The Tingle Factor Box

Roy Creates A Sinfully Easy And Delicious Chocolate Cream Torte

This week Roy decided that with Mothers Day rapidly approaching, he would like to share the recipe for a dessert which his online friends could make to spoil their mothers. He wanted something really simple, which children could make with just a little help from their Dad’s. He flipped through his cookbooks for the perfect inspiration, and finally stumbled upon a recipe which was so simple it almost seemed to good to be true – but it was, and it was delicious too! So this week, Roy Creates A Sinfully Easy And Delicious Chocolate Cream Torte.

You Will Need:

• 600 millilitres of cream
• 1 large packet of sponge finger biscuits
• 1 cup of strong black coffee
• A jar of chocolate hazelnut spread
• 2 tablespoons of toasted almonds

Optional: You may like to add a little Rum flavouring if you are making this as an adult dessert. The original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of Rum.

Method:

• Whip the cream until it is thick
• Divide the biscuits into three piles, one for each layer of the cake
• Pour the coffee into a bowl large enough to dip your biscuits. If you are using the rum, stir this into the coffee.

• Dip the biscuits into the coffee, wetting only one side (Roy recommends you wet the non sugared side)
• Line the biscuits up on your serving plate in a log shape

• Generously spread the biscuits with chocolate hazelnut spread
• Spread a layer of cream over the chocolate hazelnut spread
• Repeat the dipped biscuits, spread and cream, and then add one more layer of dipped biscuits
• Spread very lightly with chocolate hazelnut spread

• Cover the entire log with the remaining cream
• Sprinkle with the toasted almonds and put in the fridge until you are ready to serve
• Enjoy!

It's So Delicate - Child's Tea Set

Imagine you are a little girl living in the 1940s. Mother’s Day is coming up, and you are looking forward to doing something special for  Mummy. All your friends the dolls and bears are helping you set up a special party for her, and you are going to use your absolute best tea set – the little one which looks like shells which Mummy and Daddy gave you. You have even asked Daddy to help you get some biscuits to enjoy at the party – and you’re sure Mummy will think it is a wonderful way to celebrate.

When I showed the children this tiny tea set, their reactions were intriguing. The children immediately knew what the tea set was, but they were amazed by the delicacy and design of the set. As one child said ‘tea sets to play with are always plastic or cheap china’, but the set which I showed them was clearly of a different quality entirely. They couldn’t imagine parents allowing a child to play with the little set, and were amazed to discover that the antique set had actually been mine when I was little.

Children’s tea sets have a truly remarkable history, dating right back to the time of the Greek and Roman empires. Although tea sets as we know them didn’t even exist, dolls certainly did and many potters enjoyed making miniature versions of every day items for use. These items may not have been tea sets, but they are certainly the forerunners to them. Actual tea sets designed in miniature are first recorded in the sixteenth century when they were made of pewter or copper. The little sets were made in Germany, which was at the time well known for making toys, and for many years these miniature tea sets were actually exported to other markets in Europe, including in France.

Yet it was France who became known for their beautiful miniature sets in the 19^th century. These sets were beautifully made in metals like gold and silver, but also from high quality pottery. There were sets made of porcelain and glazed china, but these were not yet common, nor were they affordable.  At this time, tea sets were items made for the children of wealthy families. It wasn’t until the 1850s that toys in general became more common place and affordable for the lower classes. Porcelain and faience factories became more common, and many produced tea sets for children. As a result, the prices began to drop and when plastic became available, tea sets for children to play with became more widespread.

Roaming Roy Goes Back To School - William Thompson Masonic School

This week, Roy decided that with the rain keeping him inside, he would take the opportunity to re-examine the photo archive of past visits to many places. Roy loves nothing more than spending time out and about visiting intriguing places, and he has thousands of photographs which have been taken during these visits. One place which he visited last year, and which he thought he would like to investigate further though was the William Thompson Masonic School.

The William Thompson Masonic School is located at Baulkham Hills in Sydney’s North West, and today is part of the Balcombe Heights Estate. To get there follow Seven Hills Road and turn into Thompson Hall Road. Roy recommends parking near the oval and wandering around the area, taking in the beautiful buildings and history. There is also plenty of room to have a picnic, play a ball game or even fly a kite!

The William Thompson Masonic School was opened in 1922 specifically to house and care for orphaned children. The school was the idea of William Thompson, who in 1918 identified the open area around Baulkham Hills as an ideal location for a school and garden village for children who had been orphaned or who could not be cared for by family after World War One. The project was funded by the Masonic Lodges who soon purchased a rundown dairy farm on Seven Hills Road. This farm was to be transformed into the William Thompson Masonic School, which officially opened on Armistice Day (November 11) in 1922.

Instead of a single, large building, the site was made up of a large, central school (with 7 classrooms and 9 teachers) and an administration building with cottages for girls and boys on either side. There were five cottages for girls and five for boys, and each could accommodate 24 children. There was also a laundry, dining room, gymnasium, playing fields, tennis courts and swimming pool, as well as accommodations for staff and teachers. In addition, there well tended gardens, including fruit and vegetable gardens, tea rooms and even a hospital. Life was extremely regimented for the children living at the school. They woke up at 6am and had a cold shower before doing various chores. Next it was breakfast, then assembly, school, lunch, afternoon activities, dinner, homework and finally bed and lights out at 9pm. The children were apparently well cared for though and enjoyed a diet which many would have been envious of. According to the 1938 daily routine, their daily diet included a full meal of meat, vegetables and even dessert, breakfast of porridge and bread with jam or honey and a dinner of soup, more bread and jam, cake, fruit and hot cocoa. To find out more about the William Thompson Masonic School click here.

Roy Creates World War One Trench Cake

Last week, in preparation for the ANZAC Day commemorations, I talked to a group of children about World War One, and showed them several objects associated with the war. We talked about the soldiers serving, but also about what women and children were doing to support the soldiers overseas. I told Roy the children had been fascinated by the idea of making cakes to send to the trenches, and that they had wondered what these cakes must have been like. Roy decided to try his hand at making such a cake, and found a recipe in a 1916 newspaper for ‘Trench Cake’. The resulting cake was a little plain, but tasty and Roy thought the soldiers serving would have been glad to have it. He wanted to share the recipe with his online friends, so this week, Roy Creates World War One Trench Cake.

You Will Need:

• 250 grams of plain flour
• 125 grams of margarine. The original recipe called for lard or dripping, but Roy found that margarine worked fine too
• 1 teaspoon of white vinegar
• 150 millilitres of full cream milk
• 90 grams of brown sugar
• 90 grams of currants
• 2 teaspoons of cocoa
• ½ a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• ½ a teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon of ginger
• Grated rind of ½ a lemon

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius and prepare a cake tin. Roy used a square tin, but there were no specific sizes included in the recipe – you don’t want one too big though!

• Rub the margarine and flour together, or use a pastry cutter to do this like Roy did

• Add the sugar, currants, cocoa, nutmeg, ginger and lemon rind and mix
• Stir together the bicarbonate of soda and milk until the soda has dissolved

• Add the milk mix to the dry ingredients and beat well (you will have a very thick and sticky batter)
• Put the batter into the tin and spread out
• Bake for between 1 and 2 hours (depending on the size of your tin and how hard and dry you want the cake. The original recipe called for 2 hours, and Roys, which was quite a thin cake, cooked for 1 hour 45 minutes)
• Turn out of the tin and cool on a wire rack
• Store in an airtight container and enjoy with a cup of tea