Having finally found the time to clear my kitchen sink on Saturday (it’s taken weeks), it was time to fill it right back up again on Sunday..
By tea time my kitchen sink contained the discarded pots, pans and utensils used several times throughout the afternoon to make the following recipes for the 1940s Experiment
* herb bread
* bread rolls
* carrot buns
* chocolate cake
* chocolate icing (1940s style made without icing sugar)
* various vegetables and mashed potato
* and finally the most inventive make-do dish, corned beef and cabbage curry
All of these recipes will be coming to you soon, as today, I remembered to charge my camera (and the kitchen was tidy) so therefore I have photos to share.
Just for now I’ll share you the most amazing and quick to make chocolate icing- it was a HUGE hit with the children.
Quick 1940s recipe for chocolate icing
- 2 tablespoons of Lyles Golden Syrup in UK ( 4 tablespoons of corn syrup in North America)
- 4 rounded teaspoons of cocoa powder (sifted)
- 1/2 oz margarine
Method
- Put syrup in saucepan
- Warm slightly over low on stove for just a minute (remove from heat)
- Add in margarine and cocoa powder
- Keep stirring gently until mixture is thick, smooth and glossy
- Set aside for a minute or two
- Pour over the top of the cake and smooth to the edge
- Put in cake tin and leave
The cake icing does not set, it remains moist and delicious
PS I recommend you double the quantity above to cover the top of a medium/large cake
The 1940s Experiment now has its own fan page on Facebook. Interested? Click here
I’ve just stumbled across your blog and I’m really enjoying looking back over the old posts. The food looks lovely. This icing makes me want to wipe my finger across and lick it!
It does and I did- make it and do it !!! 🙂
I love the tablecloth you have in the pictures. Where did you get it?
Hey Nadine- its actually just a tea towel from the Imperial War Museum in he UK. It was sent to me as a pressie a few years ago (from the UK where I used to live)
HOWEVER a friend told me recently that you can pick these tea towels and kitchen aprons with the same design on from eBay very cheaply indeed for just a few quid!!!
C xx
Sounds like an extremely easy recipe for icing! I will tuck this in my faves for later use! Thank you for posting it! 🙂
~Kellie
This icing is divine x
I have just discovered your site! Very interesting as mine is along the same lines, not in the kitchen so much, but in the garden.
I will put a link to your site as l want to expand my ‘kitchen front’ link to include recipes used during the war.
Keep up the good work.
we are making this for our class…and we would like to add spam spam spam spam is that gross?
Chocolate icing and spam? EWWWW!!! LOL