This time of year when you have to take a ‘plate’ to all sorts of Christmas functions White Christmas is another quick and easy copha recipe that can work quite well. It was something that Mum made every Christmas, put on a plate with a bit of tinsel or some sprigs of holly it looks really festive. It might be a bit old fashioned now, but it still tastes great. These are a couple of versions I found in Mum’s collection.
This recipe is from a Great Christmas Recipes – Just for Kids leaflet I found in Mum’s collection. They are all recipes using copha and I thought this classic Coconut Ice was one that you don’t see around much any more. I remember it being very sweet and really nice.
Copha seems to have gone out of favour in recent years, but around the 1970s it was used a lot for no-bake slices and especially for sweets. This recipe was published by The Australian Women’s Weekly in 1994, it’s a little more modern with White Melts and Mallow Bakes, but it’s still quick and easy to make. Great for adults and children alike.
Just for variety I thought this more biscuit style recipe might be worth trying. Mum cut it out from the Australian Women’s weekly back in March 2001. I haven’t calculated the cost to make them, but I think it would be a bit more than $1.50 these days.
I’m not sure I ever made one of Mum’s shortbread recipes. I found this one in an Australian Women’s Weekly 100 delicious Biscuits and Slices cookbook just after I got married and it’s the one I usually make. I like it because it is cooked in a tray and cut into fingers. The metric butter measurement is 220g.
As well as lots of handwritten recipes I found this one in the collection. It comes from the side of the Rice Flour packet.
Christmas in our house always started with Mum making the pudding and the cake, the next thing on her list was fruit mince pies and shortbread. Although I’ve hunted through her recipes I haven’t been able to find her fruit mince pie recipe yet, I know it’s in there somewhere, but I have found lots of recipes for shortbread. This recipe seems typical of the handwritten ones and was given to her by an old friend – Thel Payne.
SHORTBREADS – Thel Payne
Cream butter and sugar, add flours. Knead in basin till smooth. Divide into 3 pieces and roll into circle approx 10mm thick. Cut into 8 to 10 pieces and bake in oven 160o for 5 mins then 120o for 30mins. Turn tray half way through. When cool dust with icing sugar.
The first Christmas after I got married, my husband had to work on Christmas Day so I met him at lunchtime and we had a picnic lunch in the Botanical Gardens, which was a lovely way to celebrate our first Christmas together. That first Christmas also meant my first Christmas cake baking effort. It was a disaster, a soggy undercooked cake – ruined. When I told Mum she smiled and told me to mashing it all up in a bowl add a cup of cold tea and recook it as a pudding and to this day I’m still amazed that it worked. My cooking improved somewhat after that and this Dutch Fruit Cake became the recipe I used for many years. Adding the mixed peel and nuts and brushing the cake with brandy while still hot makes the cake a little more Christmasy.
DUTCH FRUIT CAKE
Line a cake tin with a layer of brown paper and a layer of baking paper. Boil together butter, sugar, water, fruit, spices, lemon juice for 3 minutes. Set aside to cool. When cool stir in beaten eggs, flours, treacle and lastly bi-carb soda dissolved in boiling water. Bake in a moderate oven 180o for 2 hours. Mixed peel and nuts can be added if like. For a Christmas touch – when still hot from the oven pierce the cake with a skewer and brush with brandy.
This is the recipe I usually use to make my Christmas Cake. Back in 2001 I doubled the recipe to make a two tiered cake for Mum and Dad’s 60th Wedding Anniversary, which I had decorated in the 1940s style of their wedding, it looked and tasted great. The recipe came to me from a friend who made it as a Wedding Cake for her daughter. As you can see it was passed onto her from her friend ‘Audrey’ so it has quite a history. I always add the extra prunes and apricots and it makes a lovely cake that lasts as long as you can keep the family away from it.
Last weekend I made our Christmas Pudding so this weekend it’s time to make the Christmas cake. Usually I make my cake a bit earlier than this, but I decided to make this Festive Fruit Cake and it doesn’t need to be done as early as the more traditional cakes. I haven’t made it for some years, the ingredients are a bit expensive as it’s full of glace fruit and brazil nuts, but my husband really likes it. The original recipe was given to Mum by her best friend Tuppy, so I’ve always known it as Tuppy’s Christmas Cake.
Beb's Recipe Drawer 