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ANZAC Biscuits (1927) ★★★★★

Today is ANZAC Day!
Okay, so two days ago I found out what the whole ANZAC business is about. For anyone else still in the dark, this acronym stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC Day in particular, is a nation-wide celebration in both countries, honouring those who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War One (although the day now serves as a more general memorial). ANZAC biscuits - cookies to us North American folk, but never call them that! - have come to play a crucial role in the celebration of this holiday, and are often used in fundraising efforts by the Royal New Zealand Returned Services' Association (RSA) and the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL). These biscuits are very much a part of Australian society and culture. By preparing and eating these cookies, Australians and New Zealanders create a connection to ANZAC Day, often seen as the birth of the Australian nation, and to their fellow countrymen. This is one example of the scholar Benedict Anderson's theory of nations as imagined communities - members of a community imagine their peers participating in the same rituals as themselves, thus creating and perpetuating a specific culture. I'm getting a little bit scholarly on you here, but it is certainly a fascinating topic to consider!

However, the ANZAC biscuits which are baked today are quite different from the original recipe.
The original recipe is quite simple, so it is anyone's guess as to when it was "created". However, the earliest known use of the term "ANZAC" as a recipe is an advertisement for the 1915 copy of St. Andrew's Cookery Book, from Dunedin, New Zealand. But this recipe was for a cake, not biscuits. In Australia, a Sydney cookbook called War Chest Cookery Book included a recipe for Anzac Biscuits in 1917, but the ingredients do not correspond with the recipe known as ANZAC today. The 1917 recipe was contributed by an "Alice Anderson from "Oakdale" N. Sydney" and includes rice flour, spices, and eggs. Oddly enough, there is a recipe in War Chest Cookery Book which is extremely similar to ANZAC biscuit recipes published later, but in this case it is called Rolled Oats Biscuits. By 1921, Rolled Oats Biscuits finally became Anzac Crispies (published in the 9th edition of St. Andrew's Cookery Book) and in 1923 the recipe finally became Anzac Biscuits in Mrs H. W. Shaw's Six Hundred Tested Recipes. Coconut was introduced to the recipe in 1927. Therefore, the recipe can currently be traced back to New Zealand, where the recipe for Rolled Oats Biscuits was first published.

ANZAC biscuits reflect the circumstances in which they were created. The lack of eggs reflects food shortages during wartime years, specifically the lack of poultry. The hardness of the biscuits indicates that they were a good choice for baking and sending to soldiers abroad. While the origins of ANZAC biscuits certainly dates to the beginning of World War One (if not earlier, under a different name), it was not until after the war that they really began to take off as a cultural and culinary product.

I decided to go with the 1927 recipe, since this is the first time the recipe for ANZAC biscuits appeared as it is made today.




Original Recipe:
Take a quarter of a pound of butter and one tablespoon of golden syrup. Place in a saucepan and melt. Add two tablespoonsful of boiling water in which is dissolved one teaspoonful carbonate of soda. Add three-quarters of a breakfast cup of flour, one breakfast cup of sugar, one breakfast cup of desiccated coconut, one breakfast cup of oatina, and a few almonds finely chopped. Place in teaspoon quantities on a cold slide, and bake in a moderate oven. Leave on a tray for a few minutes to harden before removing from slide, but not too long. A knife slipped under each biscuit will readily remove.


The Verdict:
So for my first try, I used 1 teaspoon of baking soda. The cookies were really tasty and very chewy, but they spread a LOT and were a bit wonky. They were also a little greasy and the almonds didn't want to incorporate into the dough. Oh, and I really didn't want to go and buy a whole can of golden syrup when the recipe only called for 1 tablespoon, so I substituted 1/2 tablespoon honey and 1/2 tablespoon light corn syrup (I know, I know - sorry!). Despite any issues, these were very tasty. Mr. Man said that he was pleasantly surprised, as he doesn't like chewy cookies.
I decided to try again, this time with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. I also used just a bit less than 1/4 lb of butter and went with a slightly different mixing method. This time the recipe turned out much better, but it was a tiny bit dry, so I think the full amount of butter should be used. This attempt tasted very similar to the first batch - chewy and delicious.


Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from Terrace Tested Recipes, found at New Zealand Listener)
Yield: ~16 cookies

1/4 lb UNSALTED BUTTER
1 tablespoon GOLDEN SYRUP
2 tablespoons BOILING WATER
1/2 teaspoon BAKING SODA
3/4 cup FLOUR
1 cup SUGAR
1 cup DESICCATED COCONUT
1 cup ROLLED OATS
1/4 cup ALMONDS, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and golden syrup. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, coconut, oats, and almonds until well combined.
3. In a small container, dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water and pour it into the melted butter. Stir, remove from heat, and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix well.
4. Take tablespoon-sized chunks of dough and roll into slightly flattened balls. Bake about 10 - 12 minutes.





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Sources

"Anzac Biscuit." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anzac_biscuit>.

Fleming, Kylie. "Kiwis or Us - Culinary Historian Allie Reynolds Traces Origins of Anzac Biscuits." The Australian. N.p., 20 Apr. 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/kiwis-or-us-culinary-historian-allie-reynolds-traces-origins-of-anzac-biscuits/story-e6frg6n6-1226624784496>.

Gofton, Allyson. "The Anzac Biscuit Myth." Allyson Gofton. N.p., 15 Apr. 2006. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://www.allysongofton.co.nz/index.php/page/articles/pi_articleid/57>.

Rae, Fiona. "Anzac Biscuits 1994-2000." New Zealand Listener. N.p., 22 Apr. 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://www.listener.co.nz/from-our-archive/anzac-biscuits-1994-2000/>.

