Aunt Kate’s Kitchen: Some more almond baking recipes from the 1930s

Why not get stuck into these almond rock buns and mini almond cheesecakes from our baking legend Aunt Kate?

Almonds have always been a popular ingredient in baking and Aunt Kate is certainly no stranger to using them in recipes included in her 1933 Baking Book.

Aunt Kate, who wrote recipes and household tips for the People’s Friend and People’s Journal between 1880 and 1960, was a pro when it came to making cakes and other bakes.

These recipes from her book in the early 1930s don’t come with oven temperatures so we’ve made a rough estimate though it may vary depending on your oven.

We’ve already featured some almond recipes from Aunt Kate previously. If you missed them, catch them again here.

For more inspiration and to have a go at some other recipes from the 1930s, take a look at the rest of the series here.

Almond rock cakes

Ingredients

• ½ (approx 225g) lb flour
• 2 oz (approx 56g) sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• Milk
• 2 oz (approx 56g) butter
• 2 oz (approx 56g) sweet almonds
• 3 drops almond essence
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method

1. Blanch and chop the almonds finely and put them to dry, but not brown, on a tin in the oven.
2. Sieve the flour, sugar and baking powder into a bowl and rub in the butter until free from lumps.
3. Add the prepared almonds and make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.
4. Add the beaten egg and flavouring and enough milk to bind all together.
5. Arrange the mixture in small heaps on a greased tin and sprinkle with sugar.
6. Bake in a quick oven (approx 205C) until brown and firm, about 15 minutes.

Almond Cheese Cakes

Ingredients

• Shortcrust pastry
• 1 tbsp thick cream
• ¼ lb (approx 115g) caster sugar
• 1 lemon rind
• 2 egg whites
• ¼ lb (approx 115g) ground almonds
• ¼ oz (approx 7g) butter
• 3 drops almond essence

Method

1. Line some greased patty tins with shortcrust pastry.
2. Mix the almonds in a bowl with the sugar, grated lemon rind and melted butter.
3. Gradually stir in the cream and almond essence.
4. Fold in the stiffly-frothed egg whites.
5. Three-quarters fill the lined patty tins with the mixture and bake in a moderate oven (approx 190C) until browned.

More in this series…