I love recipes like this . . .  family recipes with a history. I love them because every time I make one of them, I have the opportunity to think special thoughts about my dear ones, and to remember happy times spent together.

 Every time I bake this cake, it is like getting a nice warm hug from my Aunt Freda.  I can almost feel her looking down at me with approval . . .

Its just a simple cake, very much like my mother's Hot Milk Cake . Hot milk cake and this care are  a plain vanilla sponge cake.

Both are baked in a square pan . . . nothing fancy or out of the ordinary . . . 

 
I like to give it a little turn every 30 seconds or so.  That way the coconut topping grills fairly evenly . . .  oh but it is some good.  

 All caramelised . . .  kind of like a creme bruleed cake, except there is no cream involved. Just one plain, moist, and very delicious cake.

This went down a real treat, served still slightly warm, with a glass of cold milk. It would be equally at home with a nice hot cuppa or with some fresh fruit or berries on the side, or even a dollop of whipped cream.  

 My heart, as I ate my very tiny piece (I promise!) was filled with love for my Aunt Freda with every mouthful. Family recipes . . .  they're the best!

Note - When you are broiling the topping, using oven mitts to protect your hand, rotate the pan a bit at a time to make sure it browns evenly.  Take care as the topping can scorch and burn really easily if you aren't careful!  You can also use chopped nuts (pecans, almonds or walnuts) instead of the coconut, or a mix of both.

Why not spend the afternoon with my Aunt Freda yourself and bake this tasty cake???  You can tell her I sent you.  I am sure she would be well pleased and give you a very warm welcome!! Bon Appetit! 

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I wanted to bake some cookies for the weekend and I wanted to bake something new and different and so I went to my pinterest cookies and bars board to find a recipe I had ear-marked for future use. My Pinterest is filled with recipes that I want to try sometime on a variety of boards.


This is a recipe I had recently added to my board from a blog called Dear Crissy. Not her original recipe however, she, herself,  had adapted it from the people at BHG.  It was called Soft Maple Sugar Cookies.


I usually trust BHG recipes.  They rarely if ever fail.  I had everything in the house and so today I went for it.  I love, LOVE Maple flavour anything.  When I moved over here to the UK, I brought a 4 litre can of Maple Syrup right onto the plane with me.  Of course you could do that back then!  There was no way I was living without my Maple Syrup!


I am not sure if it is the difference in flour or what, but when I had everything mixed together for these cookies, I had a very wet  tacky dough that wasn't going to co-operate into being rolled into balls for anyone.  


I kept my fingers cross and banged them into the oven . . .  hoping that the extra flour wouldn't make too much of a difference and thankfully !  YES!  The cookies came out beautifully!  DO make sure you leave adequate space between them because they spread out quite a bit.  The recipe says 3 inches and it means 3 inches. 

Try not to crowd the pan.  Leaving adequate space is what gives you a nice crisp edge on your cookie, with a chewy middle.  So you have to bake them in batches?  So what.  Its well worth it!


They are exceptionally sweet cookies.  Or at least I thought that they were.  I had one without any icing on it, and my blood sugar level sky-rocketed.  I had blurry eyes for a couple of hours.  (That will teach me!)  Todd had two with the sugar glaze, no problem, although he did agree they were somewhat sweet, but very edible despite that. 



I would suggest only icing  about half of them and then freezing the other half, un-iced, for a future time.  They are really large cookies also.  About 3 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter, but they are thin . . .  crisp edged and nicely chewy in the centre.  They are gorgeous even without the drizzle icing.

260g - 325g icing sugar, sifted (2 - 2 1/2 cups)

Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3.  Line several large baking sheets with baking paper.  Set aside.


Cream together both the butter and the shortening until light and fluffy.  Beat in both sugars, the male syrup soda, cream of tartar and salt, until thoroughly combined.  Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla.  Beat in the flour.


