Malteaser cake recipe - help a Catholic out

[Lunawuna]

Help on an Ecumenical matter please So I've been dipping into the world of traybakes - I can make a pretty respectable caramel square (nice, thick, chewy caramel!) and Mars bar crispy square, but I need a good recipe for Malteaser cake.

I tried the BBC Good Food recipe the other day and it didn't have that lovely feeling of your pupils dilating with the sweetness of it all like a good traybake normally has. Am I doomed to never get it right because of my lack of Prod blood? Help! How can getting the right ratio of digestive biscuits, butter, syrup and chocolate be so hard?!

I'm normally a good baker! Honest!

May I contribute a memory of a trip to NI sometime in the early sixties? We visited my dad’s very aged auntie. She lived a a stone cottage (I think it was stone) near Newry. I remember the peat fire smouldering away, very basic accommodation and outside facilities. And the utter silence.
Absolutely none of my female relatives had a clue about cookery, though my mother (from Kilkenny) was OK at pretty basic scones, which she made every week.

Welcome to the thread borntobequiet.

I love the American Folk park too. It is about 1.5hrs drive away for us so have only visited a few times, but the ship is quite an experience, going in in the N.I side and coming out in the New World of America.

I imagine this would be something you could connect with whether you’re from England, Scotland, Wales or ROI after all we all have ancestors who left their lands in search of a better life.
I don’t know about the others on this thread but I think preserving our past is so important.
I get a real connection with my ancestors when I visit these places. Seeing how they lived, cooked and worshipped. Going in search of a better life in The New World.

The tiffin bakes sound like ones my DH would enjoy. Would you have the recipe?

There's Bunraatty - I think it might have been opened before Cultra? There is a place in Waterford/Wexford were ds went on a school trip , the Irish National Historical Park. And dh was in a place in the UK midlands years ago.
I am building up to a supermarket trip. Nerves of steel.

There's that workhouse museum on the way to Donegal, too. Utterly creepy, fascinating, sad place.

I've never been to the Ulster American folk park, though I keep seeing adverts for the music festivals they do there.

I know someone who works there - he does not enjoy the music after a short while. He has to be around the whole time it's on. I feel sorry for him until I remember his ginormous mansion in the countryside!

Ah, hard on him

Did you manage your supermarket trip? I haven't set foot in one since before lockdown and have been doing all my shopping in the village. It's the thought of queuing puts me off.

Referring back to PPs talking about education and having done a bit of research into education in the Republic too (after watching Normal People ), im a bit jealous, educational reformers have really mucked about with Scotlands school recently, applying new teaching and exam reforms that look good in theory but are a bit of a nightmare for schools and teachers to implement effectively, we're now slipping down the rankings...
On a positive note i made lovely flapjacks yesterday using the recipe from the Carnation milk website, used up all my ancient packets of nuts and dried fruits.

Ooh, I didn’t know about these other places. I’ll add them on to my list.

Food Shopping was something I enjoyed, wandering round. I’m still going although trying to stock up as much as possible to lengthen visits.
DS is a big milk drinker and we have cereal every morning. I would use 5+ of the 3l containers in a week.

I’ve taken to going early in the morning 6.30- 7 o’clock when it’s very quiet. When I see a queue I don’t wait unless there’s only 5/6 people.
DH has a mask and gloves left handy for me to use but so far I’m sticking with the antibacterial spray/hand gel and clothes they provide at the entrance to wipe down the trolley handle.
I do find it a stressful experience though.

My supermarket trip is after classic corrie, I have ironed pleats in my facemask collection and will stitch them down watching Reg and Maureen. The queue should have gone then.
Our main street is called the village, but the shops are nearly all closed until phase two or three of the plan. Dunnes is pretty good at organization, which is surprising. SuperValu is full of chatting people which is currently not ideal and our Lidl is cramped. Main exciting news is the co-op is now open, but very busy.

We have annual membership for the folk/transport museum - until coronavirus, we were there practically every week with 2 year old DS. We had our wedding photos taken at the folk museum and our reception in the Manor House, it was lovely! Have only been to the American folk park a couple of times.

@Eve

Not Just An NI Thing

Your wedding venue sounds lovely MissisBee. Your photos will be a talking point for your DCs in the future.

DS was mad about Thomas the Tank and was an avid collector of all the trains. We have his train set packed away, hopefully to be enjoyed by future generations.

