Category: 1970’s recipes

Birthday Mushroom Cake

Why should you invite a mushroom to your birthday?

Hands up all of you who thought I was going to go with that corny old “Because he’s a fun guy” schtick?  Well boo to you!!!  My jokes are never that bad.  Are they?  I’m actually terrible with jokes.  The only one I can ever remember is “Why are pirates called pirates?”  And the answer is “Because they are”  Only you have to say the “are”  in that pirate voice.  “Arrrre”  See?  The only joke I know and it’s not even funny written down.

So, mushrooms, parties…I made a cake!!!  In fact I made lots of little cakes.  And they looked kinda like mushrooms.  And you should definitely have them at your next party!

Mushroom Cake 2Oh and the taste?  So good. Chocolate, marzipan and sour cherry jam….how could you go wrong?

Have I ever mentioned exactly how much I love marzipan?  Well, it’s this much – I ate the left over marzipan from making this recipe by itself.  Then I bought another pack and ate that by itself too.  Then I felt sick for about three days.  But it was worth every minute of it.

My mini mushroom cakes are based on a recipe from The A-Z of Cooking which has it as one large cake. This is from the Children’s Favorites sections which means we have hit C. Why does it feel like I have been cooking from this book for YEARS?  How can we be only up to C?

To be honest, I’m not sure of the validity of the mushroom cake as a child’s favourite.  Teddy Bears, Thomas The Tank Engine, one of those awesome Barbie Pool Party Cakes – hmm whatever, yes and definitely yes, yes yes! (Note to self, Make Barbie Pool Party Cake for next year).  I’m not sure there’s many children asking their mum to bake them the fungi cake. Not even back in the hippy ’70’s.

Mushroom Cake - Original

Mushroom Cake – Original

You start with one big or lots of little chocolate cakes.  I used the recipe from The A-Z of Cooking but you could use any chocolate cake you wanted.  This would be A-MAY-ZING using your favourite brownie recipe too.

Here is the original recipe, my slightly tweaked recipe is below.Original recipe for Mushrom Cake

Mini Mushroom Cakes1
Mini Mushroom Cakes1

Spread the top your cakes with the sour cherry jam,

Roll out your marzipan until quite thin, then cut into rounds large enough to drape over the top and sides of your cake.  Trim additional marzipan so the marzipan is flush with the bottom of the cake.  Turn over so the uncovered part of the cake is now facing the top.

Roll another long thin piece of marzipan.  Spread with the sour cherry jam and roll up, lengthways.  Cut this into 4-5 pieces depending on how long you want your stalk.  Repeat until you have the same number of stalks as you do cakes.

Mini Mushroom Cakes2Pipe or spread your icing onto your cakes.  I spread mine and made the mushroom gills with a toothpick.

Then place your stalks onto the middle of each cake.You may need to hold these in place with a little dob of jam or icing.

Mini Mushroom Cakes3
Mini Mushroom Cakes3

Despite their dubious credentials as a children’s favourite, these mushroom cakes are just adorable and so tasty, and you know what would make then even better and certainly not kid friendly?  Douse the cakes with a little bit of kirsch before adding the jam.

 

Mini Mushroom Cakes4 Mushroom Cake 1Now that’s what I call a magic mushroom cake!

Three sleeps to Pieathalon!!!!  I can hardly wait

Have a great week!!!

 

Print

Mini Mushroom Cakes

Delicious morsels of chocolate cake, cunningly disguised as mushrooms!

