My Mother’s Favourite Friday Treat…. 

We were lucky enough to live just over the road from a fresh cake shop when we were young and it was a place we would often stop and peer into as we were passing. I remember, too often being dragged away with a ‘come on it’s time to go….’ The routine was, Friday was treat day and that was the day we were lucky enough to go in and choose one for after our tea.

 

When we were a little older and at school, we didn’t go to the cake shop with mum any more but we did tell her in the morning what cake we would like for our Friday treat. In those days we didn’t have a fridge. Instead, we had a small room which we called ‘the cold place.’ The room was next to our kitchen and it WAS really cold, even in the summer because the walls were bare brick and there was only a tiny window. In here was a stone slab on an old wooden table which did the job nicely. We kept milk, butter, cheese and anything which had to be kept cold on it. As children, we didn’t like going into this room much as it was dark as well as cold but when we returned home on a Friday, we would eagerly peak into the large white paper bag which was sitting on the stone slab to see if mum had remembered what we asked for; she always had, of course.

 

Vanilla Custard Slices are such a lovely creamy treat and not too difficult to make with a little patience. I am always pleasantly surprised by this plain little cake as it brings back such a lot of very happy memories…