9x9x2 - we used a smaller one and it was fine, even a little thin). Now make three grooves or holes in this dry mixture. Into one, pour the oil, into the next the vinegar, into the next the vanilla. Now pour cold water over it all.

You'll feel like you are making mud pies now but beat the mixture with a spoon until nearly smooth and you can't see the flour. Bake at 350F for 1/2 to 3/4 hour.