Category Archives: 1940’s

Lemon butter spread on toast

Lemon Butter

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This recipe was originally published in the Cairns Post, September 10th 1941

Also known as lemon curd, this is a sweet lemon flavoured spread for sandwiches. You can also use it as a filling in small tarts (use my Mum’s recipe for the pastry), to top off a cheesecake or stir gently into slightly softened ice-cream for a lemon swirl dessert!

Ingredients

Four eggs

Half a cup of lemon juice(US or metric cups are fine)

The finely grated rind of one lemon (2 tablespoons)

3/4 cup of sugar

80 gm or just under 3oz chopped butter

 Method

Put your eggs into the top of a double boiler or a heatproof bowl and whisk together with the sugar.

Set the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water and keep whisking until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Once the sugar has dissolved add all the other ingredients.

Keep whisking until the lemon butter coats the back of the spoon – about 20 minutes.

Pour it into a fresh bowl so it doesn’t keep cooking.

Use it as a sandwich spread or a delicious addition to desserts.

A tray of pumpkin pasties cooling down.

Pumpkin Pasties

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This week’s recipe is for pumpkin pasties, a savoury pastry that’s also great for hallowe’en and I even teach you how to do the pastie tap :-)

Ingredients

1/2 a small pumpkin/orange fleshed winter squash or 2 1/2 cups canned mashed pumpkin

2 1/2 cups of chopped mushrooms of your choice

1 cup of chopped bacon or ham

1 tablespoon of minced onion

2 eggs

salt & pepper

10-12 sheets or flaky or puff pastry

This recipe makes 45-50 pasties. Halve or quarter the ingredients to make fewer pasties

Method

Dice your pumpkin and boil or steam it. Mash and measure out 2 1/2 cups.

Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C or 425 degrees F.

To make the filling for your pasties take your pumpkin, and season with salt and pepper.

Add the mushroom, bacon, minced onion.

Beat one of the eggs and mix everything well.

Beat your remaining egg.

Take your pastry and cut it into small circles about 4 or 5 inches across.

Place a spoonful of filling on one side of each circle.

Brush the edges of the circle with the beaten egg and fold over.

Press firmly all the way around with a fork then fold the edges over to seal.

Make a few holes in the top to let the steam out.

Brush the top with beaten egg.

Place on a tray covered in baking paper and bake in the over for 15 – 20 minutes. You can tell if they’re cooked if they sound hollow when you tap them on the bottom.

Place on a wire rack to cool.

Nom yourself silly.