Of the two Christmas treats, these always disappear first. They are quick and easy to make, especially if you buy the apricots already chopped. I always roll them in icing sugar as there is already heaps of coconut inside them.
Every Christmas I make these Chocolate Rum Truffles and the next recipe Apricot Coconut Balls. When my children were little I used to make them, put them in jars and give them to their teachers as a Christmas gift. I’ve kept making them ever year since. The recipe came from a newspaper cutting that I pasted into my folder years ago. As we don’t read the same newspaper I was really surprised to find the same cutting in Mum’s collection. I’m now wondering how I ended up with it, but I’m glad I did.
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.
There’s two types of cheesecakes, baked and unbaked. I usually make baked ones as I prefer the texture, but this Toblerone Cheesecake creates a dilemma for me as I love Toblerone chocolate. The combination of the Toblerone chocolate, the time it takes to make and no hot oven heating up the kitchen, makes it a great summer dessert. Even I’m convinced.
I found this among the recipes, it’s in my awful handwriting, so I assume I gave it to Mum somewhere along the way. I’ve been making it for years and still make it, but I use less meat now as I’m no longer feeding a family of five. It’s easy and the gravy is really does taste great.
STEAK WITH RICH GRAVY
Cut the meat into serving pieces. Place in casserole, add dry soup, mix water and soup together and pour over. Mix well. Cook 1½ hrs at 180º.
Ginger Fluff Sponges were second only to a jam and cream filled sponge when I was growing up. Not everyone likes ginger, but for those who do a slice of cream filled Ginger Fluff is a real treat. This isn’t Mum’s original recipe, but one she cut out of the Herald Sun newspaper, the tip at the bottom of the recipe is might explain why my sponges never rise.
This is another use for ripe bananas, they change the basic pikelet mix into something that doesn’t need the jam and cream topping. They would be good for afternoon teas, suppers or even the kids lunchboxes.
There’s a few versions of this old favourite in Mum’s collection. This one comes from the back of the Continental French Onion Soup Mix packet and is probably the easiest to make, especially if you use the casserole method.
In the 1950s except for fish and chips Chinese was the only takeaway available, you even had to take your own saucepan to the shop for them to put the food in – no plastic containers then. Chicken & Corn soup was always a favourite. Somewhere along the line someone came up with this make-at-home version, which can be adapted to suit what you like or what you have in the cupboard. It’s not as good as the Chinese restaurant variety, but it still tastes good.
Buying chips and dips and other types of savouries to have before a dinner or at a party just wasn’t an option in the early days of Mum’s entertaining. There just wasn’t that much available to buy, so you had to make them yourself. This is just one of the things she made.
Beb's Recipe Drawer 