Scoop the dough out into heaped tablespoons and make 1 1/2 inch balls, placing them at least 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.  Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until set and golden around the edges.  The centres will still look slightly soft.  Let cool on the baking sheets for several minutes before scooping off onto a wire rack to finish cooling.


Whisk together the cream, butter and maple syrup for the drizzle.  Whisk in the icing sugar until you have a mixture that is thick but drizzable.  Drizzle this haphazardly over the cookies and allow to set before storing in an airtight container.  

 

That reminds me of the time I cooked rubber chicken.  I had not been married for very long and I got what I thought was a real bargain at the shops for whole chicken.  We were poor as church mice and I liked to take advantage of every bargain I could get.


This was out in Calgary when we were living there.  I think these birds were only about 50 cents or some such.  I decided to buy a couple and freeze one for later and use one for something special.  I chose to exercise my culinary skills and make chicken cacciatore from my Fanny Farmer cookbook.


I carefully cut it up and followed the recipe exactly . . . what should have been deliciously delectable ended up being as appealing as chewing on rubber bands.  I had no idea off what I had done wrong.  I was finally informed by someone who knew a lot better that I had bought stewing hens . . .  and the only thing that you could do with them was to braise them for hours and hours . . .  not the requisite 35 to 40 minutes required by my recipe.



Back to Chicken Fricassee . . .  who doesn't love chicken in gravy!  Tender delicious pieces of chicken, in a gravy flavoured with sage, parsley,  and onions.  Chicken flavoured with nutmeg, salt, pepper and paprika.  I choose to remove my chicken from the bones once it is cooked because I am not overly fond of having bones in a dish like this, but you can do whatever you want to do with yours.  I just find it eats easier with the bones and skin removed.  The broth will have taken all the flavour from them anyways, and they aren't really needed.


I also like to mince my onion really fine because I don't like big lumps of onion in my gravy . . .  but again, that is me and a texture thing.  I also think it look a lot more elegant with a smoother gravy and then just the pieces of chicken and  mushrooms . . .


Rice goes beautifully with this.  I use brown rice, but that's because it is healthier. If you prefer you can use white rice, or even noodles or potatoes!  Altogether this is a beautiful dish that your family is going to love.  Rich and delicious.  Mmm . . .  mmm   . . .  good!


Rice or potatoes to serve



 Mix together the salt, nutmeg, black pepper and paprika.  Sprinkle this all over the chicken, rubbing it into the skin.  Heat the oil in a medium deep flame proof casserole dish with a lid, or a deep skillet with a lid.  Add the chicken pieces a few at a time and brown on all sides, removing to a dish as they are browned and adding more, until they are all browned.  Add the flour to the pan drippings and cook, stirring constantly until golden brown.  Whisk in the water and white wine until smooth. Add the chicken pieces back to the pan.  Bring to the boil, then reduce to a low simmer, cover and cook for about 45 to 50 minutes until very tender.


Remove the chicken pieces to a bowl and set aside.  Strain the juices from the pan into a large glass beaker.  Clean out your cooking dish.  Return to the stove and melt the butter in it until it begins to foam. Add the onion and mushrooms.  Cook, stirring occasionally over medium heat, until they have softened nicely without browning too much.  Stir in the strained pan juices and the milk and cream, combining well.  Heat through on low heat.  Remove any chicken meat from the bones, discarding the skin and bones. Add the meat to the gravy and heat through.


Serve hot spooned over rice or potatoes.



If you don't want to use white wine, feel free to use all water instead.  I like the flavour the wine gives and you can buy some really great non-alcoholic wines now that give you a lovely flavour without any of the alcohol!  You can also double this recipe very easily.  The cook times will remain the same but you may want a larger pot, perhaps a Dutch oven!  I like to serve this in large shallow bowls for a really pretty presentation. Bon Appetit!

We had a BBQ activity at our church last weekend and we were each asked to bring either a salad, a dessert or some other side dish to enjoy with the burgers and sausages which were being BBQ'd.