Winnie Farrish Walters, a member of Knox Presbyterian Church, in Goderich, is probably the only woman, in town, to have a cake named after her. Winnie was born in Ashfield Township, a farming community in Huron County, Ontario. Generations of her family, the Farrishes, attended Ashfield Presbyterian Church (Est.1848). Winnie’s mother Beatrice Farrish was also active in the Women’s Institute of Canada, an organization founded, in Winnipeg, in 1919. Its purpose was to provide a platform for rural women to share tips and information about their lives. The Institute also encouraged reform and appeared to have feminist leanings. Different chapters, across Canada, produced cookbooks of wholesome recipes as a means of raising money. It seems Beatrice was famous, in the county, for her chocolate cake that she named for her daughter Winnie. In 1954 Beatrice’s recipe for Winnie’s Chocolate Cake appeared in Crumbs of Comfort, published by the Kintail Women’s Institute. Beatrice died, in 1962, but her daughter followed in her culinary footsteps. Winnie contributes home baking to a roster of charity events, in Goderich, but she keeps her fancy almond-flavoured Macaroon Kisses for Knox’s Annual Cookie Walk. This event is a project of the Arthur Circle Women’s Missionary Society (WMS). For the record, last year the ladies sold 300 lbs of cookies and squares and made over $2,000, according to Joanne Walters, who is Winnie’s daughter and also a WMS member. This year, the Cookie Walk happens on Saturday, November 24, at 10 a.m.
Winnie warns people line-up, outside the church, for these goodies and they go quickly. “We sell by the pound, so whoever buys my macaroons gets a bargain because they are light,” Winnie says.
WINNIE’S CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 cup white sugar. ¾ cup butter creamed. 2 eggs. ¼ tsp salt. 1 cup milk. ½ tsp soda dissolved in warm water. 1 tsp vanilla. 1-¼ cup flour, sifted several times with 3 tbsp cocoa and 2 tsp baking soda.
Mix together in order given and bake slowly.
MACAROON KISSES
1-14 oz. (200 ml) tin regular sweetened condensed milk.
2 tsp vanilla extract. 1-½ tsp almond extract.
3 pkgs (200 grams each) or 6 cups flaked coconut.
Combine milk, vanilla, almond extract. Stir in coconut. Drop, by teaspoonsfuls, onto parchment paper, on a cookie sheet. Flatten slightly and press in ¼ maraschino cherry.
Bake in pre-heated 325 degree oven, 10-12 minutes, until browning around the edges. Cool completely on wire rack. Store, loosely, at room temperature.
