Afternoon tea week is over for another year, but that doesn’t mean there is no afternoon tea! I was thinking about my imaginary cake stand replete with cake, scones, sandwiches and pastries… but I didn’t think about biscuits! might biscuits not be nice with a cup of tea? And supposing you didn’t fancy a cake as you were too full of the other goodies, might you not like a nice crisp biscuit?
I consulted one of my favourite stand-by cookery books… although I always have to divide the recipe by twenty-five – yes, twenty-five as it is a school dinner cook book and all recipes are for one hundred children!
So how about chocolate afghans:
Chocolate afghans
- 8 oz butter
- 6 oz sugar
- 8 oz flour
- 4 oz cornflakes
- ¼ baking powder
- 2 oz cocoa
- 2 ½oz dried milk powder
- a pinch of salt
- vanilla essence
- cream butter and sugar until soft and pale
- stir in all the other ingredients
- spread on a square baking tin and bake in a moderate oven for 25-30 mins
- cut into fingers while still warm and leave in the tin until they are cool before turning out
… and chocolate cracknel
Chocolate cracknel
- 1 lb golden syrup
- 6 oz dried milk
- 6 oz puffed wheat
- 1½ oz cocoa
- 7 oz butter
- vanilla essence
- melt the butter and syrup in a double saucepan, bain marie, or bowl over hot water
- add cocoa and milk and leave over heat for 20-30 mins
- remove from the heat and add the vanilla and puffed wheat, mix well
- pour into tin and cut into slices while still warm
- cool in tray before serving (eat on the day it is made)
Lois Elsden 