on good advice from lynn following my recent bad-baking-experience i have revisited an old favourite from the cook book shelf. this classic resides in many households and was originally available to buy with tokens from your friendly milkman (i may be romantising for a moment here...but where have those lovely days gone i wonder?) my dairy book of home cookery cost me 50p from a charity shop some years back and it is the exact same 1968 edition that my mum had when i was little. i know this to be true because the photos hold special memories in my heart...my favourite pages featured hot drinks (milk posset :: almond flip :: chocolate cream nog) closely followed by the confectionery section (coconut ice :: cherry fudge :: honeycomb) i just used to like looking at the pictures and names of these treats...the photos are few and far between but the recipes are just short enough to read like a comic strip for instant gratification.
even better i found the ginger snaps to be a success!
what i found interesting was that i seemed to be using less of everything ingredients-wise compared to my usual (nigella + co) bakes. i know that these are very basic but it was rather satisfying to be using a 1/5 of a pack of butter compared to the 1/2 that normally goes in to the recipes i use. i added a little luxury in the form of some chopped preserved ginger which i had in the cupboard but all in all this batch of plain + simple biscuits proved to be the perfect weekday addition to a cup of tea...no fanciness needed.
i know that there are lots of these books on ebay and i thoroughly recommend them. what makes me particularly happy about my copy is that the family fruitcake recipe has been circled in pencil and page 144 has been folded at the corner for cinnamon biscuits. i can only imagine that it's previous owner was a class act!
even better i found the ginger snaps to be a success!
what i found interesting was that i seemed to be using less of everything ingredients-wise compared to my usual (nigella + co) bakes. i know that these are very basic but it was rather satisfying to be using a 1/5 of a pack of butter compared to the 1/2 that normally goes in to the recipes i use. i added a little luxury in the form of some chopped preserved ginger which i had in the cupboard but all in all this batch of plain + simple biscuits proved to be the perfect weekday addition to a cup of tea...no fanciness needed.
i know that there are lots of these books on ebay and i thoroughly recommend them. what makes me particularly happy about my copy is that the family fruitcake recipe has been circled in pencil and page 144 has been folded at the corner for cinnamon biscuits. i can only imagine that it's previous owner was a class act!
They look delicious, I don't know the book, we had the Be-Ro book, free with some tokens from the back of the flour bag. My grandmother, mother and I all have our own copies, all the same recipes but over the years the cover has been jazzed up. Melting moments are my favourite,you can't beat a biscuit with a glace cherry on top.
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I shall get mine out now and do a spot of baking - I bought a Yorkshire Tea cake for £1.99 and it's quite horrible.....
ReplyDeleteSometimes simple is best:)
Hey lovely girl, thanks for sharing those yummy ginger snaps. I'll have to give them a go when we're settled in our new home.
ReplyDeleteThey would be the perfect treat to have on a cold winters night.
Loving the old cook book, my Ben calls Nigella, fatty gella lol because all the recipes we do are so??? well fatty lol
But sooo yummy ;)
Lovely to hear from you sweetie, speak soon.
Many hugs,
Catherine x
hi there kelly.
ReplyDeletesuch a lovely post. i really think these photos are fantastic. xo
God, I remember this book. We always used to buy Mum the Dairy diary every year for Christmas. What a lovely tea break that is xxx
ReplyDeletei really enjoyed reading this post - a lovely feeling of nostalgia!! xx
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely book!
ReplyDeletethese photos make me want to get out my mixer and whip up something divine.