HOME COOKING

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29067, 2 December 1959, Page 3

HOME COOKING

RECIPES and kitchencraft

Munchy Minted Sugar Fingers

By

''ELIZABETH”

The smell of mint is one of the pleasurable things in life and its aromatic flavour will add a touch of distinction to many an otherwise prosaic dish, both sweet and savoury. Try, for instance, adding left-over mint sauce to a steak or mutton casserole, or cooking a leaf or two of mint in a sultana tart. Now here comes mint to star in the biscuit tin, giving a fresh newness of flavour to these minted sugar fingers which are crisp and crunchy with sugar and walnuts.

Minted Sugar Fingers Ingredients: 4oz butter 2oz sugar 6oz flour Pinch salt Second Mixture: 3oz flour 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts 3 teaspoons chopped mint 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind 2oz butter 2oz sugar Pinch salt A little lemon juice 2 tablespoons extra sugar

Method: Work 4oz butter, 2oz sugar and 6oz flour to a paste with a pinch of salt and press out into a buttered sponge roll tin. Rub 2oz butter into 3oz flour and combine with chopped walnuts, very finely chopped mint, grated lemon rind and 2oz sugar. Break small pieces out and drop over the first mixture. Flatten with a fork dipped in lemon juice. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake until pale golden brown in a moderate oven, cut into fingers while still hot and leave to become cold in the tin before lifting out.

Almond paste and royal icing is the accepted finish for a rich fruit cake, although recently plastic icing has become very popular. Plastic icing has the advantage that it can be put straight on to the cake, whereas when royal icing is used the cake must have a coating of almond paste to prevent crumbs from the outside of the cake lifting and getting into the icing.

Ginger Macaroon Bars Here’s another bar to add to your cookery medal—a softtopped, ginger-flavoured twocoloured bar which is most deliciously different. Ingredients: loz brown sugar 2Joz butter 2 egg yolks soz flour i teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder Plum jam 2 egg whites 4oz brown sugar 5 gingernuts loz chopped ginger Pinch salt

Method: Cream 2|oz butter and beat in loz sugar. Add egg yolks and sift in soz flour, J teaspoon baking powder and J teaspoon salt. Work to a paste and smooth out into a buttered sponge roll tin. Spread thinly with plum or any tart-flavoured jam. Whisk egg whites with a pinch of salt. When stiff, whisk in 4oz brown sugar. Mince gingernuts and fold in, together with finely chopped ginger. Spread out over the jam and bake about half an hour in a moderate oven. Do not overbrown. Cut into fingers when it comes from the oven and leave until absolutely cold before lifting out.

Cashew Nut Whirls Nicest, nuttiest, most frivolous little dark logs for the cocktail tray, these cashew nut whirls combine several delightful savoury flavours into small, crispy, nut-topped biscuits Ingredients: 4oz butter loz processed cheese 6oz flour i teaspoon baking powder Vegetable extract 1 small packet cashew nuts i teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon salt Method: Sift flour with baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt. Rub in butter and cheese and work together to a paste. Turn out on to a well-floured board. Break off about a third and roll to a thin rectangle, cutting to a neat shape. Dot and spread roughly with a little vegetable extract and, starting gently at the long edge, roll into a neat, tight roll. Cut the ends off and add to remaining paste. Slice the roll into quarter-inch-thick slices and place on a cold baking tray, carefully keeping to shape. Split cashew nuts into flat halves and press one flat side down on top of each. Mix half a teaspoon of paprika and 1 teaspoon of salt on a saucer and put a pinch on top of each nut. Bake in a fairly hot oven and cook until pale golden brown.