Ingredients

Scale

For the Cake

  • 75g dark (70%) chocolate
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 125g self-raising flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 100g butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 250g packet of ready to roll Marzipan, I used Blackwood Lane
  • 3 tbsp sour cherry (or your favourite flavour) jam

Icing

  • 50g butter
  • 100g icing sugar, sifted
  • 25g dark chocolate melted in 2 tsp hot milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 190*C.
  2. Grease and flour your cupcake cases
  3. Melt the chocolate in the milk over a gentle flame. Leave to cool.
  4. Sift the flour, salt and cinnamon together.
  5. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  6. Add the eggs one at a time with a spoonful of flour in between.
  7. Add the chocolate milk mixture then another spoon of flour.
  8. Once that is mixed in, fold in the remaining flour.
  9. Pour the mixture into the prepared cupcake cases, place in the oven and bake for around 20 minutes until risen and a skewer comes out clean.
  10. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
  11. Roll out the marzipan to about 3mm thick. Flatten an empty cupcake case and use as a template to cut circles out of the marzipan.
  12. Melt the jam over a low heat then spread it over the top and sides of each cupcake.
  13. Then drape the marzipan circles over the top and sides of each cupcake. You may need to trim the edges so they are flush with the edges of the cake.
  14. Turn the cake upside down so the marzipan layer is now on the bottom.
  15. Roll the scraps of marzipan into a long thin stip. Spread this with the cherry jam and roll up lengthways so you now have a long thin roll.
  16. Cut this into smaller pieces to make the mushroom stalks. Set these aside for the moment.
  17. To make the icing, cream together the butter and sugar then gradually beat in the melted chocolate. Beat well then chill until the mixture is firm.
  18. Pipe or spread on top of each cake marking into grooves to resemble the gills of a mushroom.
  19. Place the stalk in the centre.
  20. Enjoy!

Notes

  • The number of cakes you will get will depend on the size of your cupcake liners.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 8

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Birthday Cocktail – The Rum 007

Well, hello there,

So remiss of me, we’ve been celebrating a while now and I haven’t offered you a drink.  Well, my parched friends, this is worth the wait.  Meet the Rum 007!

Rum 007 2This may be my favourite cocktail EVER.

It’s sooooo good.

And to think, because of the apricot brandy,  I was a bit scared of making it.  A few years ago I needed to buy some cherry brandy for a cocktail and it was disgusting.  Like that revolting fake cherry cough syrup you had to drink when you were young.  I was a very sickly child and I must have drunk a ton and a half of that stuff and the thought of it still gives me the horrors.

Thankfully, Apricot Brandy is utterly delicious.  Almost too good if you know what  I mean.

Of course if anything is called 007, you automatically think of Bond.  I could find no links to this recipe and JB although a Rum Collins apparently features in Thunderball.

So, when in doubt, make it up…that’s totally a thing isn’t it?

Rum 007

My explanation for the story behind the name has nothing to do with a certain spy.  It’s simply that when you take you first sip, thinking the Apricot Brandy will be disgusting and cloying and sickly sweet, you say “Oh”…then the nutty sweet, tangy pineapply, rummy wonderfulness hits you and you say “OH”.  Then you want six more.  Because it’s THAT good.

I found this recipe in the Margaret Fulton Cookbook which happens to be the selection current selection over at The Cookbook Guru.  My edition of this book, which incidentally is STILL in print dates from 1977 which is the same year The Spy Who Loved Me was released.

For those of you not familiar with Margaret she is a complete cooking Australian legend. It says so right on the Margaret Fulton stamp.  And Australia Post does not lie. Or make stamps of just anyone.  This lady is the grande dame, the mec plus ultra of Australian cooking.

Margaret Fulton StampAnd, as a heads up, back in the day, she made the most amazing cake, which I will attempt to replicate for my own birthday later in the year. You’ll have to wait til August to see that but, if I can pull it off it will be worth the wait.

There are many reasons to love Margaret Fulton, but in terms of inventing an awesome cocktail, possibly based on James Bond?

Nobody does it better!

And because it’s my favorite Bond song, here it is

‘Kay, I’m done here, I have another six  five 007’s to drink….I like to call it quality control.  I couldn’t possibly give you a recipe that I hadn’t personally tested multiple times.

Here’s the recipe.

Rum 007 recipe Enjoy and have a fabulous week!

Eight days to Pieathalon 2….I can hardly wait!!!

