Something else to read, with fudge cake!

To make up for my lack of posts recently, here is the big news: my new e-book food memoir, The Colour of Food: A Memoir of Life, Love and Dinner, is now available online! It gave me a huge thrill to see it there. We're having a little launch for it on Sunday, with retro 1950s food, including the fudge cake made by both my mothers. To find out why I had two, see the book - details below.
        You couldn't get a more classic New Zealand recipe than this, and you probably all have it already, but just for fun, here it is (it's in the book as well - there are 23 recipes at the back, matching each era of my life). I'll have to add the photo in the weekend, as I won't have time to make a batch before then. With a bit of supervision at the cooking stage, this is perfect for children to make.

Mothers' Fudge Cake

250g wine biscuits or arrowroot biscuits

125g soft butter

½ cup sugar

1 egg

2-3 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

crystallised ginger, nuts and/or dried fruit, chopped (to taste - mothers used to put in whatever they had to hand)

Grease or line with baking paper a shallow oblong tin and set aside.

Put biscuits into a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin into little pieces (not crumbs).

Put butter and sugar into a medium saucepan and heat gently, stirring, until butter is melted.

Beat egg and cocoa together and add to butter and sugar. Add vanilla essence. 

Bring mixture just to boiling point, but do not boil. 

Take off heat and gently stir in crushed biscuits to spread them evenly through the mixture.

Add small pieces of ginger, nuts and/or dried fruit as desired.

Spread mixture in tin and allow to set. Using a sharp knife, cut into small bars and store in an airtight container.

How to get my book
For Kindle, go to Amazon Kindle Books here.
For Kobo, go here.