TeaTime Treats

It is over 20 years since I last went to Port Sunlight. This wonderful village was built in 1888, by William Hesketh, Lord Lever - the Soap Millionaire. He built  Port Sunlight to house the workers at his soap factory, Lever Brothers, which eventually became the global giant, Unilever. The village represents one man’s vision to provide industrial workers with decent, sanitary housing in a considered architectural and picturesque form.

However, rather than a philanthropic venture, Lever claimed it was all part of a business model he termed ‘prosperity-sharing’. Rather than sharing his profits directly with his employees, Lever provided them with decent and affordable houses, amenities and welfare provisions that made their lives secure and comfortable and enabled them to flourish as people. It was also intended to inspire loyalty and commitment. Now maintained by the Port Sunlight Village Trust, this fascinating community is a great place to explore [lots more information here] The Lady Lever Art Gallery, with its fabulous collection of Pre-Raphaelite Art, is somewhere I would especially like to revisit sometime. Maybe if I am in Manchester for a holiday with Steph I can zip down the M56 for a day...

Back in 1929, 'The Port Sunlight News' was a regular magazine produced for the workers who lived there - and they had a competition for a sweet treat to rival other local products [like the Eccles Cake]  It was won byMiss Lee, [who worked in the Soap Factory] with her "Port Sunlight Bun". It cannot have been that much if a success, because it seems to have been forgotten - until last autumn, when a PSVT staff member found a copy of the magazine, and persuaded The Nettle Café -[a local community run café] to make it for customers

The original Port Sunlight Bun recipe

Ingredients

• 1 lb. plain flour
• ¼ lb. margarine and lard mixed
• ¼ lb. sugar
• A good pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoonful of cream of tartar
• ¼ lb. currants
• ¼ lb. sultanas
• 2 oz. candied peel
• 1 tablespoonful of ground almonds
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoonfuls of milk
• Grated rind of orange or lemon

Instructions
Mix all dry ingredients together, rub in lard and margarine. Now add fruit and bind into a stiff dough with well-beaten egg and milk. Now take a fork full of the mixture and put in lumps on a greased tin, the rougher the better. Cook in hot oven for 15 minutes; turn gas lower after first five minutes.

My Notes, May 2026
Preheat oven to 200°C then turn down to 175°C

I halved the recipe, and made 6 buns. I omitted candied peel and rind [Bob dislikes them]  I had no ground almonds – but it still tasted good

I served mine with butter, jam and fresh strawberries. Bob said they reminded him of his mother's Rock Cakes. I did use lard&marg, not butter as per the recipe. I think Miss Lee made bigger buns!

Unlike scones, these tasted just as good on the second day. I do enjoy recreating these old recipes! Bob has discovered Max Miller's YouTube Channel Tasting History which is very clever, and most entertaining. He covers a wide range of recipes from ancient times, to WW2. Fortunately Bob has not yet felt the need to make the Cooked Jellyfish of Ancient Rome, or Hildegarde of Bingen's Cookies of Joy [allegedly not at all joyful!]

Big shout out to Carolyn at the 1940's Experiment, who continues to research amazing recipes from eight decades ago

Have you got a favourite "Heritage Recipe"?
Something local to you, or perhaps one handed down through the generations in your own family?