Nursery wheels (aka pinwheel biscuits, whirlygig biscuits)

 Ingredients:

6 oz plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

3 oz butter

3 oz sugar

vanilla essence (a few drops)

milk (a little)

2-3 teaspoons cocoa powder

Method: 

• Cream butter and sugar 
• Add flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla essence and enough milk to mix to a stiff paste.
• Divide mixture in half
• Blend cocoa powder thoroughly into one half of the mixture
• Roll out each mixture thinly to the same size and shape (a longish rectangle)
• Place the chocolate piece on top of the plain one and roll up tightly (rolling from the longer side)
• Leave the roll 1/2 hour in a cool place
• Cut into slices 1/4 inch thick
• Place slices on a greased baking tray and bake in a moderate oven for 15-20 mins
• Dust with caster sugar (optional) and cool on a wire rack.
  

Devil's food cake(s)

These are scrumptious! Annie's most successful cupcakes to date.

• 50g cocoa powder
• 175g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (or just use vanilla sugar)
• 175g plain flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 175g caster sugar
• 1 heavily heaped tablespoon of golden syrup
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature

First, place the cocoa powder in a bowl, pour over 175 ml boiling water and whisk until smooth. Then add the butter to the hot cocoa mixture, and let it sit there while you do the rest (the butter should melt and the whole mixture cool down a bit).
Next, in a big mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar (and vanilla), salt and bicarbonate of soda.
Add the cocoa-butter-water mixture gradually, and beat together.
Next, add the golden syrup, and finally add the eggs, continuing to beat. You should have a fairly soft (dropping) cake mixture by the end.

Put this mixture into several (at least 12, more like 24) individual cupcake cases, filled 3/4 full, or alternatively into one large greased/lined cake tin. Bake at 180 ºC (160 for a fan oven) for 20 mins (longer for a large cake).

Ice with your favourite frosting and decorate.

Winnie the Pooh's chocolate pudding (=blancmange)

(For chocolate sauce for puddings, reduce the amount of cornflour to one tbsp per half pint. You may prefer that proportion for the blancmange too.)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 rounded tablespoons of cornflour (One tbsp = 1/2 oz)
2 rounded tbsp cocoa powder (One tbsp = 1/2 oz)
3 rounded tbsp granulated sugar (One tbsp = 1/2 oz)
1 pt (or half a litre) of milk
A few drops of real vanilla essence (or use vanilla sugar)
Chopped walnuts etc for decoration (optional)

Method:

1. Put the cornflour and cocoa in the bottom of a measuring jug.
2. Add a little of the milk and create a thick paste. Stir till the dry ingredients are smooth and thick, with no dry bits.
3. Add a bit more of the milk and stir again till there are no lumps.
4. Add about half the milk, so that you have a good wet mixture to pour.
5. Pour the mixture into a 2 pt non-stick saucepan. 
6. Add the rest of the milk.
7. Put over a low to moderate heat and start heating it up.
8. Add all the sugar.
9. Stir carefully to keep it from sticking on the bottom. If it's sticking or turning too quickly for you to keep up, turn down the heat. If it's doing nothing turn up the heat.
10. It will thicken and then boil. Allow it to boil for about three minutes or so.
11. Draw the pan off the heat and stir in the vanilla essence.
12. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, or small glass dishes, or a lightly oiled jelly mould.
13. If serving in dishes, decorate the top with walnuts or other sprinkles.
14. If using a jelly mould, allow to cool until it is firm. Then gently pull the edges away from the mould with your fingers at the top surface; place a large plate upside down over the mould; invert the whole thing, without dropping either the plate or the pudding. Put the plate down on a table. If the pudding doesn't drop out of the mould, lift the mould a bit and coax the pudding out with your fingers, by letting the air in at one side till it flops out.

Cocoa and oatmeal crunchy biscuits

These are scrumptious and quick to make.

4oz /100g butter
3oz /75g sugar (vanilla sugar is good)
4oz/100g plain flour
1oz/25g cocoa powder
Vanilla essence (if not using vanilla sugar)
1oz/25g medium oatmeal (if you don't have oatmeal, you can use rolled oats chopped finely in a whizzy machine)

Cream butter and sugar, add flour, cocoa, oatmeal and vanilla and mix well with wooden spoon until you get a smooth, stiff dough.

Roll it out on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick, and cut out small/medium size shapes (approx 1 to 2 inch diameter). Put these on a greased baking sheet and bake at 180ºC / mark 4, for 10 mins. When out of the oven leave for a minute or two on the baking sheet and once they've hardened up a bit transfer to cooling rack.

Chocolate Krispies

To make 5 large bars or ten little nests (double this if you are having hungry friends round!)

Ingredients

 1 oz butter
1 oz (1 tbsp) castor sugar
2 oz (1 tbsp) golden syrup
3/4 oz (1 level tbsp) cocoa powder
1 1/2 oz (7 tbsp) rice pops

Optional: 1 tsp grated orange peel

Method

1. Melt the butter in a pan and add the syrup and the sugar. Stir until the mixture is smooth. Add the cocoa powder and mix well.
2. Fold in the rice pops (add the orange peel now if available).
3. Mix until the rice is well coated. Turn out into a non-stick loaf tin and press down with the backs of your fingers. Alternatively form into nests or clumps in paper cake cases.
4. Allow to cool. 
5. Cut the block into bars when almost cool, using a plastic spatula.

