Watching TV the other evening, I was intrigued by young ladies having a Doll’s Tea party. This was a long time ago. Even today, my granddaughter and her friends have play-play tea parties with their dolls.
The doll which keeps popping up as all time favourite (in our home anyway) is Barbie. So much so, that my wife, in an effort to eleviate the cost of buying Barbie clothes, began to sew and knit clothes for this popular doll.
The outfits she made were so popular, that the children’s mothers started to place orders. Soon a bright idea became a home industry.
I include photos of the outfits which are for sale. If you are interested, let me know in the comments. If the postage is not too exorbitant, we can make a plan!
Coming back to the Doll’s Tea party, I wondered what the host mothers could serve that would excite, not the dolls, but their owners?
Here are some suggestions. Enjoy!
Lamingtons
Ingredients
250g butter or margarine, softened
500ml (400 g) sugar
125ml milk
750ml (420 g) cake flour
10ml baking powder
2ml salt
875ml (280 g) desiccated coconut
4 extra-large eggs
Chocolate Syrup
750ml (600 g) sugar
200ml (80 g) cocoa powder
375ml water
15ml butter or margarine
Method
- Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until light and creamy. Add milk and mix well.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt together, and add to egg mixture. Mix well.
- Spoon mixture into a greased oven pan of about 24 x 34 cm. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 50 – 60 minutes. Cut into squares and leave to cool.
- Syrup: Mix sugar, cocoa powder and water together in a medium, heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter. While still warm, dip squares in syrup, but do not soak.
- Roll squares in a thick layer of coconut. Place on wire rack to set.
Chocolate and vanilla cups
Ingredients
140g Cake Wheat Flour
7ml Baking Powder
1ml salt
70g castor sugar
1 egg
80ml milk
60ml cooking oil
5ml vanilla essence
10ml cocoa powder, sifted
10ml milk
For the glacé icing
130g icing sugar
15ml cocoa powder
45ml hot water
1 confetti for decorating
Method
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add castor sugar.
- Whisk egg, milk, oil and essence together. Add to dry ingredients and mix well until smooth.
- Divide mixture in half. Add cocoa powder, mixed with 10ml milk, to one half of mixture and mix well.
- Spoon vanilla mixture into paper cups and top with chocolate mixture, filling each to two-thirds full. Do not stir.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 12-15 mins. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
- For the glacé icing: Sift icing sugar and cocoa powder together. Add hot water and mix to a smooth, runny consistency. Spoon over cupcakes and decorate with cake confetti.
Gingerbread House
Ingredients
170g Butter
200ml Plus 2 tablespoons of packed light brown sugar
5ml Lemon zest
23ml Lemon juice
125ml Molasses
2 Eggs
360g Cake Wheat fFour
10ml Baking Powder
15ml Ground ginger
10ml Ground allspice
Icing:
6 Egg whites
1500g Sifted icing sugar
Method
- First cut out in thin cardboard: a side wall: 114 x 20cm; an end wall, 114 x 13cm; a triangular gable, 114 x 7,5 x 7,5cm; a roof rectangle, 114 x 23cm. Tape the rectangular end wall piece to the triangular gable piece: match the long side of the triangle, 114cm, to one of the 114cm, sides of the end wall.
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and molasses. Gradually beat in 2 eggs.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and spices together; stir into creamed mixture, then wrap dough in cling wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 6 portions, 2 slightly larger than the others.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the 4 smaller pieces to approximately the size of the side wall and the end wall with gable templates; cut out two of each. Roll out remaining dough, and cut into two rectangular roof pieces. Transfer gingerbread onto greased baking trays.
- Bake gingerbread for 10 minutes, or until crisp. When removing from the oven, leave the gingerbread on the baking trays for a few minutes to set, then transfer to wire racks. Leave out overnight to harden.
- For the icing: In a large bowl, lightly whisk 2 egg whites.
- Gradually beat in approximately 5 cups of icing sugar. The icing should be smooth and stand in firm peaks. Spread or pipe a 23cm line of icing onto a cake board, and press in one of the side walls so that it sticks firmly and stands upright.
- If necessary, spread or pipe a little extra icing along either side to help support it. Take an end wall and ice both the side edges.
- Spread or pipe a line of icing on the board at a right angle to the first wall, and press the end wall into position.
- Repeat this process with the other two walls until they are all in position. Leave the walls to harden together for at least two hours before putting on the roof.
- Spread or pipe a thick layer of icing on top of all the walls, and fix the roof pieces in position; the roof should overlap the walls to make the eaves.
- Pipe or spread a little icing along the crest of the roof to hold the two pieces firmly together. Leave overnight to set firmly.
- When ready to decorate, make the remaining icing. We’ve asked for more icing sugar than you probably need incase you want to decorate a lot. In a large bowl, lightly whisk 4 egg whites, and mix in remaining icing sugar as before. Use this to make snow on the roof, and to stick various candies for decoration.
- Finish with a fine dusting of sifted icing sugar.
Chocolate coconut creams
Ingredients
250g butter or margarine, softened
250ml (210 g) castor sugar
80ml (35 g) cocoa powder
60ml hot water
500ml (280 g) cake flour
5ml baking powder
2ml salt
375ml (120 g) desiccated coconut
1 extra-large egg
Filling
15ml butter or margarine
60ml (50 g) sugar
80ml fresh cream
30ml milk
3ml vanilla essence
625ml (325 g) icing sugar
30ml cocoa powder
Method
- Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg, beating well until light and creamy. Mix cocoa powder with hot water until smooth and add.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add coconut. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and mix to a soft dough.
- Roll dough into heaped teaspoon-size balls and place into greased baking trays, leaving enough space for spreading. Press down lightly with a fork. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 10 – 12 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool.
- Filling: Melt butter and sugar in a small, heavy-based saucepan. Stir over medium heat. Add cream and milk. Remove from heat and add essence.
- Sift icing sugar and cocoa powder together and add to liquid mixture. Mix to a smooth, spreadable consistency. Sandwich two biscuits together with filling. (Reheat the icing if it hardens and becomes too difficult to spread.)