Two weeks still to go in the win a vintage cookbook comp!  Sign up, tell your friends!

Rum 007

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Cucumber Candlestick Canapés

If you read my last post you would have already seen these amazing cucumber candlesticks…now you get to learn how to make them yourself!

Cucumber Candlesticks
Cucumber Candlesticks

I found the original recipe in, yep, you guessed it, the delight that is Salads For All Seasons by Rosemary Mayne Wilson, because that book never gets old.  Well, technically yes it does but you know what I mean.

I fancy pantsed mine up a bit by adding a little bit of hot sauce into my crab and mayo mix but you could use wasabi or tomato paste or chilli sauce, chopped herbs, chopped up sun-dried tomatoes,  or pretty much any flavouring you liked.  You could also swap out the crab for canned tuna or salmon if that’s how you roll.

I also added a strip of sun-dried tomato as a flame.

The only bit of making these that was even a little bit difficult was scooping out the flesh of the cucumbers and not having them break.  I don’t have a grapefruit knife as suggested by Rosemary Mayne Wilson so I ended up using a 1/4 teaspoon measure and scooping out a little bit at a time.

Cucumber Candlesticks
Cucumber Candlesticks

These were really tasty and pretty easy to make.  And a pretty cool retro canapé to kick off the celebrations.

Cucumber Candlesticks2
Cucumber Candlesticks2

To eat these you can slice them either across into rounds down the middle into half or quarter moons.

But before the recipe,  I thought I might do a quick “retro” spective. I spent some time the other day going through some old posts and one thing became clear.  If there was going to be a sub-sub title for this blog, it would surely have to be “I like round food.  And I really, really like small round food”

May 2012 – Cucumbers Stuffed with Cream Cheese

July 2012 – Moccha Mousse

 July 2012 – Tuna Stuffed Tomatoes

 February 2013 – Barbra Streisands Coffee Ice Cream

 April 2013 – Devilled Chestnuts

April 2013 – Rosé Wine Cup

 May 2013 – Television Eggs

 September 2013 – Ice Cream Muffins

 September 2013 – Vietnamese Inspired Aubergine

 Minh Mang-o Daiquiri

 November 2013 – Kale and Onion Pies, Smoked Salmon Frittata

 December 2013 – Pepperoni Pizza with Boccocini, Olives and Mint

 December 2013 – Cabbage Rolls with Meatballs

 January 2014 – Saffron Risotto Balls

 April 2014 – Ox Eye Eggs

 August 2014  – Autumn Rosti With Smoked Salmon

Autumn RostiAugust 2014- Meatball Sandwich

Umami Meatballs
Umami Meatballs

 November 2014 – Cheesy Eggplant Sandwiches

Eggplant Salami Sandwich 4
Eggplant Salami Sandwich 4

 November 2014 – Chargrilled Aubergines from Persiana

Chargrilled Aubergines
Chargrilled Aubergines

 November 2014 – Paleo Breakfast Muffins

Breakfast Muffins
Breakfast Muffins

December 2014 – Carrot Paprika BallsCucumber Boat 4January 2015 – Meringue Topped Nutella Cupcakes

Meringue Topped Nutella Cake
Meringue Topped Nutella Cake

March 2015  – Orange and Watercress Salad

Watercress and Orange Salad 5
Watercress and Orange Salad 5

 May 2015 – French Apple Tart

French Apple Flan
French Apple Flan

And you know what else is round?

Pie..and I like pie.

I’m not the only one.

Stay tuned, Pieathalon two is coming soon…..

And finally, here’s the recipe for the Cucumber Candlesticks:

Cucumber CandlesticksRemember, third birthday giveaway closes 14 June.  Enter now to win an amazing 1970’s cookbook, and have a fabulous week!

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My 3rd Birthday, Your Present!

