mary's mixing bowl

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 63, Issue 5, 15 November 1941, Page 458

mary's mixing bowl

Decorating the ■ Christmas Cake

T'HE prize of 2s 6d for the best idea for decorating the Christmas cake is awarded to Miss K. E. Goulter, Seddon, Marlborough, for the following entry: — ,

THIRST ice the Christmas cake in the * usual way, finishing with a smooth coat of royal icing. The scheme of decoration I have in mind is meant ,to represent a garden. You will need 1 to 2 oz. of coconut, a little cocoa, green and -pink colouring, and about half a pound of icing sugar. Make , a very stiff icing, adding the cocoa to colour it dark brown, and sufficient coconut to make it able to be moulded in the fingers. Now with this mixture model a rustic wall around the perimeter of your cake, : leaving a small 'gap, from which is traced, with'a needlfe, a winding path diagonally across the cake. Toast a little coconut in the oven until dark brown, then cover thickly all over the path. . ;

. Now draw two circles, to represent flower beds,, on each side of the path. Cover all the rest of the cake top, except these circles, with coconut coloured green. (Put a drop of green colour on a plate and rub the coconut on 'it till coloured.)' Fill your beds with flowers made- by little dabs of pink icing (use the rose tube if you have a forcer, but a screw of paper will do just as well), and put little dabs of green icing around each one to represent leaves. .

A finishing touch is given by placing a circular purse mirror 'face upwards

in one corner as a pond. A rockery can be built around it in the same way as the garden wall, and the effect of rock plants given by trailing green icing from forcer, or paper, screw, all over it. If coconut is hard to get, sugar can be coloured in the same way as coconut and used for the path and lawn. T OVELY icing ornaments can be made so easily. Dissolve 1 teaspoon gelatine (powdered) in 2 tablespoons boiling water. Sift 1 cup sugar into a bowl, and. mix till it forms a pliable, firm mixture (of plasticine consistency). Divide, if several colours

are required, add a few drops of colouring, and knead well. This may be modelled or rolled out, and cut into shapes for houses, boats, etc. Attach to the cake with wet icing. . Flowers are very effective, for instance, a briar rose on a pale pink cake. For those who do not care for modelling, wafer biscuits make houses, and animal biscuits are still procurable. Marshmallows are sweet bunnies, with big ears of white paper, painted pink ■inside; and then paper shapes can be cut out, e.g., teddy bears, Christmas trees, etc. Place a pin at bottom, with point protruding to stick into cake. Cover this with suitably coloured icing. If coconut is procurable, it can be coloured for grass, etc., by shaking in a small jar with a few drops of colouring. I keep a set of different colours in small screw-top pill bottles ready to sprinkle on various dishes. . It is surprising how small people enjoy this trimming. Coarse sugar is nearly as good, but the colours are inclined to run more easily as it — “Mary Marie,” Halcombe. TTAVING been the “family ■ cake decorator” for a good many years, out of experience I have gleaned certain very useful principles. I always use the juice of 1J to 2 lemons to each pound of icing sugar. This gives a pleasant piquancy, and avoids any fear of over-sweetness. I lift it from the mixing bowl in my hands, mould it as round and thin as I can, then put it on the upturned BASE of the cake (which

is perfectly flat), and spread it to the edges. Then with a table knife fre- ; quently dipped in a cup of hot water, ; I smooth the surface.. Glace cherries, red, green, or yellow, cut in halves, form perfect candleholders. Angelica, for “grass” and stems, is hard to get—strips.cut from green jubes serve equally well, also diamond-shaped “leaves” of the same. Blanched almonds , make marguerite daisies, two slices from an orange or lemon “quarter” make a butterfly, three slices a daffodil. Letters for names or greetings can be written in strips of almond nuts. Christmas time, of course/ crowns the year for cakes as for everything else. A frond of fern makes. a truly lifelike tree, beside which a cheery Santa Claus stands. A curved path of “hundreds and thousands” or silver cachous will suit him very well. Candles are scarce, so I make rosebuds in their place. Scraps of georgette or silk, cut on the cross, about 2 inches wide, are needed. Fold the material lengthwise, gently roll it up, and secure >. with a few firm stitches. ; The result is ■ a lifelike rosebud. Clip off the spare material, and put a pin carefully down between , the “petals,” by which to stand it in the cake. Each slice can then have its flower, that is just as easily removed. If the ready-made frill for the sides of the cake is not available, coloured paper, folded and fringed with the scissors, is just as good. It may be tied

with ribbon, or have a narrow strip of wallpaper border as a finish. The /‘proof of the cake” is in the eating—but it is certainly helped by the looking. “ Young Tyke,” Wellington. 1 JCE the sides with white or creamcoloured icing, and mark doors and windows in brown icing with a forcer. Then coat the roof with deep

