Gran’s Sweet Treats

No long articles, no pretty pictures, just old fashioned recipes from Matt’s Nan, Gran or (possibly) great-great-gran. Most have one or more archaic ingredient, or directions steps which need translating for a modern readership.

For cakes, see Gran’s Cakes.

Coconut Pyramids

Of the memories I have of cooking with Nan, making coconut pyramids is one of the strongest. Nan’s kitchen was modest, and the prep space was extended using the table taking up the center of the room. It was there that we laid out a baking tray and made coconut pyramids.

The recipe itself is extremely simple and asks only three ingredients.

The main item is desiccated coconut, and if that matches the British standard, it’s unsweetened, and finely-shredded. I used unsweetened coconut flakes, which are likely much coarser than the original recipe. When I make these again, I’ll try pulsing the flakes a little in a food processor to make them finer, more like snowflakes.

The recipe doesn’t mention it, but one of the clearest memories I have is the rice paper or wafer paper that Nan would use as a base under the pyramids. I think the idea is that, even if the bottom of the pyramid is sticky, you can pick it up by the paper base and avoid too much mess. The rice paper is, of course, edible.

I had a pretty good go at making my own rice paper, despite the fact that there’s very little online information on the process. Here’s one set of directions, aimed at young students, that combines rice flour with potato starch. After trying a few variations, I started to lose perspective on what the original edible paper was even supposed to look or taste like. Most of the results looked and tasted like thin sheets of, alternately, hard-baked plastic, or something that a special effects company might use to wrap your face to make you up as an alien. It didn’t look or taste good.

Also, in the US, “rice paper” is often used to refer to dumpling wrappers, which isn’t the same thing at all. The rice paper or wafer paper I remember would be slightly soft, and would melt in the mouth as you ate it. I don’t remember how thick it was, or if it would have a crunch. So I’ve largely given up until I can find a version that will work.

Whether or not you use a paper base, this recipe resembles Passover coconut pyramids (or “macaroons”), which are often made with a chocolate layer.

Malt Loaf / Malt Bread

I don’t remember this being made at home, but I grew up on the Soreen packaged version: soft, sweet, more of a sticky cake than a bread, and without any dried fruit at all.

Gran’s recipe uses dried egg which can easily switched out for a single fresh one. I didn’t have treacle or golden syrup (hard to find in US stores; a golden corn syrup might substitute), so used molasses. The texture was more bready than I’m used to, but the flavor was close. It needed a little more sweetness (the golden syrup would have supplied this) and definitely would benefit from a good teaspoon of salt. It does need to be wetter in texture.

“A little milk” required to create the batter turned out to be at least 1/2 cup. Gas mark 5 is 375F (although as I say, I’d advise 25 degrees cooler). My first attempt rose a little, perhaps halfway up a normal loaf tin, but remained firm, refusing to collapse in the center like a store-bought loaf.

See Felicity Cloake’s malt loaf roundup in The Guardian for more recipe variations and her preferred method. She advises that malt loaves should be kept wrapped for several days before eating for best texture.

So curious to try and compare Boston brown bread (from a can), which does contain molasses but doesn’t have any malt.