3 years old

Remember last year when I forgot to celebrate my blog-irthday?  Not so for Year 3 my friends. This year, not only are we starting early but I bought you a present.  Well one of you…but more about that later.  I have quite the celebration planned, cakes, a cocktail, these lovely cucumber candlestick canapés and maybe even a Spanish take on the Potato Salad Roll…

But first  up, my mum and and I had a lovely Mother’s Day bonding experience last weekend by hitting up some of the local op shops and I got a huge swag of goodies, some of which will be jumping right to the top of the queue in the retro food stakes.

Here are some of the best of the best:

The Complete Avocado Cookbook by Christine Heaslip

I was utterly obsessed with this book as a child.   But until I saw this book in the oppy on the weekend, I had completely forgotten a very strange thing I used to do.  I must have had an idea that avocados were very sophisticated and I remember borrowing this book from the library about a billion times because I would get it home, then I would dress up all my dolls in their best clothes and put them in a circle and put the book in the middle and I would make up menus and they would have avocado based dinner parties where i would flick to a page in the book and tell them what we were eating, and they would each comment on the food.

Sometimes they didn’t like what they were given in which case they either got put into the corner and missed the next dinner party or I’d twist their heads around 180° and say something like “Maybe you’ll like it better out of the back of head”

(WEIRD. ONLY. CHILD).

Complete Avocado Cookbook
Complete Avocado Cookbook

I was particularly obsessed by this – The Crusty Stuffed Avocado.  Which is an avocado stuffed with camembert, crumbed, deep fried and served with an almond butter sauce.

Crusty Stuffed Avocado
Crusty Stuffed Avocado

Maybe I should have used that as a threat for the dolls that didn’t like their meals.  “One more peep out of you Missy and you get the Crusty Stuffed Avocado.  And then we get to play Barbie gets a triple bypass”.

The Egg Cookbook By Peter Russell Clarke.

Back in the day, he was a celebrity chef in the 80’s whose catchcry (is that a word? it looks weird) was “Where’s the cheese?”  To which the answer presumably was “In the hardened arteries of the people who ate the Crusty Stuffed Avocado”.

Peter Russel Clarke

Eggs are one of the favourite ingredients here at maison de la retro food so this one was a certainty, despite it contains such dubious delights as a banana and chicken omelette and eggs in oranges.  That one is so dodgy that even Peter Russell Clarke admits his friends don’t like the sound of it.

If you you tube PRC you will see that, instead of his good natured tv personal is he actually a bit of a foul mouthed curmudgeon.  As one myself, it only made me like him more!

The Beautiful Breakfast Book by Judy Willing

Proof that you can judge a book by it’s cover.  And Judy looks more than willing on the cover!  This is going to be GOLD!

The Beautiful Breakfast Book

 International Mixed Drinks

This isn’t strictly vintage but who could resist a book that offers over 300 cocktails by country? Not me that’s for sure.  Mind you, I think they might be drawing a long bow in some of their allocations.  Yeah, we all totally get that the Long Island Ice Tea and the Louisiana Lullaby are from the U.S.A.  However, I searched for cocktails containing Parfait Amour, because I still have a buttload of it left and I found the Purple People Eater and the Love Bite.  These apparently hail from The Seychelles and Mauritius respectively.  Which smacks of allocating sucky cocktails to countries who are too small to declare war on you.

International Mixed DrinksStill, this got me all sorts of excited.  I was thinking we might do a round the world in a cocktail glass feature over the next year…52 countries in 52 weeks?  Or at least until either incipient bankruptcy or alcoholism make their presence felt…..

And finally, this is it folks, over the top

Australian Cooking For Today by Anne Marshall

If today was 1977.

This is a MONSTER of a book, 900 recipes, 450 colour photos.  If you were hit over the head with this book, you would wind up in hospital faster than someone who had eaten a Crusty Stuffed Avocado.

Australian Cooking For Today

And this can be yours!

(Basically because when I got it home, I realised I already had a copy.)

