I think this recipe came from my sister-in-law’s grandmother. Mum’s mother died when she was quite young and no recipes from her seem to have survived. The addition of mashed potato makes this fruit loaf a bit unusual.
I was surprised to find this recipe in Mum’s collection. I’ve made Florentine biscuits many times, but this is the first time I’ve seen a recipe for it as a slice.
This recipe was published by the Australian Meat Board to promote lamb and Mum would have picked the leaflet up from the counter at her local butcher’s shop. It’s a recipe I’ve cooked a lot over the years and still do. You can’t beat a lamb casserole on a cold winter’s night can you?
I was surprised to find this cutting amongst Mum’s collection as I didn’t realise she had the recipe. It was a starter I made a lot when I first got married. I wasn’t much of cook then and this could be prepared beforehand and was easy to make. It tasted quite good and always seemed to be enjoyed, but it shows how much tastes have changes as I don’t think I’d serve it up to anyone these days.
This is the twin of Brandy Alexander Pie both very much desserts of the 70s. They have basically the same ingredients, but this one has creme de menthe instead of brandy. Mum cut both recipes out, probably because I’d told her about making them for dinner parties for our friends. I haven’t heard of anyone making them for a long, long time now though………………..
This is very much a dessert from the 70s. Brandy Alexander Pie together with its twin Grasshopper Pie were all the fashion back then. They are basically the same recipe but this one has brandy and creme de cacao and the other has creme de menthe and creme de cacao. I liked this one, but I think you can see why they both went out of favor.
By the yellowing of this newspaper clipping Mum cut it out of the Herald Sun quite a long while ago, but meatloaves never go out of fashion. The article talks about how good cold a meatloaf is and how good it is for picnics and sandwiches, but hot meatloaf with roast potatoes and gravy is really very hard to beat. Great hot for dinner and great next day for sandwiches – as the article says, it’s very versatile.
Slices that used condensed milk and copha were very popular in the ’70s and ’80s. In our family there were quite a few recipes that were shared between Mum, my aunties and even by then my sisters-in-law. Instead of icing the slice this one uses a bar of milk chocolate as the topping. The copha is added in to prevent the chocolate cracking when you cut it.
Dad was the gardener in our family. He grew tomatoes, beans, silverbeet and rhubarb in his vegie plot. There was a passionfruit vine on the back fence and, of course, a lemon tree in the corner. I think every Melbourne family had and probably still has a lemon tree in their backyard. Easy to grow and if the position is right lemons in abundance. As a result Mum made the most of it and used lemons where ever she could. This self saucing pudding was one of her yummy ways of using some of the crop.
I think the comments that go with this recipe that Mum cut out of the newspaper make it sound somewhat unusual “economical, keeps for ages and can be made as a cake”. Worth a try maybe?
Beb's Recipe Drawer 