Supski, Sian. Anzac Biscuits - A Culinary Memorial. Humanities: Research and Graduate Studies, Australia at War and Peace. Curtin University, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://research.humanities.curtin.edu.au/groups/awp/pdf/ANZAC_BISCUITS_G2015.pdf>.
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Buffalo Cake/Lemon Honey (1914) ★★★

I couldn't dig up much information on this oddly named cake. I found one modern blogger who has a very similar recipe. She labels it "retro" and says:
"This is a cake I remember fondly from my childhood. I have no idea where it came from, it’s a handwritten recipe in my mum’s recipe folder. Searching online brings no answers either!
It’s a simple sponge with a lemon & coconut icing. Resist eating it for a day or so if you can as it improves with age – it gets heavier and denser. I loved it when I was a child – my mum used to cut it into squares about 2″ x 2″." 
It seems that this blogger is from the United Kingdom. That shows an interesting link between what was eaten in New Zealand and what was eaten in the British Isles. 
On a completely different note, I also found a North American "Buffalo Cake" which has sour cream, nuts, and melted chocolate chips in it. Interesting!
I'm quite surprised by this cake, really. Considering the amount of eggs, butter, and sugar - not to mention fresh lemons! - it must have been very expensive to make, especially in wartime. That said, The Sure to Rise Cookery Book was originally published in 1908, so this is very likely a pre-war recipe. I wonder how much use it got in the coming years.


Original Recipe:


The Verdict:
I wasn't sure if "sponge sandwich tins" meant to just cook two layers, or if these are supposed to be mini cakes. I went with 2 large layers, just because the recipe is called "Buffalo Cake", singular. I used all purpose flour. The recipe was easy enough to follow, but I wish it had included milk in the ingredients list. The cake is okay - not spectacular, and quite plain on its own. With the filling and icing it was good, though.
The lemon honey (which is ironic, because there is no honey in it) didn't really thicken as much as I had hoped. I cooked it for a while, but it didn't get any thicker than runny honey (ha ha). It stayed inbetween the layers well enough, but it was still a little runnier than I would have preferred. Taste-wise it was good. There was also a ton of it left over, so the recipe should be halved, at least.
There was no recipe in the book for icing, so I just went with powdered sugar and lemon juice. Simple enough.
Mr. Man thought it was tasty, but too sugary. I feel like this was probably because of the icing. Overall, I don't think I'd make this again, just because of the effort in making the curd for just an average taste. I would eat it voluntarily, though, so it's not all bad. I just feel like I've made better historical and modern lemon cakes.


Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from The Sure to Rise Cookery Book)

Buffalo Cake
1/4 pound UNSALTED BUTTER
3/4 cup SUGAR
2 EGGS
1 1/4 cups FLOUR
2 teaspoons BAKING POWDER
MILK, to thin

Lemon Honey
1/2 pound SUGAR
2 LEMONS, juiced and zested
2 ounces UNSALTED BUTTER
2 EGGS

Lemon Icing
POWDERED SUGAR
LEMON JUICE

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour two sponge tins or cake pans.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs. Add the flour and baking powder. Little by little, add enough milk to make a thin batter.
3. Evenly divide the batter among the two prepared pans. Bake for about 20 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. Meanwhile, make the lemon honey by mixing all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and cooking over low to medium heat until thickened.
5. When the cake and the lemon honey are cool, but together. Mix together enough powdered sugar and lemon juice to make an icing and spread over the top of the cake. Serve.
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Cinnamon Scones (1914) ★★★

You know when you go to look something up on Wikipedia and you click on a link in the article and before you know it 2 hours have passed and you've gone from the history of pasta to the 1974 Olympics? Yeah, that's something like how I found this recipe. I was browsing Wikipedia and I stumbled across a website which had a digitized version of The Sure to Rise Cookery Book. This cookbook was originally published in 1908 and has been in print since then (but is now known as the Edmonds Cookery Book, after the Edmonds company). It is considered "the quintessential guide to traditional New Zealand cuisine". This recipe for cinnamon scones comes from the 1914 edition.


Because there weren't a lot of directions included in this recipe and because I have never made scones before, I took some direction from a slightly older scone recipe I found in an American cookbook from 1921.

 Original Recipe:


The Verdict:
Not bad. At 20 minutes, mine were slightly overcooked, but I think I also made them on the small side. The cinnamon on the inside was a little dry - it didn't soak into the dough at all, so it just sort of sat there. I think maybe mixing it directly into the dough or brushing the inside of the scones with milk or melted butter would help the cinnamon get a bit wetter. I used 4 heaping tablespoons of sugar, and although these weren't very sweet, I liked them that way. The 1921 recipe called for just 2, so it could be reduced. I should also note that I used about a 1 to 4 ratio of white to whole wheat flour, so they were a bit dense and weren't very fluffy. More like cookies, than scones. I'm not sure if I would make this exact recipe again, but I will definitely eat all of them because they are tasty. I give them a high 3 star rating, because the taste is good, but the execution needs improvement.


Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from The Sure to Rise Cookery Book)

1 pound FLOUR
3 teaspoons BAKING POWDER
SUGAR, to taste (I used 4 tablespoons)
A pinch of SALT
2 ounces UNSALTED BUTTER
1 EGG, beaten
1/3 to 1/2 cup MILK
2 teaspoons CINNAMON

1. Preheat the oven to 375F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl or in a food processor, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
3. Use a pastry cutter or your food processor to blend in the butter. Add the egg and enough milk to make a soft dough. If it's a little wet, that's okay, because it will absorb flour during rolling.
4. On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/2 an inch thickness. Cut into 3-inch squares and sprinkle on cinnamon. Fold into triangles and press lightly.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.


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