And just in case the cover is not enough to convince you, opening Australian Cooking For Today at a random page reveals this – Giant Gingerbreadmen apparently reenacting the Great Train Robbery and a big ball of sausage and cheese:

Australian Cooking For Today 2You know you want it…

How You Can Win Australian Cooking For Today

There are three ways to win:

  1. If you already follow the blog, follow me on twitter or facebook  or viceversa, drop me a note and I will pop your name into a hat.
  2. If you know of someone who you think would enjoy reading this, send them my way – all new followers will get a chance to win and if they leave me a message giving me your name, you get 5 chances.
  3. Finally, if you already follow me on all media as do all of your friends, neighbours, co-workers, etc or you have none of the above, leave a comment below, answering the very simple question “Where’s the cheese?”  and you will get a number of entries commensurate with how funny I think your entry is.

The T’s, The C’s, The Boring Bits

  • The actual birthday of the blog is 25 May, however  it’s going to take me a bit longer than that to post all the posts on the celebrations so let’s say you have 4 weeks from now to enter.  Entries will close midnight 14 June 2015.
  • You can enter as many times as you like.
  • If you are outside of Australia, I will have to send the book by cheapest mail possible as postage from here is terribly expensive. So you might get it by Christmas.

Maybe once you get it we can do a combined cook or something.  Then again, it’s your present, you can do what you want with it!

Good luck!!!

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Ooh La La – French Apple Flan

Bonjour mes amis!

This French Apple Flan straight from the buffet section of the A-Z of Cooking is délicieux!  I know what you’re thinking.  Two pastry dishes in two weeks?  Why, it’s almost like you’re practicing for something.

Nudge nudge, wink, wink, say no more.

French Apple Tart1

French Apple Flan

Truth is, I made this before I knew anything about Pieathalon 2…which is not only a reality but  I have purchased my ingredients and will be baking on the weekend.

But back to the French Apple Flan.  I was actually a bit wary about making a second pastry dish from the A-Z of Cooking because, lets face it, I was not overly impressed with the pastry from the Date Crunchies.

But, the buffet section left a LOT to be desired.  There was an Egg Mousse.  But there is also an Egg Mousse in Salads for All Seasons, which quite frankly reads better.  Then there is a Cold Loin of Pork Orientale….except I don’t eat pork.  There is the trout of nightmares:

Image (2)And there is the French Apple Flan:

French Apple Flan
French Apple Flan

So, despite that picture not being overly appealing, this was kind of a no-brainer.

And let me say right now,  I can’t imagine any of the other dishes being this good because this was AWESOME.  The pastry was crisp and light and delicious, the filling was lovely – and again not too sweet.  There was only a 50g of sugar for a kilo of apples.  The butter and the lemon and the wine hummed along quietly in the background without taking over.   The filling really just tastes of apples.  But nicer.  Like supercharged apples.  But really, please, despite what the recipe says use butter not that horrible other stuff.

French Apple Tart 8
French Apple Flan 8

A friend of mine recently made some gorgeous apple roses that she found here and they kind of inspired my topping.

French Apple Tart 9
French Apple Flan 9

I also used a blackberry jam for my glaze because that’s what I had and smoke em if you got ’em is how I roll.  It made my glaze quite dark but I kind of liked that ombre effect it created.

French Apple Flan
French Apple Flan

And again, the French Apple Flan  was just lovely.  And it was totally delicious on it’s own but if you really want to ramp it up, try it, slightly warm with some dulce de leche ice cream.  And then just float away on a little cloud because you will seriously think you have died and gone to heaven.

French Apple Flan
French Apple Flan

So, good.

In my mind this is an apple tart.  So much so that I had to keep going back when writing and changing the word tart to flan.    I am not precisely sure of the difference between a tart and a flan although some albeit rather lazy research leads me to think a flan contains a custard filling.  Which this doesn’t.

So it’s a tart right?

Whatever you call it. it’s super delicious and made from things you already probably have in your house or can get pretty easily.  I promise you will not regret making this…so go on, do it now!

French Apple Flan1
French Apple Flan1

Au revoir!

 

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