Woman’s wartime cake recipe baked by Wiltshire Farm Foods

A wartime fruit cake has been delivered to a woman after she sent the recipe to her ready meal provider.

Doreen Binder, 77, from Rotherham, was at a loss of what to do with her collection of family wartime recipes before deciding to pass them on to Wiltshire Farm Foods.

She inherited the recipes from her mother-in-law, but her own daughter doesn’t bake, so she said she decided to pass them on to people who do.

The recipe selection also included a “vinegar cake”, which development chef, Jethro Lawrence, said “actually works really well. It was better than expected”.

Mrs Binder said she did not want to throw away the collection of recipes and she was pleased when the company made two of the cakes.

“I was over the moon and said the fruit cake had always gone down very well in my house,” she said.

“I didn’t realize the chefs would bake it in Trowbridge and then arrange for it to be delivered to me up in Rotherham.”

Chef Phil Rimmer, who also helped bake the cakes, said: “It was enlightening to see how creative cooks had to be with certain ingredients, due to rationing.

“We did veer from the recipe slightly and decided to add a marmalade glaze to give a citrusy burst of flavor, which was thankfully well received.”

The chefs also tried out a “vinegar cake”, which used vinegar instead of eggs.

Mr. Lawrence explained that he just used regular vinegar.

“It was really interesting to see what ingredients were used,” he said.

“I think the name stood out before anything else.”