Forty-year- old Christmas cake recipe's a real tonic!

Today I discovered a forty-year-old hand written recipe book with a wonderful Christmas cake recipe you can still make in time for the Big Day!

Labelled 'A handy book for the housewife,' it includes a cosmetics section with names like honey anti-wrinkle lotion, rosemary rinse, cucumber toner and mint and parsley tonic.

 For the mint and parsley tonic take a quarter cup of chopped parsley, one tablespoon  of dried  mint and pour over  a cup of boiling water. Cover and leave for an hour. Strain then use after cleansing face.

 

The Christmas cake is really simple to make and can be eaten almost straight away.

 

Half pound butter

Half pound soft brown sugar

6oz plain flour

2oz self-raising flour

Three quarter pound currants

Half pound sultanas

One tablespoon black treacle

One tbs lemon juice

One tbs orange juice

3oz mixed peel

4oz cherries

2oz ground almonds and 2oz chopped almonds

One teaspoon  of mixed spice and one of nutmeg

Rind of one orange and one lemon

Four eggs

 

 

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add juices and treacle. Mix in fruit, spice and nuts. Fold in flour. Put into 8 inch tin lined with greaseproof paper. Bind outside with newspaper or brown paper. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 mins then 275 degrees for two hours until firm.

 

 HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL