Doreen Robinson writes about her treasured Be-Ro Home Recipe book. This one replaced a previous one that was worn out through overuse! The pages tell a story of birthday teas and unexpected guests, as well as that marvellous ingredient – elbow grease.
This is my little treasure – my Be-Ro Home Recipe Book. The most used page in the book was the grubby, grease splashed Page 51. The reason for this was because we didn’t have enough money for tools like electric hand mixers, and it was the good old wooden spoon and lots of elbow grease to make cakes.
On this page was the “Easy Fruit Cake” which was a boiled cake – in a saucepan, which saved a lot of time. If company was coming to call and you wanted a cake in a hurry with little effort, this was the one.
You will also see page 79 was very well used. This shows the different ways to decorate a cake to make it look different and appetising.
I still make the Victoria Sponge to this day using Be-Ro four. I must have made hundreds of birthday cakes over the years using this recipe. Nothing fancy – just plain, tasty cakes. Notice the exceptionally clean pastry pages. I was never good at pastry. Apparently, according to Mary Berry, “too hot hands”.
Doreen Robinson.