There is no way to get away from the slightly gritty texture of mock cream recipes if you use granulated sugar it BUT as confectioners (icing) sugar was not really being produced alternatives had to be thought of for those special treats and occasions that warranted a little decadence from limited rations…
Today I treated my Hobbits to split scones topped with mock cream and sliced strawberries….Em Hobbit even licked the bowl !
Here is the recipe I used- it tasted pretty good!
Mock cream recipe 2.
- 125 grams margarine or butter
- 4 tablespoons of castor or fine granulated sugar (6 tablespoons in Canada or USA)
- a little water if using butter
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Method
Mix margarine and sugar together well and whip for 5 minutes until white and fluffy.
Add a teaspoon of vanilla essence and a little water if needed (if using butter)
Dollop on scones or spread inside a cake.
Oh my, those look good!!!
The gritty texture isn’t great but the taste is fine and would be quite lovely inside a sponge cake layered with strawberry jam…..
Thanks for leaving a comment 🙂
C xxxx
Mm, now I’m contemplating making a batch of those. I wonder you could making icing sugar by putting it into a bag and rolling it with a rolling pin? Either way, those do look lovely.
KB xx
I have a mock cream recipe from a 1970’s cookbook (don’t know how old the actual recipe is) that’s not gritty. You thicken milk with cornstarch and let it cool. The sugar is added to the milk when it is hot, so it dissolves completely. Then you beat butter, adding the chilled milk mixture spoonful by spoonful and beat until fluffy. It is quite good. Was cornstarch readily available in the 1940’s?
Margaret, Yes cornstarch was available during wartime, I’ve got WWII UK cookbook with cornstarch as ingredient.
Heres a Whipped Cream recipe from the book:
Dissolve 1/2 tbsp gelatine & 1/2 tblsp sugar in hot water, pour 1/2 a tin of evaporated milk into bowl, add cooled gelatine mixtur and beat w a whisk or fork till thick & fluffy. Use at once. hmm. worth a try I guess. They often used semolina as a thickener too. Lots of old timey recipes: Squab Pie, Stewed Dabs(?) Whale meat ‘steaks’ & Sprats.
Thanks for sharing more WWII recipes!! C xxx
My Gran used to make something like this when I was a kid. To get around the grainyness, she used to grind the sugar to powder in a pestle and mortar. Well… I did anyway 🙂 I’m still not sure if it was a habit left over from the war or something to keep me out of her hair while she cooked – given than this was the late 60s and you could buy icing sugar.
Dabs are a type of fish Mary
Mrs Beeton’s mock cream uses cornflour
I always make cream this way
If one is desirous of maintaining historical integrity and thus one is forced to use granulated sugar, then one could always use a mortar and pestle to grind the sugar to a fine power. This should get any grittiness to a low limit.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll try again!! C xx
My Nana used to do this recipe and she used to add boiling water – this disolved the sugar and gave it a lovely soft texture x
Ahhhh see 🙂 This is why it’s so FABBY to get comments as there must have been ways people made small changes to improve things! Such a simple thing to do but would have made all the difference!!! I must try it again doing this! Thanks Sophie!!
C xxxxxx
I do what my Mum did to get rid of the gritty sugar taste after mixing place bowl under cold running water and swirl around this get rid of the sugar.
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