Pineapple Meringue Trifle

The Esk Valley Cookery Book: Treasured Recipes of the Country Women of the Esk Valley, Tasmania, Country Women's Association and The New Idea 1930s. Recipe contributed by R Farrell, Longford.

Pineapple Meringue Trifle

One layer of sponge sandwich (7 inches/17cm in diameter); ¾ pint/425ml milk; 2 tblspn sugar; 2 tblsp cornflour; 1 dstsp sherry; 2 eggs; 1 ½ cup finely chopped pineapple (drained free of syrup); ¾ pint/425ml red jelly; 4 tblspn extra sugar (for meringue); chopped blanched almonds; and a few strawberries to garnish

Cut sponge into cubes, arrange a layer on bottom of ovenware dish. Blend cornflour with some of the milk, add balance of the milk and sugar, stir until boiling. Simmer 3 minutes. Cool slightly, add beaten egg yolks, cook a few minutes over low heat without allowing to boil. Add sherry.

Pour half over cake in dish. Cover with half pineapple. Add another layer of cake, custard, pineapple. Beat egg whites to meringue consistency with extra sugar, pile around edge of dish.

Place in a very moderate oven (325°F/160°C gas, 375°F/190°C electric) until meringue is set and very lightly browned,

Allow to become cold, then chill in ice chest or refrigerator.

Set jelly in shallow tin; when quite set, chop and pile in centre of trifle. Garnish with chopped almonds and a few strawberries.

Pineapple lunches across the Pacific

Luncheon Dishes compiled by the National Trust Shop Committee, Hobart

I think this is the littlest cook book I’ve ever used! Anne

Tasmanian Beef Casserole

2 lbs (1 kg) blade steak; 1 dstsp brown sugar; 2 unpeeled apples (chopped); 1 small tin crushed pineapple; 1/3 tin condensed tomato soup; salt and pepper; 1 maggi beef stock cube; 1 stalk celery; 1 diced carrot; 1 small chopped onion

Method: remove any fat from meat and chop into small cubes (I browned these in a little oil, before . . .) Mix well with all remaining ingredients and cook at 350°F (180°C) covered for 2 hours. Serve with mashed potatoes and green vegetables or rice and noodles.

Mexican Fish Dish (Salmon)

1 tin salmon; 1 tin crushed pineapple; ¼ cup rice (measured before cooking); 2 tblsp chutney; 2 tsp curry powder; ¼ tsp salt; 2 cups milk; ½ cup plain flour; ¼ cup margarine; 2 hard boiled eggs (chopped); parsley as garnish

Method: Place fish and cooked rice in casserole and mix well. Make thick white sauce with margarine, flour and milk. Add pineapple, salt, curry, chutney and eggs. Pour over fish and rice. Re-heat and garnish with chopped parsley.

Tasmania, the PINEapple isle.

I couldn't leave this booklet behind in an op shop on Tasmania's east coast recently - what an appetising cover design!

Good Housekeeping’s Meals on a Shoestring, Booklet No 27 London 1964

Pineapple Rice

Prepare a rice pudding mixture in a double saucepan.

Rice Pudding – 40g pudding rice; 600ml milk; 15-25g butter or margarine; grated nutmeg

Wash the rice, place it in a 900ml pie dish with the milk and sugar and put shavings of butter and a little grated nutmeg over the top. Bake in a cool to warm oven 150°C for 2 – 2 ½ hours, stir it once or twice during the first hour.
Rice pudding may also be cooked in a double boiler; the proportion of ingredients and the cooking time will be the same.

I simply mixed some leftover cooked brown rice with the other ingredients in a saucepan and boiled them for 10 minutes, Anne.

Pineapple Rice – When the rice is creamy and tender, place in a pie dish or in individual dishes. Drain the juice from an 225g can of sliced pineapple and place in a small, saucepan, with a little sugar; boil rapidly until it reaches a glazing consistency. Arrange the pineapple slices on top of the rice and coat evenly with pineapple glaze. Leave to cool.

This dish was found in the treasure trove

"The Shop in the Bush" near St Helens. 

And this wonderful wall decoration enhances the hospitable Hotel Bruny at Alonnah, Bruny Island.