Earlier this week, Roy was very interested in the cookbook which we examined – the book of Wartime Recipes prepared by the Australian Dried Fruits Association and the Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy. He is always fascinated by old recipes, and by the types of things people made. He decided he really wanted to try a recipe from the book, but choosing just one was a little tricky. He eventually chose a Fruit Gingerbread because his Grandpa loves ginger, so he thought he would enjoy it - and he did! So this week, Roy Creates Wartime 'Fruit Gingerbread'.
You Will Need:
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup of raisins or sultanas
- 150 grams of butter or margarine (they used dripping)
- 1 egg
- ½ a teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 2 cups of plain flour
- 2 tablespoons of golden syrup. You could also use treacle (and this was originally recommended as a substitute) If you warm the spoon first, the syrup will come off the spoon more easily.
- 1 cup of sour milk (add a teaspoon of white vinegar to the milk and let it sit until it curdles slightly. Originally, this would just be milk which was a little old, or which had been too hot, but adding a little vinegar works fine)
- 1 dessertspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
- 1 dessertspoon of ground ginger
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius and line a lamington tin with baking paper
- Put the sugar, golden syrup, butter, salt, mixed spice, cinnamon and ginger in a large saucepan and heat until the butter melts and everything combines. You don’t want to boil the mix, just heat it until everything is smooth and well mixed.
- Set the mix aside to cool a little, and while it is cooling sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda together.
- Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl with a little of the milk
- When the mix has cooled a little, carefully add the egg to the butter mix. If you are worried about cooking the egg, add a little of the hot mix to the bowl with the egg, beating all the time and then slowly pour the egg into the mix, again beating all the time.
- Add the remaining milk and mix.
- Add the flour and mix thoroughly until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the Fruit and mix well
- Pour the mix into your prepared tray and smooth the top.
- Bake for 40 minutes to an hour (it will depend on how thick your cake is). The cake is cooked when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out without any mix clinging to it.
- Cool and enjoy!