The Sunday Times Recipe Contest Other Prizes...Baking (1900 - 1909).
This post is a continuation of the previous posts on "The Sunday Times Recipe Contest (1900 - 1909)." Many women from Subiaco entered and not only won first prize but also other prizes and received honourable mentions and had their recipes published.
The recipes copied below are about what the women of Subiaco made including a passionfruit cake, puff pastry, sweet biscuits like shortbread, tartlets and desserts such as an apricot trifle.
From the previous post... "During the early years of the colony The Sunday Times newspaper ran a recipe contest. The letters competed for prizes and the winning entries and honourable mentions were published in the newspaper.
The rules of the contest state the recipe could be taken from any cookery book or newspaper or better still be the invention of the sender. Any woman could enter as many recipes as they please. The prizes women competed for varied over the years.
Like many women from around the State the women of Subiaco shared their favourite recipes. These recipes provide a wonderful insight into the variety of food available and consumed by individuals and families from a variety of sources, their resourcefulness when food like meat was not at its best, some advice on how to provide nourishment to an invalid and make a good old fashion English Christmas pudding that could last over a year.
The recipes provide an interesting insight into cooking, the methods used and some of the equipment available for example like stewing-jars and sausage mincers. Some homes had a wood fire and others were equipped with an oven. Measurements were not exact and women were required to make judgements based on their previous cooking experience.
Both married and single women entered recipes into the Sunday Times competitions over many years and many won several prizes."
The recipes below are some of the prize winners from the women of Subiaco. The articles are from Trove, the database of the National Library of Australia. No copyright intended.
1905
Sunday Times, 9 April 1905
Many more have been received and the following are considered worthy of publication. Another selection will appear next week...
HONOURABLE MENTION
FRENCH HONEY.
Take the yokes of 6 eggs and the whites of 4, then the juice of four lemons, then grated rind of two lemons and 3 oz butter. Stir this mixture over a, slow-fire until it becomes thick like honey. It will keep good a year in a cool place and is very nice for tarts. Take half an hour to cook.
Sunday Times, 4 October 1906
HONOURABLE MENTION
YANKEE DUFF (Original)
Two cups of flour, one cup of sugar, half a pound of currents, half a pound of sultanas, quarter of a pound of lemon peel, one heaped tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of carbonate of soda. Mix flour, sugar, currants, sultanas, and lemon peel together: melt the butter in half a cupful of boiling water, also the carbonate of soda in ditto, then pour both into dry ingredients. Stix well and boil in floured cloth for four hours. Serve with sweet sauce.
Mrs. G, E. Beamish, 41, York-street, Subiaco.
Sunday Times, 28 October 1906.
THIRD.
The third prize goes to Mrs. E. S Chandler, "Marleigh," Olive-street, Subiaco, for recipe for
PUFF PASTE
Equal quantities of butter and flour, the yolk of one egg and a pinch of salt to every pound of flour; a little water: place the butter in a cloth, and squeeze all the moisture from it. A marble slab should be used, as it is absolutely essential to success ia puff paste that it should be kept very cold. Put the flour on the slab, and make a hole in the centre, into which you pat about two ounces of butter, the yolk of an egg a pinch of salt and a little water; stir these gradually and thoroughly with the flour, adding water as necessary until the paste is soft and elastic; roll this out and press the balance of your butter flat on the top; turn the edges of the past over to completely hide the butter; flour the pasteboard and roll the paste square. Next fold it into three, turb it half round and fold it round, being careful to keep the corners still square. Repeat this three times, and always roll away from you-never towards you. It should now be about a quarter of an inch thick and will, if properly made, rise to neatly three inches.
Sunday Times, 25 November 1906.
HONOURABLE MENTION
GENOA CAKE
Half a pound of butter, half a pound of powdered white sugar, six eggs, one pound of flour, one pound of sultanas, one pound of currants, six ounces of chopped candied lemon peel, a few drops essence of lemon, a little grated nutmeg, and six ounces of blanched almonds.
Mode: Slightly warm the butter in a basin, then add to the sugar, and with a wooden spoon beat them to a cream; add the eggs one at a time, then the essence of lemon and grated nutmeg, gently stir in the flour; when quite smooth add the currants and peel chopped fine; stir all gently together, then turn the mixture in a buttered baking tin about an inch and a half thick; smooth the top over with a knife dipped in milk, then roughly strew the chopped almonds on the top. Bake two hours in a moderate oven.
Mrs. E. A. Chandler, "Marleigh," Olive-street, Subiaco.
