Chelsea Buns

Ingredients

• 454g flour
• 57g castor sugar
• 1 yeast cake
• 2oz (57g) butter
• 1/2t salt
• 1 egg
• approx 3/4 cup warm milk (boiled first & left to cool)
• Raisins
• Cinnamon mixture: 2T butter; 2T castor sugar; 2t cinnamon

Instructions

1st Stage:

• Crumble yeast into approx 1/2 cup warm water & sprinkle 1t sugar over.
• Leave to rise.

2nd Stage:

• Put flour, sugar & salt in bowl.
• Rub in butter.
• Make well and put in yeast mixture, beaten egg and gradually mix in warm milk (use a wooden spoon)
• Knead lightly (soft mixture)
• Cover and leave to double in size

3rd Stage:

• Divide dough in half.
• Roll each half out to 1/2 inch thickness.
• Spread cinnamon mixture on top, sprinkle with raisins.
• Then roll.
• Cut in 2 inch pieces.
• Press and place cut side up on tray to rise.
• Bake at 400 degree F (204 degree C) for 10 to 15 mins.
• While still hot, pour over icing. (Approx 3 cups icing sugar, 2T butter and a little warm milk).
  

Not a single other Chelsea Bun I have ever had has come even close to being as nice as these ones. They're like eating soft little pieces of heaven.

Crunchies

Ingredients

• 1 T syrup
  
• 113g margarine
• 2 T water
  
• 1 level t bi-carb
• 2 cups oats
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup coconut
• pinch salt
  

Instructions

• Mix dry ingredients except bi-carb.
• Melt syrup, margarine & water, but do not boil.
• Mix in bi-carb and add to dry ingredients.
• Mix well.
• Press into pan and bake at 150 degrees C for 10-15 mins.
  

T = tablespoon, i.e. 15ml. t = teaspoon, i.e. 5ml. A level teaspoon would be 2.5ml or so, I suppose. The syrup is golden syrup, like Tate & Lyles.

Crunchies are kind of like a baked flapjack. I used to get a biscuit tin of these to take with me to university each term. I'd try to save them for when I was running low on money, but they usually didn't last that long.

The baking time makes quite a difference. They'll always be soft and moist when they come out of the oven. This is your chance to cut them up into squares, while they're still in the pan and soft. Leave them to cool and harden before turning them out. Depending on how long you baked them for, they'll either firm up into soft ones, harder, chewy ones or even crisp, biscuity ones.

Chocolate Cake (Red devil's food cake)

Ingredients

• 260g flour (500ml)
• 60g cocoa (150ml)
• 5ml bi-carb
• 2ml salt
• 180g stork margarine
• 5 ml vanilla essence
• 320g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 125ml sour milk
• 125ml boiling water

Instructions

• Heat oven to 175 degrees C.
• Grease 2 x 20cm tins.
• Sift together dry ingredients.
• Cream marge, essence & sugar until light & fluffy.
• slowly add egg.
• Add dry ingredients alternately with sour milk.
• Pour in boiling water & mix till smooth.
• Divide between tins & bake for approx. 35 mins.
• Leave in tins for 5 mins before turning out to cool.

Whenever we had milk that had gone sour, we'd hope my mom would make this chocolate cake. It really is incredibly rich and delicious. She'd often make it in big batches for parties or church events, scaling the recipe up and baking it in an enormous roasting tray.

Stork is a South African brand of standard spreading margarine, i.e. yellow, salted margarine. I don't know why it in particular is necessary. It might be that that's just where she originally got the recipe from.

(8 September 2009) I made this the other day and it really turned out well. It's best iced all over with a chocolate butter icing, which keeps it really moist - sometimes the edges can get a little dry when baking, but the icing remoistens it all lovelily.