Lolly Pink and the Promise of Summer

From Ngaire’s journal, 25th August 1952
“Carol and I went to town and bought material for her summer suit – dark rose pink silk shantung – and navy shoes and handbag.”

Here we are on August 25th, and I haven’t given any thought to a summer suit. It’s been hard to think of anything but polar fleece here in Melbourne – summer seems a distant prospect at the moment.

What I have been thinking about is lolly cake. I follow a blog called Christchurch daily photo and came across a photo of it there. I hadn’t thought about lolly cake for years, but Ngaire always had some waiting when we visited Christchurch, and posted tins of it across the Tasman in between trips. I remember Mum trying to make it, but without the proper sweets (‘Fruit Puffs’), it wasn’t quite the same.  In a way I’m glad she wasn’t able to buy them in Australia – it left Lolly Cake as one of the many marvellous things we associated with Christchurch, and Granny.

There’s no point trying to put a sophisticated spin on lolly cake, it’s very, very sweet, but it does looks pretty in a jar on the bench.

New Zealand Lolly Cake

250 g malt biscuits, (crushed), 180 g Fruit Puffs (1 packet), 120 gms butter,  1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk,  coconut.

Chop the fruit puffs into thirds and put in a large bowl with the crushed biscuits. Melt the butter then stir in the condensed milk. Cool a little then add to biscuit mixture. Combine well then form into log. Roll in coconut and refrigerate.  Slice when set.

For those of you stranded in Australia, Fruit Puffs are available from lollyworld.com.au in Queensland. The postage does make the whole exercise a bit of a luxury, but it’s worth it – at least as an occaisonal treat. Malt biscuits are available in most supermarkets, though I do think the kiwi ones are darker – and nicer.

Now I’m starting to sound like my mother who is completely biased and has been quietly running her own ‘Buy New Zealand Made’ campaign for years.