Wartime Cookies

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Desserts Amid Wartime Shortages

World War II created the need for great economy in the use of sugar, fats, dairy and eggs. Homemakers around the world shared recipes using the least amount—or none at all—of these precious items. I have included one of the best of these recipes, Crazy Cake, in another blog post. Recipes were shared at live cooking demonstrations, in books, in women’s groups, and in magazines and newspapers—including the Daily Telegraph in Britain.

Ginger Cookies & Jumbles

I tried, and share here, two “cookie” recipes from the Daily Telegraph. The first is for Canadian Ginger Cookies. These actually turned out more like a tiny muffin or bread. Because treacle is not readily available in the US, I used molasses. The molasses-ginger combination was very like gingerbread. I’d like to try these again using golden syrup, which would give a completely different flavor. Many people today are trying to get away from ultra-sweet desserts and these certainly do that. If you want on the sweeter side, you’ll want to add a small amount of golden syrup or some other sweetener to these. Otherwise, they are perfect to serve alongside another sweet (pudding, whipped cream or ice cream) or even on a cheese platter.

The other “cookie” recipe I tried is Jumbles. These are extremely sweet and remind me of lace cookies without the bubbly texture. The cookie dough spreads several inches so these should be portioned using a small spoon. They can be served as flat rounds or rolled into cylinders. The recipe notes said they can be rolled around a stick but this did not work for me at all; it was easier to roll them straight from the pan after they had cooled enough to touch. Once completely cool, they are too crispy to roll.

Cookies & Code-Breakers

The Daily Telegraph helped the war effort in more than one way. Aside from sharing recipes, it also secretly assisted with recruiting code-breakers for Bletchley Park, where the infamous German Enigma code was broken. They did this by organizing a competition to solve one of the Telegraph’s crossword puzzles. Anyone who could solve the puzzle in fewer than 12 minutes was a potential recruit. Isn’t it fascinating, how varied the needs were? The creativity in solving the problems of war was as varied as those needs.

Wartime-Inspired Dessert Creation

After trying both of the cookie recipes, I did what any wartime homemaker might have done and recycled the leftovers. Using instant pudding mix, a bit of jam and some whipped topping, I crumbled the cookies into a trifle. That was the best way to enjoy these wartime desserts!

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Canadian Ginger Cookies

Yield approx. 12 cookies

Author Good Fare/Daily Telegraph

These are less sweet than most modern-day cookies and are more like tiny muffins, good served with another sweet such as pudding, ice cream or sweetened whipped cream. The original recipe plus added measurements are given here.

Ingredients

• 1/2 teacupful treacle or syrup (3.5 ounces--100 ml--1/2 cup)
• 1 ounce margarine or dripping (30 g--1 tablespoon) I used ghee
• 1 teaspoonful ground ginger (5 ml)
• 1 teaspoonful bicarbonate of soda (5 ml)
• 1/2 teacupful hot water (3.5 ounces--100 ml--1/2 cup)
• Flour (all-purpose, approx. 8 ounces--230 g--1 1/2 cups)

Instructions

1. Warm syrup with fat in basin, add ground ginger, and bicarbonate of soda dissolved in hot water.
2. Add enough flour to make the mixture a pliable dough.
3. Roll out, cut into rounds, and bake in a quick oven [350°F/180°C] about 20 minutes.

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Jumbles

Yield approx. 12 cookies

Author Good Fare/Daily Telegraph

Made with the traditional golden syrup, these cookies are super-sweet! They would definitely have cured a wartime sweet tooth. Other syrups could be used. These cookies may be kept in rounds or rolled. The original recipe plus additional measurements are given here.

Ingredients

• 1/4 lb. flour (all purpose, 4 ounces--115 g--1 cup)
• 1/4 lb. margarine (4 ounces--115 g--1/2 cup) I used ghee
• 1/4 lb. syrup (4 ounces--115 g--1/4 cup)
• 2 ozs. sugar (56 g--1/4 cup)
• 1 teaspoonful powdered ginger (5 ml)

Instructions

1. Cream margarine, add sugar and syrup, mixing well together.
2. Add sieved flour, to which ginger has been added.
3. Drop [small] spoonfuls of mixture in circles on to a greased tin, and bake in medium oven [350°F/180°C] till the jumbles are a golden brown.

References

The Daily Telegraph Home Cook. Good Fare: A Book of Wartime Recipes. London: Macmillan, 2008.

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