Almost 100 years after it was first published to raise money for the Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary Appeal Fund, people were able to sample some of the delicious cakes featured in the Grangemouth Cookery Book, now in the NHS archives at the University of Stirling.
Thirteen people volunteered to bake 15 recipes for a special coffee and cake event with the proceeds going to help mental health patients in NHS Forth Valley. The event was part of Explore Your Archive – an annual week of activities which aim to showcase the best of archives and archive services in the UK and Ireland.
The idea was cooked up by University of Stirling Archivist and Research Support Assistant Rosie, Al-Mulla. She explained: “The Grangemouth Cookery book, published in 1925, was a wonderful invite into fundraising, a really brilliant idea. Recipes were sent in from all over the world. My favourite is Scripture Cake where you have to work out the ingredients using Bible references.”
Recipes ranged from sponge cakes and gingerbread to savouries like stewed kidneys and red monkey – a tomato soup with grated cheese to spread on toast. Rosie insisted that all the recipes were made using original methods so there was no cheating with added extras such as icing!
