Aunt Kate’s Kitchen: Two lovely bakes from the 1930s to make on Valentine’s Day

As Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and what better way to celebrate than with a delicious home-baked treat?

Valentine’s Day wasn’t celebrated when Aunt Kate wrote her 1933 Baking Book, but she still included a few recipes with names that could be baked on such an occasion.

If you’re late to the Aunt Kate Kitchen party, then you may not know she has been dubbed as the “original domestic goddess” and used to write recipes for the People’s Journal and the People’s Friend from the 1880s to the 1960s.

We’ve featured a whole host of her recipes over previous weeks, including these delicious pancake ideas that will help you get inspired for Shrove Tuesday. To see more of her recipes, click here.

Love drops

Ingredients

• ¾ cup of butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups uncooked rolled oats
• 8 tbsp milk
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup raisins

Method

1. Cream the butter and sugar together, add the eggs and beat well.
2. Add the milk and rolled oats and raisins.
3. Sift together the flour, soda, salt and mix thoroughly.
4. Drop on to a greased baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes in a very slow oven (approx 150-160ºC).

Cupid crescents

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 cup blanched almonds
• 1 tsp all spice
• 1½ cup flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups brown sugar
• ½ tsp mace
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla

For almond icing (optional): 

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp cream
• 1 tsp almond essence

Method

1. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices together.
3. Beat the eggs and add alternately with the flour to the creamed sugar and butter mix. Then add the vanilla and the almonds, shredded longwise.
4. Pour into a baking tin lined with oiled paper, and bake in a quick oven (approx 200ºC) for 20 minutes.
5. When ready, ice with the almond icing by stirring the ingredients together.
6. Cut into crescent shapes with a cutter.

More in this series…