The recipe for chocolate fluff cream reads like a dream for any sweet-toothed fan. The combination of all things chocolaty and sweet is appealing and the seemingly simple instructions add to its allure.
When we began to make the chocolate fluff we encountered a series of problems that led to a somewhat failed dessert, perhaps it was our lack of patience or our inability to find an extremely cold place to prepare the dish! Regardless the chocolate did not fluff and we were left with a deliciously smelling chocolate liquid instead of something I imagined to be belonging to the ‘Angel Delight’ family.
In September 1939 every member of the British public had to register their household and household members in order to receive a ration book prepared by their local Food Offices. Rationing was then implemented on 8th January 1940 due to fewer ships being able to import foods to Britain and the first foods to be rationed were butter, sugar and bacon and ham.
Nutritive Values of Wartime Foods, published in 1945, showed that a lot more nutrients such as protein and carbohydrates could be found in powered or dried foods such as powdered milk which during the period of War were cheaper, came in larger quantities, lasted for longer durations and were more easily accessible. This of course affected the literature of the time, the Ministry of Food would publish ‘Food Facts’ in news papers in attempts to entice their readers to become more creative and be more aware of the nutritional value of food they were eating. In terms of deserts, the Ministry of Food tried to do their best to show how varied a diet could be with limited ingredients publishing articles such as the one shown here;
When we began to make the chocolate fluff we encountered a series of problems that led to a somewhat failed dessert, perhaps it was our lack of patience or our inability to find an extremely cold place to prepare the dish! Regardless the chocolate did not fluff and we were left with a deliciously smelling chocolate liquid instead of something I imagined to be belonging to the ‘Angel Delight’ family.
In September 1939 every member of the British public had to register their household and household members in order to receive a ration book prepared by their local Food Offices. Rationing was then implemented on 8th January 1940 due to fewer ships being able to import foods to Britain and the first foods to be rationed were butter, sugar and bacon and ham.
Nutritive Values of Wartime Foods, published in 1945, showed that a lot more nutrients such as protein and carbohydrates could be found in powered or dried foods such as powdered milk which during the period of War were cheaper, came in larger quantities, lasted for longer durations and were more easily accessible. This of course affected the literature of the time, the Ministry of Food would publish ‘Food Facts’ in news papers in attempts to entice their readers to become more creative and be more aware of the nutritional value of food they were eating. In terms of deserts, the Ministry of Food tried to do their best to show how varied a diet could be with limited ingredients publishing articles such as the one shown here;
This article presents the idea of being economically aware, sympathising with the reader for a not-so-filling dinner but also carries the sense of pride that seems noticeably present in many recipe books of the period. However, I myself find it interesting that products such as ice cream were “banned after 1942, on the grounds that ... it had no food value” (Jonathan Croall). In terms of whether the "chocolate fluff cream" recipe provides good food, nutritionally it may be lacking simply due to its lack of nutritionally valued foods. It does not openly admit to substituting any foods as such and instead advertises itself as requiring "no milk of any kind". Replacing the water with milk may produce a more appealing or successful cream and as a result one could argue that what this recipe actually does is conceal well its principle point which is to offer an alternative dessert which does not use milk.
“Jonathan Croall, Don't You Know There's A war On? The People's Voice 1939-45”
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