“Someone coming to tea, nothing much in the house and you are short of materials?” None of those things are likely to be true in our pandemic-stricken December 2020, but if it were September 1949, you might very well find yourself making one of Stitchcraft‘s recipes from this issue. After having excellent results with December 1949’s nut loaf recipe and fairly disastrous results with September 1949’s (this same issue) “oat crunchies”, I was cautiously excited to try out the date and ginger cake, which was promised to be “very welcome” and have a “delicious flavour”. It certainly looks appetising in the photo.

It claimed to make a 2-pound cake (weight, not price …) and that sounded huge to me, so I decided to make a half recipe for the first experimental run, using my little 16-centimetre-diameter round spring-form pan. The measurements in the original recipe are all in old-fashioned ounces by weight, so I did some halving and rounding to convert to gram measurements. (Apologies to any of my American readers who may want to try my version of the recipe at home — I meant to notice and record the measurements by volume as well, but I was too caught up in adapting that I forgot!)

Admittedly, there was a lot to adapt. The Stitchcraft recipe starts off with 8 ounces of self-raising flour, which I don’t use, so I had to figure out how much baking powder I should use for one-half of 8 ounces i.e. 4 ounces i.e. approximately 113 grams of flour. One teaspoon seemed right to me. One egg can’t reasonably be halved, so, one egg. Three ounces of margarine divided by two converts to about 40 grams — not very much for a cake! Then there’s one tablespoon of syrup or black treacle (“the latter for preference”) — I am lucky enough to be able to buy actual date syrup in my local yuppie organic supermarket, so I used a whole tablespoonful of that and reduced the sugar (I used Demerara brown sugar) to 1 tablespoon, so a bit less than half of the 3 tablespoons called for. Then 5 to 6 ounces of chopped dates (about 70 grams?), 3/4 cup aka a generous 1/4 cup milk (I used oat milk), and 1/2 = 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate-soda i.e. baking soda. Plus almond and lemon essences (“although not essential, they do improve the flavour”) and/or a teaspoon or half teaspoon of lemon juice.

Are you still with me? Is your head spinning? You understand why I forgot to record the volume measurements. Also… where is the ginger??

I read the recipe again. Definitely called “Date and Ginger Cake”. The description definitely mentioned the it was the combination of “dates, ginger and essences” (emphasis mine) that gave this cake its delicious flavour. And definitely no actual ginger mentioned in the list of ingredients! I think the cooking editress needs a proofreader. So I chopped up about 60 grams of dates and 20 grams of candied ginger, which looked like a good amount for a small cake, and added about a half or maybe it was closer to a whole teaspoon of grated lemon peel.

On to the recipe itself. “Rub fat into flour” — I was again impressed at the relatively small amount of margarine — “add dates, sugar and ginger”. Ah, so it is supposed to have ginger in it after all! Pro tip: toss the chopped dates in some of the flour before adding it to the mixture, so they don’t stick together. “Break egg straight into dry ingredients; stir in treacle.” The italics are original and I wonder what that “straight” is supposed to mean. Don’t beat the egg first? Don’t throw it in at an angle? “Dissolve bi-carbonate soda and essences in milk, add to mixture and mix thoroughly.” Okay. According to the recipe, the resulting batter should be fairly sticky and mine had a bit more liquid, so I added some more flour, then put it in the cake pan and baked it. The recipe said to bake it at Regulo 4, or 375 degrees, for … one and a half hours? That seemed excessive even when reduced for a half recipe, so I set a timer for 30 minutes.

It baked fine in that time, though a little less would have been even better. Then I added my own personal secret ingredient: coconut icing. Nothing goes better with dates and ginger than coconut! I used a sweet coconut spread from the same organic supermarket, slightly warmed and then smoothed over the top, but it’s easy enough to make it yourself from coconut oil, dried coconut whizzed through a grinder to make a sort of powder, powdered sugar and a little coconut milk. Heat together in a double boiler until liquid enough to spread and spread it on the still-warm cake, then let it cool well.

It looked good, but did it taste good? Yes! It tasted delicious. The consistency was a bit on the dry and crumbly side, which I guess is to be expected with so little fat in the batter, but the icing balanced that out perfectly. The date and ginger flavours came through well and harmonised. And it had that depth of flavour that comes from good gingerbread or spice cake, although I used no extra spices. The half-recipe cake is small, but rises well and will surely keep for a while if covered and in the refrigerator. It makes the perfect cake for your socially distanced, one-person 2020 holiday teatime. (If that’s any consolation.)

Here’s my version of the recipe, for a small cake:

DATE AND GINGER CAKE

• 125 grams flour (you can mix 1/2 whole grain and 1/2 white)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 40 grams margarine
• 60 grams chopped, dried, pitted dates
• 20 grams chopped candied ginger
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
• 1 tbsp brown or Demerara sugar
• 1 tbsp date syrup, dark sugar syrup or molasses/treacle
• 1 small egg
• 1/4 cup milk or milk substitute (almond, oat)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• Coconut icing

Toss dates in a small portion of the flour. Mix rest of flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl; add margarine in small chunks and rub into the flour with fingers until crumbly. Add dates, sugar, ginger and lemon peel and mix. Make a small well in center of mixture and break the egg into it. Add syrup. Dissolve baking soda in milk; add to mixture and mix everything until blended. Drop into a greased and floured 16-centimetre-diameter round spring-form cake pan, smooth surface evenly and bake at 180 degrees C for approximately 30 minutes. Set on a rack to cool. Warm the icing in a small double boiler or microwave until spreadable and smooth over the still-warm cake. Decorate with date slivers, ginger or shredded coconut as desired and let cool completely before serving.