Choc Orange Bars

Ingredients:
For the bottom:

4 ozs butter
2 ozs granulated sugar
4 ozs Self Raising Flour
3 ozs rolled oats
2 rounded teaspoons of cocoa powder
pinch of salt

For the icing:

4 ozs icing sugar
2 rounded teaspoons of cocoa powder
About 2 dessertspoons of undiluted orange squash or orange juice

Method
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Weigh up the dry ingredients together and add them to the hot butter. Mix well.
Grease a 7 inch square sandwich tin.
Press the mixture into the tin.

Bake for about 25 minutes in a moderate oven, 368º F, 185ºC, Fan oven 175-80.

Now make the icing. Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa into a small basin. Mix to a coating consistency with not much orange squash/juice. Orange squash gives a better flavour. If using orange juice, add about four drops of orange oil if available.

Spread the icing over the hot cake.

When almost cold, cut into fingers.

Chocolate squidgey cake

6oz SR flour
6oz sugar
6oz margarine or butter
4 tsp cocoa
2 eggs
2 tbsp golden syrup

Melt syrup, butter and sugar in a saucepan. Add flour and cocoa and stir well, removing from heat. Add egg (ensure mixture has cooled a little) and mix well. Pour into 2 greased and lined 8" sandwich tins and cook for 20 mins at Gas 5.

When cooled, sandwich together with butter icing. Good with coffee-flavoured butter icing too.

Chocolate sauce for ice-cream

The recipe from the little scrap of green paper in the recipe folder.

Makes plenty for 4!

3 level dsp cocoa
1 rounded tsp cornflour
2 1/2 floz water
5 oz sugar

Put cocoa, cornflour and water in a saucepan. Bring carefuly to the boil, mixing well. Add sugar. Reboil when required, adding a knob of butter.

Super-fudge (choc) brownies (made with cocoa)

7oz butter
2oz cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup chopped nuts or mini-marshmallows (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Take a 9"x13" baking/roasting dish. Cut a piece of foil, mould to shape of dish, then place in dish and spray or grease foil.
2. Melt butter in saucepan or bowl. Stir in cocoa.
3. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time.
4. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder, then add vanilla essence, nuts etc.
5. Pour into tin, spreading evenly. Bake 25-30 mins until moist and fudgy. Test with cake tester or fork - it should come out with sticky crumbs attached.
6. Remove from pan when cool. Cut into squares. Decorate with melted white chocolate if desired.

NB These freeze well.

Grandma's Chocolate Pudding II (larger quantities)

The family recipe book has some alternative quantities written in. Here's the version with those larger quantities instead of the original. It makes a bigger pudding with the same amount of sauce.

For the sponge:

4 oz Self raising flour
3 level tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 oz butter/margarine
4 oz caster sugar
A third of a cup of milk
a few drops of vanilla essence

For the Sauce (which sinks during the baking)

2 oz soft brown sugar
1.5 level tablespoons of cocoa powder
half a pint of boiling water

a sprinkling of caster sugar

An ovenproof dish of 1.5 pint capacity. Oven 355º F or Gas mark 4

Method

1. Sift the flour with cocoa.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces and ix into the sifted ingredients, with the caster sugar.
3. Stir in milk and vanilla essence.
4. Turn mixture into greased dish, spreading evenly.
5. Mix soft brown sugar and cocoa together and sprinkle over the pudding mixture.
6. Pour over the boiling water
7. Bake at 355º F or Gas mark 4 for 35 mins.
8. Sprinkle the top with caster sugar before serving.

Grandma's Chocolate Pudding I (original version)

For the sponge:

3 oz Self raising flour
2 level tablespoons of cocoa powder
1.5 oz butter/margarine
3 oz caster sugar
5 tablespoons or a quarter of a cup of milk
a few drops of vanilla essence

For the Sauce (which sinks during the baking)

2 oz soft brown sugar
1.5 level tablespoons of cocoa powder
half a pint of boiling water

a sprinkling of caster sugar

An ovenproof dish of 1.5 pint capacity. Oven 355º F or Gas mark 4

Method

1. Sift the flour with cocoa.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces and ix into the sifted ingredients, with the caster sugar.
3. Stir in milk and vanilla essence.
4. Turn mixture into greased dish, spreading evenly.
5. Mix soft brown sugar and cocoa together and sprinkle over the pudding mixture.
6. Pour over the boiling water
7. Bake at 355º F or Gas mark 4 for 35 mins.
8. Sprinkle the top with caster sugar before serving.
   

Choc fondue made with cocoa powder

Fudgey Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients:

• 4 oz butter or margarine
• 2 oz Cocoa powder
  
• 6 oz sugar
• 4 fl oz evaporated milk or light cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Assorted Fondue Dippers: pound cake pieces, marshmallows, cherries, grapes, mandarin orange segments, pineapple chunks, strawberries, fresh fruit slices

Directions:
1. Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat; immediately stir in cocoa. Add sugar and evaporated milk.

2. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and hot. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Fondue will thicken slightly as it cools. Serve warm with Assorted Fondue Dippers. About 1-1/2 cups fondue.