Cake House

W ho wouldn’t like a crispy, lacy, scrumptious cookies? These oats lace cookies are one of our favorite cookies which will get over within minutes of baking. These thin, crispy oatmeal cookies will be the star among all the other delicacies in parties. Just melt the butter and sugar, then once cooled add all the other ingredients and bake for less than 10 minutes. Simple and easy cookies can be made within no time and with very fewer ingredients. The cookies, while baking, will spread so bake them in batches. This quantity will make about a whole lot of cookies, which can be gifted to friends and also can be enjoyed on cold evenings. Just try this one and I guarantee that you just cannot stop on one as they are buttery and so addictive. Ingredients: Rolled oats- 1 ½ Cups Sugar- 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour- 2 tbsp Butter- ½ Cup Vanilla Essence- 1 tsp Eggs- 1 no Method: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F Heat butter and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stirring frequently until the butte...

Coconut Jam Slices Another simple old recipe from the WI Ladies. You just know your are guaranteed a great result when using their old recipes. I am sure many of you who are from my generation will recognise this as something their Mum, Gran or Aunt made. We loved the slices and my friend Jeny who came to visit as they came out of the oven gave them 10 out of 10 and ate 3! You will need a 12” x 9” Swiss roll tin, buttered. Pre heat your fan oven to 160C 8 oz SR flour pinch salt 4 oz softened butter 3 oz caster sugar 1 small egg, beaten [or half a large] 3 tablespoons red, preferably raspberry, jam 4 oz desiccated coconut 1 tablespoon milk In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour and salt, then rub in the butter, adding 1 oz of the sugar. Bind with half the egg and a little cold water, to a stiff paste. Chill for ten minutes. Roll out the pastry to line your prepared tin. The dough is soft and it is easy to spread with your hands. I used a teaspoon to neaten the edges. Spread over the jam...

Orange and Chocolate Chip Buns Another recipe from the Ladies of the WI, circa 1960s. A lovely combination of flavours we take for granted these days, but this was almost 60 years ago! I used a 70% cocoa solids chocolate and roughly chopped it, as they would have done, making the batter full of flecks. The recipe makes about a ten large buns [in small muffin cases] Line your bun tin with paper cases and pre heat your fan oven to 170C 4 oz butter 4 oz caster sugar 2 egg 6 oz Self raising Flour 2 oranges, zested, one of them juiced. 4 oz Bournville Chocolate, cut into small pieces In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then add the eggs. Fold in the sieved flour and finally add the chocolate, zest and enough orange juice to give a soft dropping consistency. Spoon into the baking cases and bake in your pre heated oven for 10-15 mins. Note: I have doubled the original amounts as I realised this would make very small buns. My husband would think I had lost the p...

Old Fashioned Treacle Tart Yes, you can probably guess this is an old WI recipe. One of my daughter’s favourite desserts. Of course, we Cornish don’t mean treacle, we mean golden syrup, but somehow it does not trip off the tongue as easily!! This old version is not as sweet as modern day tarts and I like the lemon zest undertones. You will need an shallow 8 inch flan tin, loose bottomed is easiest of course, buttered. Pre heat your fan oven to 190C. Or for authenticity, use an old fashioned pie plate, as I have done.  The base cooks wonderfully with them. All butter Shortcrust pastry. Bought is good, but see my own recipe at the bottom of the page. Roll out your pastry and line your pie plate. Chill while you prepare the filling. Roll out the remainder in an oblong and cut into thin strips, ready to make a lattice pattern. 9-10 tablespoons golden syrup 3 oz fresh white breadcrumbs [from a stale loaf] grated zest of a lemon 1 dessertspoonful lemon juice Place the syrup in a small sa...

Happy to announce my blog's 8th anniversary A classic fish biryani which can be devoured at all times. Fish biryani is a perfect combination of the spices, rice along with marinated fried fish. Rather than weekdays, I prefer weekends for preparing elaborate meals like the biryani, which everyone in the house can enjoy comfortably. Usually, I will be making chicken or mutton biryani, this is the first time I tried preparing fish biryani. I tasted the fish biriyani first when I visited my brother’s place. My SIL who is a great cook prepared this within no time and instantly I fell in love with this biryani but I never dared to make biryani at home. I have had a few disasters at first like the rice was undercooked or overcooked! But now I have perfected the art of making biryani and there is nothing like a good home cooked version. Once I started making biryanis, I prepared this fish biryani and everyone in my house liked it. We can use sear fish, or any fis...

M asala peanuts is a perfect tea time snack which will be enjoyed by all in the family. Baked masala peanuts are one of our favorite snacks and so I will make sure to refill this by preparing a big batch before it gets finished. This is a guilt-free version of the fried masala peanuts and can be enjoyed an extra handful. The masala peanuts are coated with a thick batter of gram flour and seasoned with spices, which is then baked to perfection and enjoyed by all. Make sure to stir in between or else they will burn and will not taste good. The baked ones are crispy, crunchy and tasty just like the fried ones. By adding garlic, the flavor is well incorporated. This is so easy to make that you just have to throw all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and bake in the oven till done. This is a perfect guilt-free snack which can be enjoyed any time of the day. Hope you all may like this. Ingredients: Peanuts- 2 Cups Besan/ Chickpea Flour- ½  Cup Rice Flour- 3 tbsp Red Chilli Powder- 2 Tsp S...

Ginger Sponge Sandwich Don’t you just love the taste of stem ginger? Heaven. This is just the best sponge ever, if you love ginger! Plus I love the method, making the lightest sponge I have ever seen. Trust me, this is a brilliant winner. Not easy to neatly cut though, when just cooled! You will need 2 x 8 inch loose bottom sponge tins, lightly greased and the base lined and pre heat your fan oven to 160C 4 eggs 7 oz caster sugar 5 oz plain flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 tablespoon syrup from the jar of ginger 1½ tablespoons lemon juice 2 oz finely chopped preserved ginger Toss the ginger in the sieved flour and baking powder. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and whisk the whites until stiff. Gradually beat in the yolks and sugar, adding these alternatively and whisking well between each addition. When the mix is thick, fold in the flour, syrup and lemon juice. Divide between the two tins [if you are like me you will weigh them - I am a saddo] and bake for about 25 mins. Cool, ...