Iris the pastry cook

Iris's meringues were deservedly famous. At our parties Richard Bentine would strategically place himself again and again in front of the circulating tray and happily devour as many as he could."They are well worth the detour!" he would say.

For school fêtes or charity bazaars, she would make batches upon batches of her meringues.  As soon as they were displayed on the stall, the cognoscenti would flock, and buy the display clean.

Some helpful friends would point out that her way of making meringues were contrary to orthodoxy. Iris was unfazed. "Never mind", she would say, "They are good!" They were better than good and probably the best in the world.

Mention should be made of her pineapple upside down cakes, a treat for the young children, also of her scone she would produce in a few minutes from scratch when unexpected visitors were offered tea.

Her Christmas, birthday and baptism cakes were her glory. The recipes would be tweaked each time, the mix stirred and any member of the family present in the kitchen was invited to give the mix a turn and make a wish. Then the cake over its long maturation was regularly doused in brandy or whisky, tastefully decorated and produced with a flourish to the delight of children of all ages.

It was a test of our word power than we convincingly praised her latest creation as even superior to the preceding one. Of course her Christmas puddings were always also superb.