“Someone coming to tea, nothing much in the house and you are short of materials? Here are three recipes that don’t need much in the way of ingredients, don’t take long to mix and are delicious to eat.”

I’m obviously not going to have anyone over for tea anytime soon, since Covid-19 social distancing and isolation restrictions are still in full force. Not being able to go out to buy groceries very often if at all and having to use many non-perishable items that had been lingering in the back of cupboards did make me think of those recipes in earlier Stitchcraft issues, though. In Great Britain, many items were rationed even years after World War II ended, and easy, economical recipes in women’s magazines from the late 1940s reflected that situation.

Previously, I had made a “nut pie” from a recipe in Stitchcraft‘s December 1949 issue, and having found cashews, walnuts and almonds in the cupboard, I made it again last week. It was delicious, came out perfectly and I can really recommend that recipe with whatever combination of nuts you have on hand. Today, I felt like baking something sweet and found these recipes for a date-and-ginger cake, cheese scones and “oat crunchies” on the cooking page of the September 1949 issue. I didn’t have dates but I did have oats, margarine and dark sugar beet syrup (black treacle / molasses), so oat crunchies it was.

The recipe is simple: 3 ounces lard and 3 ounces margarine, softened in the oven and mixed with 14 tablespoons oats, 3 tablespoons syrup and 1/2 teaspoon “bi-carbonate soda” (baking soda), then baked in a greased tin, cooled and cut into squares. What could be easier? I don’t cook with lard, but I did actually have two kinds of margarine, so that was the only substitution, and I made a half recipe to try it out. The consistency of the mixture before baking should have been “fairly stiff” but it was surprisingly liquid. I guessed the margarine had softened too much, i.e. melted, so I added more oats. Then I baked it at “Regulo 4, or 375”  (190 C) for 30 minutes as specified.

Oh, dear.

It bubbled up and sort of exploded in the oven while baking, burning a little on the top but still staying quite liquid throughout. It has cooled down by now and solidified slightly, but is still nowhere near “crunchy” territory — more like mushy granola. The recipe did say 3 ounces lard and 3 ounces margarine — maybe it should have been 3 ounces total? (I did remember to halve all the measures, so I definitely didn’t use twice as much fat as I should have.) It tastes absolutely delicious, though, as you might expect from something that is essentially fat mixed with sugar and a few oats!

Moral of the story: I probably won’t make this recipe again, definitely wouldn’t serve it to company (if anybody is allowed to visit ever again), but if anyone needs some fat- and sugar-packed lockdown comfort food that can be made without leaving the house for supplies, and doesn’t need to photograph said food for a blog or be seen eating it out of the baking pan with a spoon (ahem), this will probably fit the bill.

In its earlier decades, Stitchcraft included a page of easy and economical recipes in each issue, mostly for tea-time cakes or pastries. The tradition ended around 1950, so none of my 1960s issues have a recipe page, but I do have a few magazines from the late 1940s and thought this would be a fun time to try out their “Christmas Cooking” ideas.

December 1949 gave us a savoury recipe for nut pie and a very easy recipe for candy made of condensed milk, sugar and vanilla. I had some ground nuts on hand, so decided to try the nut pie. The recipe is quite simple and calls for 2 parts by weight of finely ground nuts of any kind, 1 part each of cooked rice or semolina, breadcrumbs, and sautéd onions, plus mixed herbs, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. My version had ground almonds and hazelnuts, Arborio (risotto) rice which I thought would stick together better than other sorts of rice, no breadcrumbs as I forgot to buy bread and didn’t feel like going out again in the rain, and some sunflower seeds for topping. Here’s my adaptation of the 1949 recipe:

• 120 grams (about 1 1/3 cup, measured after grinding) finely ground nuts
• 60 grams (about 1/2 cup) Arborio rice
• 1 small onion
• A small handful sunflower seeds
• Olive oil for frying onions and greasing the pan
• About 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2-3 pats of butter or margarine

Cook the rice in 2 parts water to 1 part rice and let it absorb all the water. Chop the onion finely and sauté it in a bit of olive oil until soft and golden. Grease a small loaf pan with olive oil and sprinkle with sunflower seeds (they will come out on top when the pie is inverted.) Mix all ingredients except butter or margarine thoroughly with oiled hands and press the mixture evenly into the pan. Top with butter or margarine and bake in a 190°C (375°F) oven for about 30 minutes, or until slightly browned on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then invert onto a board or serving platter.

This is about half the amount of the original recipe and makes enough for 1-2 portions. It was hard to tell when it was “done” — after all, all the component parts had either already been cooked, or didn’t need to be — but I figured it was ready when the top began to brown a little. It didn’t hold together as well as I had hoped, so I might add a beaten egg next time I make it.

The original recipe suggests serving it with thick, brown gravy, baked potatoes, peas or stewed celery, or “apple-sauce goes well, too”. I didn’t see the need to eat potatoes with something that already had rice in it, so I made some simple sautéd carrots and fennel to go with it. Gravy or applesauce would have been a good idea, as the loaf was a little dry, but it tasted absolutely delicious.

I imagine this recipe would make an excellent stuffing for a holiday goose, duck or turkey, as it can be cooked as long as needs be and has a nice nutty, meaty taste. You could cook a loaf of it outside of the bird for vegetarians. Nota bene: if you use margarine instead of butter, this recipe is vegan, and if you make it without breadcrumbs as I did, it is also gluten-free. Just don’t expect it to hang together in a compact loaf that you can slice, and do serve some kind of sauce to go with it. Also nota bene: I am not a food photographer and this is what it actually looked like. Bon appetit and happy holidays!