I’m not sure who wrote this recipe down for Mum, as it’s not in her handwriting, but a recipe for these crispy ham patties was certainly worth writing down. Although the ham quantity converts to 125g, I doubt that extra would go astray. You could probably leave the sherry out though.
Mum used to make this slice to take on picnics or to family gatherings. We always ate it cold and it was delicious. I don’t think Corn & Bacon Spread is available anymore, but that’s OK as Mum didn’t put it in anyway.
SAVOURY LUNCHEON SLICE
Mix together sausage meat, bacon, onion, chutney, tomato sauce, and worcestershire sauce. Add rice, season well. Mix well. Line a lightly greased lamington tin with pastry. Place half of the meat mixture on base spreading evenly over the pastry. Spread the corn and bacon spread over the meat and then top with sliced tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cover with remaining meat mixture. Wet the edges of the extra pastry and place on top of pie to form a lid. Trim edges and pinch together to seal pastry. Glaze with milk and bake in a hot oven (220o) for 45-50 minutes.
Another great family treat was Sweetcorn Patties or as this printed version from a magazine calls them Sweetcorn cakes
As well as lots of handwritten recipes I found this one in the collection. It comes from the side of the Rice Flour packet.
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.
Using tinned salmon or tuna to make a mornay or bake seems to have gone quite out of fashion. When I was growing up Mum often made easy Sunday night dinners using either one. Although this is a later recipe it is pretty typical of the sort of thing she would make.
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.
This recipe comes from a brochure put out by the Australian Meat Board in 1969. It’s certainly a different style of pie with the meat on top and the pastry underneath, but could easily be reversed.
I was quite excited to find this original Chocolate Ripple Cake recipe in Mum’s collection. The Chocolate Ripple Cake was a party favourite in our household from around the 1960s and was always a crowd pleaser. The only change to this original recipe for today’s cooks is to convert the ½ pint of cream to 500ml. I did recently make a more modern version by laying the biscuits down in a cake tin and building up the layering, then I topped it with fresh fruit. It turned it into a cake instead of a slice, but either way you make it, it still tastes delicious.
These biscuits are a little unusual as they use jelly crystals in place of sugar. The original recipe has orange flavoured jelly, but I’m sure you could use other flavours successfully. I top them off with a chocolate button just to add an extra kick.
ORANGE CRISP BISCUITS
Cream butter with jelly crystals and sugar. Add beaten egg and the dry ingredients previously mixed together. Place in small spoonfuls on a tray lined with baking paper and bake 15-20 minutes at 180ºC.
Beb's Recipe Drawer 