1907
Sunday Times, 11 August 1907
SECOND
Second prize goes to Miss Morrison, 94 Subiaco Road. Subiaco, for recipe for
SOFT POUND CAKE
Take 1 1/4 lbs. four, 1 lb. sugar, 1/2 lb. butter, 1 cup milk. 2 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar and 1 teaspoonful carbonate of soda, a little more than 1 cup of currants, 4 eggs, a little candied peel and flavouring. Beat : butter and sugar to a cream, add the eggs, beating all the time ; then the milk, currants, and flavoring ; lastly add the flour, soda and cream of tartar, which should be well blended. Bake in a meat baking dish for one hour.
Sunday Times, 27 January 1907
THIRD
Third prize goes to Miss. E. M. O'Mahoney, 109 Meuer-road, Subiaco, for recipe for
SHORT BREAD.
Mix 2 lb of flour with 4 oz of moist sugar, 2 oz candied citron chopped 1 small and 2 oz of sweet, almonds (blanched and sliced), rub 1 lb of butter into the flour, melt another 1 lb of butter, and with this work up the flour to a smooth, paste. If a plainer cake is wanted less butter may be used. Roll out the pastry to the thickness of an inch, and in a large oval shape, pinch the edged evenly, prick the surface with a fork or skewer and sprinkle large comfits the top; cut the oval across, thus making two cakes, and place upon floured paper, and then on the tin. Bake in a moderate oven. When bread is lightly browned it is done enough.
1908
Sunday Times, 19 July 1908
SECOND
Second prize goes to Miss G. Mooney, '"Waikato," 178 Park-street Subiaco, for recipe for
DELICIOUS APPLE AND CREAM PUFFS
Take seven ozs good flour, sieve it; put half pint of water on the fire ; add two ozs of butter. When it boils, stir in the flour and cook ten minutes ; turn into a basin to cook then beat in three eggs, one at a time, and mix into a smooth paste. Mix in the baking powder, and drop the mixture in pear-shaped lumps on to a greased baking pan, and bake in a moderate oven for thirty minutes ; do not open the oven door while the puffs are cooking. When cooked they should be a bright golden brown, and should be hollow in the centre. When the puffs are quite cold, open them at the top and fill in with the following mixture : Bake three large cooking apples, rub them through a sieve (after removing the skins), beat the whites of two eggs to a froth, add three ozs of sugar, then add the apple pulp and beat till it is light and soft like snow ; fill the puffs nearly full of the apple, then fill to the top with rich firm cream ; brush the puffs with white of egg and dust them in powdered sugar.
Sunday Times, 18 October 1908
THIRD.
Third prize goes to Miss Cook, 285 Hay-street, Subiaco, for recipe for
PASSION FRUIT CAKE
One dozen passionfruit, quarter lb. butter, half lb. flour, quarter lb. sugar two eggs, one teaspoonful baking powder.
Mode : Open the fruit, put the pulp on a hair sieve with a little sugar, and rub it through. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, drop in the eggs, and when well mixed pour in the juice of the fruit ; beat the flour and baking powder with a spoon. Line two Victoria sandwich tins with buttered paper ; divide mixture and pour it in. Bake in a moderate oven for half an hour ; when cold spread the following mixture in between the layers :- Make a jelly by beating the white of one egg to a froth, adding three quarters lb. of powdered sugar, and the pulp of the fruit. Spread the jelly on the cakes, lay on above the other, spread the top with either, whipped cream or white icing.
Sunday Times, 22 November 1908
HONOURABLE MENTION
CHRISTMAS TARTLETS
One pound of currants, wash and pick free from stones and stalks; put them on the boiling a clean enamelled, saucepan with a very little water; boil gently at side of fire for three hours. Then lift and strain if there is any water. Lay out on a sheet to cool before putting in tarts. Then have six nice apples peeled, cored, and chopped very fine, half a pound of sugar, a little grated nutmeg, and a little ground cinnamon; Mix all with currants, give a slight dust of flour to take up any liquid, use no batter. Then prepare a nice short crust, roll out moderately thin, cut round with a cutter or tea plate. Put a tablespoonful of the mixture in the centre of this, wet edges; and catch up four corners towards centre. Bake in moderate. oven 40 minutes. They may be baked in patty tins, which keep them better in shape. Previously dust the tins with flour.
Ruby Skinner, 172 Subiaco Road, Subiaco.
Sunday Times, 22 November 1908
SECOND
Second prize is awarded to Miss Edith M. Cooke, 318 Perth-street, Subiaco, for recipe for
COTTAGE TEA LOAVES
Ingredients : Half a pound of flour, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, one egg, two teaspoonful of sugar, quarter of a cup of milk, a little salt.
Mode : Sift flour, salt, and baking powder, rub butter in flour, then add sugar, pour in egg and milk. Mix into a nice dough; turn on to a floured board, knead lightly, divide into six pieces anti cut a third off each: sprinkle flour on a clean oven sheet, and put large pieces on; brush over with egg, then add the smaller pieces to the large ones; put finger through so as to form loaves. Bake in hot oven from eight to ten minutes.
