The old no bake slices were a quick and easy way to make something sweet for the family or visitors, especially in summer when you didn’t want to heat up the kitchen by using the oven. This one uses condensed milk and Marie biscuits and has flaked almonds on the top. If the almonds are a problem for you I’m sure you could use dried fruits or even choc chips instead.
I’ve no idea why this is called a cake, if anything the finished dish looks more like a pudding as it has a lovely brown crust on top. It makes an economical family meal that tastes great.
BAKED STEAK CAKE
Topping
In a basin, place the meat, bacon, onion, cheese, sauces and seasonings. Mix and spread evenly in a 20cm x 20cm casserole dish. Pour topping over meat and bake at 180º for 1 hour until top is set and browned. Cut into squares and serve with mashed potatoes and buttered spinach or other green vegetable.
For topping – sift dry ingredients into a basin. Make a well in the centre and add beaten eggs, milk, melted butter, cheese and parsley. Mix and beat until smooth.
Mum made lots of different types of fruit cakes, loaves and slices and adding pumpkin to the mix wasn’t that unusual. The only unusual ingredient in this recipe is the apricot nectar, not something that you’d normally put in a fruit cake and not something you’d usually have in your cupboard. If you wanted to you could easily substitute it with fruit juice or water.
A favourite family dessert was always Bread & Butter Pudding served with cream, this recipe is an updated version of that using croissants and blueberries. Mum cut this out of the Herald Sun, but I’m not really sure if she ever actually made it, I suspect she stuck to her well loved version.
Lamb and vegetable casseroles have always been a staple dish in Australian households. From early on lamb was readily available and any vegetable could be added to bulk the dish out to feed a family. Originally it probably came to Australia as a Lancastershire Hot Pot, but whether you call it that or like this recipe Lamb & Vegetable Hot Pot it is always a hearty dish topped with potatoes.
When I was growing up the one thing that that Dad always had growing in the garden was rhubarb. Its giant green leaves and red stalks filled one corner of his veggie patch and never seemed to die off. Luckily Dad liked eating it so Mum stewed it up with some sugar and served it with custard for dessert – quite often. I don’t know about my brothers, but it was never one of my favourites and I’ve been greatly surprised to see that it has come back into fashion – who would have thought? I think this recipe at least would be sweet enough to counteract some of the tartness I didn’t like.
Using condensed milk to make slices was a lot more common back 1980s than it is today, but it certainly makes a nice slice. The first time I cooked with pecans was around that time as well. I made an ‘exotic’ American Pecan Pie, using pecans and the hard to obtain ingredient, corn syrup. I think this slice recipe probably dates from a little later than that, especially as it comes from an ad for Riverside an Australian company which urges readers to join the All Australian Pecan Club.
I couldn’t resist sharing this recipe. While the roast and glaze sound great, it’s the picture I love. The table decoration, the mugs and the vegetables all just scream 1970s. It’s on the back of a calendar dated June 1976 and I’m guessing it was a calendar Mum got from her brother who was a butcher. Enjoy.
Like most Australian families when we were growing up Mum cooked a roast once a week. As there were five of us in the family it was usually a large piece of meat and there was always some left over for school lunches or to have cold with a salad. Another way Mum would use it up was to make Meat Fritters. This recipe has the meat being minced, but Mum just used to slice it and coat the pieces in the batter before frying. And of course we always had tomato sauce with it.
These are still a picnic favourite in my family. They are easy enough to make and transport well. We always eat them cold, but you could have them warm if you’d rather.
Beb's Recipe Drawer 