Since earliest time, certain dates on the calendar have been the occasion for special cookery. It is fun to keep these up, and it relieves the monotony of everyday meals. On St Valentine’s Day in some parts of Europe, it is the custom for the men-folk to give their ladies a gingerbread heart packed in a pretty box and tied with ribbon.

You can hardly expect the stolid Englishman to rise to this romantic height, but we might have the gingerbread heart all the same, and why not? For those who don’t like gingerbread, the cake can be a sponge mixture light as air and sugar-topped, as befits the occasion.

GINGERBREAD HEART

Ingredients: ½lb self-raising flour; a pinch of salt; ½ teaspoonful baking powder; 1½ teaspoonfuls ground ginger; 2½oz margarine; 2oz castor or Demerara sugar; one egg; 8oz syrup or treacle.

Sieve together the flour, salt, baking powder and ginger. Cream the margarine and sugar, add the beaten egg and syrup or treacle. Stir in the dry ingredients. Add a little milk if necessary. Put into a greased heart-shaped tin and bake slowly for about 45 minutes. Or, make the mixture a little stiffer and roll out on a lightly floured board. Cut into small hearts and bake on a greased baking sheep for about 15 minutes.

CUPID’S CAKE

Ingredients: 3oz margarine; 4oz castor sugar; two eggs; 3oz self-raising flour; 1oz cornflour; ½ teaspoonful baking powder; ¼ teaspoonful vanilla essence; strawberry jam.

Cream the margarine and sugar until very soft and light. Add the well-beaten eggs by degrees, then the flour sifted with the cornflour and baking powder. Flavour with vanilla essence. Spread the mixture in two greased sandwich tins and bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes. When cold, spread with strawberry jam and sandwich together. Coat with glacé icing coloured pink and decorate with little sugar roses (bought) and a spray of fern.

MELTING MOMENTS

Ingredients: 4oz fat (margarine and cooking fat mixed), 3oz castor sugar, one egg yolk, a few drops of almond essence, 4oz self-raising flour, crushed cornflakes or rolled oats.

Cream the fat and the sugar and beat in the egg yolk and almond essence. Work in the flour and mix to a smooth dough. Moisten the hands in cold water and roll the mixture into small balls. Coat them either with crushed cornflakes or rolled oats. Put on a greased baking sheet and press them slightly on top. Bake in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes. Leave to cool a little before lifting them onto a wire tray to finish cooling. Decorate with a tiny piece of glacé cherry on each.

NOEL CHANTER

[From the Watford Observer of February 12, 1960]

ONLINE TOMORROW: An 'absolutely spiffing' night out in 1974

These recipes formed part of the Nostalgia column first published in the Watford Observer on February 14, 2014. The next Nostalgia column can be found in this week’s Watford Observer (dated February 21, 2014 and available in newsagents now, priced 90p) or read online here from 4pm on Thursday.

If you have anything to add – or would like to tell us anything you think our readers may enjoy about Watford’s history – we are always pleased to hear from you. Contact Nostalgia, by clicking here watfordnostalgia@london.newsquest.co.uk