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiii pink icing. Have ready some square lollies (plain caramels are ' suitable), and before the icing hardens, set eight in an oblong formation, three on each side and one at each end, , to one side of the ridge on the roof. This' is the foundation of the chimney; continue building it up until it is the required height, cementing the “bricks” together with a little white icing. A small sack of muslin or other thin material dipped in a ' solution of Condy’s crystals until it is the required shade, and filled with tiny presents for the guests, is placed in the top of the

' chimney. A small cardboard ladder leaning against the bricks is also very effective. These decorations can be done quickly and easily by the novice, while those more experienced can add to the appearance of the cake by making flowers along the base of the walls to represent a garden. It is an excellent centrepiece for a kiddies’ party, not the least attraction being that the decorations are edible, while the sack: of toys which Santa so thoughtfully left in the chimney is, of course, much appreciated. Waipix. 1 QLD-FASHIONED lady in her gar- — First ice the cake pale green (including sides). Using a china doll, set it in the green before it dries. Now with marzipan make her quilted dress and fashion a bonnet in ■- white. Crystallised violets and pale pink crystallised rose leaves are used circled around her feet. Press four violets into the dress. (Make your own crystallised fruit.) Use deeper green icing for stems and leaves. Present cake at the table with a wreath of dark green leaves in place of the usual paper frill. —“M„” Feilding. J>LANCH some .. almonds, cut some; cherries in rounds. Mince some lettuce or spinach and catch the drips of juice to colour the icing pale green. Now slit the almonds and place in daisy shape, with a red cherry slice? for — “Fintry,” Southland.

SAVOURY BAKED FISH WITHOUT SAUCE. Boil 2 onions until soft. . Chop and mix with 1 cup breadcrumbs. Season well with salt and black pepper, and mixed herbs, 1 small teaspoon. Add 1 tablespoon of soft butter, and 3 cup. milk. '■ ; Prepare and skin a medium-sized . fish. Fill with the stuffing, sew up, and place in a greased tin; Brush over with egg, and sprinkle thickly with greased or brown crumbs. Bake slowly for about J an hour. Serve on a hot dish, and garnish with slices of lemon. ABERDEEN SAUSAGE. One pound steak, | lb. fat bacon, 2 small teacups breadcrumbs, 1 dessertspoonful Worcester sauce, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, | tea- ' spoonful mixed herbs, little grated nutmeg, and lemon .rind. . Mince the steak and bacon, add other ingredients, bind with the eggs, and a little gravy. Form into a roll. Tie in a floured cloth, and boil slowly about lj hours. Cover with: breadcrumbs, and serve cold, , or hot with brown sauce. ' DEVILLED KIDNEYS. Six kidneys, some fat bacon, pepper, mustard, and chopped ‘ parsley. Prepare kidneys, and cut. in half, lengthwise. Sprinkle with pepper and lemon juice. Roll each kidney in a slice of bacon. Place on a plate. Bake in a quick oven about 20 minutes, sprinkle with mustard and chopped parsley, serve very hot on buttered toast. BAKED TRIPE. Half-pound tripe, 1 cup breadcrumbs, i cup milk, i cup tripe liquid, pepper and salt. Cook tripe until quite tender, cut into neat pieces, and fill a greased piedish with alternate layers of tripe and crumbs. Mix tripe liquid and milk together, and pour over tripe. Bake about 20 minutes, and serve hot. The last layer must be breadcrumbs. NEW ZEALAND BUNS. 1 breakfastcup flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 egg, 3oz. butter, 1 heaped teaspoon Edmonds baking powder. Rub butter into the flour, add sugar and baking powder, then add the egg well beaten and enough milk to make a stiff dough. Divide into buns and put in cold greased oven shelf. Bake ’ in quick oven (400 deg. F.) 10 to 15 • minutes. STUFFED PANCAKES. Make a plain pancake batter. Fry as ordinary pancakes. When brown on both sides spread with a savoury mince, roll up, cut into small rolls about an

inch thick, and pile on a hot dish. Pour over hot brown gravy, grate nutmeg over, and serve at once. If preferred, these pancakes can r be cut into small rolls, dipped in beaten egg, and breadcrumbs, and fried. Serve with gravy. ,• STEWED APPLES AND BANANAS. Four large apples, 3 or 4 bananas, . little lemon rind and juice to flavour, J cup sugar, 1 breakfastcup water. Make a syrup of the sugar and water; slightly colour. Add the apple cut in quarters, lemon rind, and juice. Cook gently until the apples are soft. Peel and cut bananas into inch cubes. Lay on top of the apples, and steam for a few minutes. Serve hot or cold.

MACAROONS. 3 lb. flour, 2 eggs, 31 lb. sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons essense of almond. Mix all., ingredients together, roll into balls, and place an almond on each. These spread a lot. MERINGUE SHORTCAKE. i lb. butter, 3 cup sugar, yolk of one egg, 1-J cups flour, 1- teaspoon baking powder. Rub butter and sugar, add flour, add egg. Roll out, and press into tins, as with shortbread. Beat the whites of 2 eggs well, add 2 small cups of brown sugar, and 1 cup'walnuts. Spread on top of mixture, and cook for J hour.