Christmas Pudding 1960's - Marguerite Patten Recipe Card

Love it of loathe it, that time of year is bearing down on us.  It is about this time the foodies among us, start thinking about Christmas Pudding, which takes a lonnng time to make if you do it properly.

So I invite you to have a go at Marguerite Patten's version, and see if you can make one just like you used to have when you were a kid (hopefully a good thing).

Moist Chocolate Sandwich - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Card Index 6)

Moist Chocolate Sandwich.  Very much a variation on a theme, but a quite delicious theme.  

Speedy Orange Cake - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Index Card 5)

I have such good memories of this recipe.  It reminds me of that quintessentially English past time of High Tea or even being a young lad at the village Fete etc.

It is also pretty easy, as most of Marguerite Patten's recipes are.  If you don't like Orange, you can use Lemon rind instead.

Summer Pudding - 1960's (Robert Carrier Cookery Card)

Another amazingly easy recipe from the hayday of the Beatles...

This recipe is in anticipation that we might actually have a summer.  My mum always makes this recipe, and although the whole 'bread-as-pudding' concept is not one I can quite get my head around it is always enjoyable with lashings of custard.

Fruit and Walnut Sponge - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Index Card 3)

I love Walnuts.  That is all.

Apricot Croutes - 1950s

Ingredients.

1. Stale Cake
2. Tinned Apricots
3. 1 or 2 ounces of Butter
4. Castor sugar

Cut the cake into round or oval shapes about 1/4 inch thick, spread with butter and arrange into a greased fireproof dish.

Place one or two apricots, free from syrup, cut side up on each slice of cake. Sprinkle with sugar and bake in a moderate oven for 10 minutes.

Sift more sugar over and serve hot.

Honey Cheesecake - 1970s

Last night I decided it would be a fantastic idea to take a photo of this recipe.  It was a fantastic idea, but, it didn't work as the photo came out far too small.

So here it is again, but this time done properly.

For a Honey Cheesecake you will need...

225g / 8oz Wholeweat Biscuits (digestives) crushed.
125g / 4oz melted butter
5ml / 1 teaspoon ground allspice
350g / 12oz cottage cheese
125g / 4oz clear honey
10ml / 2 teaspoons brown sugar
 2 eggs
pinch of salt
10ml / 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Mix the biscuits, butter and allspice together then press in to the bottom and sides of a well greased 23cm / 9 inch flan tin.
2. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
3. Mix all the remaining ingredients, except the cinnamon, together.  Spoon into the biscuit crust and dust with cinnamon.
4. Put in to a pre-heated oven at 170C / 325F and bake for 40 minutes or until filling is set

Ratafia Cream (1851)

I need to explain a few things with this recipe.  First of Ratafia is a type of liqueur or cordial flavoured with lemon peel, herbs in various amounts (nutmeg, cinnamon,clove, mint, rosemary, anise, etc.).  Thanks Wikipedia.


It is a classic recipe that appeared even in a 1789 cookery book entitled Cookery and Pastry by Mrs MacIver that you can access on Google books.  I have embedded the book below so you can see what other fantastic recipes exist.  It even has a search function!  This little drink would make excellent party appetisers or even a pudding course, depending on how thickly it turns out.




But this seems to be the non-alcoholic version.  By 1851 it had morphed into a concoction using Brandy and Ratafia, but if you don't have Ratafia to hand, then a good malt whiskey should do nicely.
The recipe calls for heating the mixture over boiling water, so in a similiar way that you would make a chocolate sauce with a bowl in a large saucepan.

1.  Gradually stir two glasses of Brandy in to a quart of cream.  Heat over boiling water stirring constantly, until hot but not boiling.
2.  Then gradually stir into 4 or 5 well-beaten egg yolks.  Return to the top of double-boiler and stir over hot water until thickened but do not allow to boil.
3. Flavour the taste with Ratafia or Noyeau (generic word for liqueur).  Add the strained juice of a lemon or a Seville orange can be stirred in as well before reheating.

Serve in glasses after chilling.

Lemon Layer Cake - 1930's

Throughout my research and discovery of vintage classic recipes, I have found quite a few badly written recipes.  I have avoided them as they are harder for my readers to work out, and they are not overly helpful.  They assume you know a lot about the cooking process, so they seem to be less a recipe as such, moreso a quick reminder for someone that has done them countless times before.
I am sticking my neck out with this one, as the recipe is short and it has a lot of 'cupfuls' which I often find off putting.  I would love to know if someone has made lemon cheese before and what it tastes like, it sounds more like icing that cheese to be honest.


2 1/4 quarter cupfuls sifted flour
1 egg
1 cupful of milk
1/4 cupful of melted butter
4 teaspoonfuls of baking power
3/4 cupful caster sugar
1/2 teaspoonful of salt
1 teaspoonful vanilla essence
lemon cheese. (recipe for lemon cheese can be found here)

1. Add the sugar to the well beaten-egg, then stir in alternately the milk and flour sifted with the baking powder and salt.
2. Add the melted butter and vanilla, beating well.
3. Bake in two buttered layer cake tins in a moderately quick oven for about half an hour until quite firm and light.
4. When cold, put layers together with lemon cheese.

Video Recipe: Parsnip Pudding - 1920's

So I want to mix it up a bit.  This is a recipe from the 1920's, courtesy of TheVintageKitchen on Youtube.  It shouldn't be such a suprise but I found that there are, in fact, tons of high quality videos showing you step-by-step how to make some delicious vintage recipes.

TheVintageKitchen is just one of these channels.  Thanks to this recipe, I am now tempted to overcome my hatred of parsnip!

Keith Floyd's Queen of Puddings - 1980's

Keith describes this dish as a simple winter pudding that is inexpensive to make.  I'd agree with that.

1 pint (600ml) milk
1 oz (25g) butter
Grated rind of half a lemon
3 eggs, separated.
7 oz (210g) caster sugar
3 oz (75g) fresh white breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons of good quality raspberry jam.



1. Warm the milk in a pan with the butter and lemon rind.
2. Lightly whisk the egg yolks with 1 oz of the sugar and pour in the milk stirring well.
3. Strain the custard over the breadcrumbs in a greased 2 pint (1 litre) ovenproof dish and leave to stand for 15 mintes.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F, (170 celsius) for 25 minutes until lightly set.
5. Remove from the oven and spread the top with the warmed jam.
6. Whisk the egg whites until it is stiff, add half the sugar and whisk again until thick and glossy.
7. Fold in the remaining sugar with a metal spoon.  Pile the meringue on top of the pudding and bake at gas mark 4 (350 ferenheit, 180 celsius) until meringue is lightly browned