His favourite train in the museum was Maeve. The smell of the diesel hits you as soon as you enter the building.
I’m a little sad at the thought he’s by that stage now.

Are you in kent? I had Kentish men and men of Kent explained to me once, it was complicated.
I'm in the market for grandchildren so I can go on outings with them.

I am not - am in (inner) London, but The Correct & Proper SE bit, so when I was wee we’d go to Kent for countrysidey things after we got a car. I’ve not been there since I was ever so wee though. My school took us all to Kentwell when we studied the Tudors in Year 8 (NI Year 9) - we’d all to dress up & there was Actual Scandal as some girls relaced their bodices to look like Women Of Ill-Repute. (Possibly a mistake to make such a fuss of our not doing it...)

Am not randomly!lurking - I’ve more family over in NI than I have in England & the many years of mixed marriages in my family tree have resulted in my sister & I having the knack for both wee buns & traybakes. I’ve not made a traybake for years now though - I’ve to be careful even touching dairy now so it’s easier & safer just to make cakes & biscuits for church (& sometimes my Daddy). I’m thinking of trying to brave adapting some recipes to be vegan as you can get much nicer & better vegan chocolate now; & they even do a vegan condensed milk. I’m shielding, so even socially distanced distribution of the spoils, should they prove edible, would be tricky. My brother’s no sweet tooth at all & while my cats are mad for “sharing” my food, for obvious reasons I try very hard not to let them get their paws on it. I’ve to go up to the hospital on the 8th, but I’d not expect anyone to eat food from a random patient - even one they know well. I’m meant to be gaining weight, but don’t think “eating huge volume of traybake” is what dietitian had in mind. She did commend me for adding fat to my diet mind...

This thread is so lovely though. Sounds like home, which I realise might sound daft, but is reflection on what my wee corner of London was like as I was growing up

We occasionally house sit and cat mind in herne hill, near Brockwell Park, and once saw James Nesbitt buying a newspaper. Dh was once cat minding there, but didn't know which cat as various cats turned up. I'd love a wee trip to London, we lived in east Anglia and a trip to London was brilliant.
Don't lurk, I'm fed up not seeing people in work so the tray bake discussion is keeping me going! Our late cat loved birds eye vegeburgers and Cadbury flakes.

Impressed at both vegan condensed milk and veggie burger eating cat Marie, if you have to gain weight for medical reasons then you could do worse than a good tray bake. What about pineapple delights? All that butter, cream and fruit

The condensed milk drought continues. I made seed cake instead, to my great grandmother's recipe. I'm pretty sure it would be better cooked on a range, as her idea of moderately hot and mine appear to differ. The toddler enjoyed sitting on the floor and licking the bowl. That piece of shoddy parenting on my part earned me half a cup of tea and time to run her bath.

Were there raw eggs in the bowl? There are several reasons why the yummy mummies might be horrified raw eggs, fat, sugar...
Pineapple upside down cake is nice.
Our new drought is bread flour and almond essence. I need almond essence for a nice looking pear flan. I have pears.

There were indeed. They were eggs laid by chickens I know personally, and I just can't get worried about a teaspoonful of cake mix. I'm very very good the rest of the time, hands washed, bed at seven, five a day and all the rest, but sadly I break out into neglect when it comes to raw cake mix.

I haven't seen almond essence in ages, or vanilla. I've had to use the little pods instead that are about £5 per pod

I am totally confused by this post! I don’t get the connection between religion and traybakes! 🤪

I have two bottles of vanilla, due to store cupboard incompetence, and a sweetie jar of caster sugar with embedded pods.
What's religion got to do with tray bakes? Northern Ireland has a major religious division, tray bakes are a specialty of one side. It's a competitive sport, sort of.

Went shopping today and visited 2 supermarkets, opposite each other. Neither had any Maltesers, and I can't help but wonder if it's down to this thread, and everyone making the Malteser traybake...!

There wasn't much chocolate in Dunnes earlier. They had loads of plastic gloves to buy.

Not much chocolate in Dunnes? That's more worrying than the shortage of loo roll was. DH is going tomorrow, I will make sure he stocks up.

I can see a ‘black market’ opportunity here dealing in condensed milk, chocolate and maltesers.

I’ve some toilet rolls here. Willing to exchange for a tin of condensed milk .
It’s all over the head of Lunawuna

Tomorrowsanewday no condensed milk here either but I can trade for strong white flour 😂