Then came the postwar years making their lean way towards the mid 50s when cream became real again and high tea featured scones, meringues, custard slices and two kinds of bread.
At one point Mum worked in a bakery and the stuff that used to come back from there – custard slices, chocolate eclairs, apple pies – were a treat and quite rare.
"We are concerned about how we attract employees … about how we retain young people here … we are just concerned we are going to be left behind," says Barcoo Shire's deputy mayor, Michael Pratt, at a town meeting the next day at the Birdsville Bakery, which boasts both curried camel and kangaroo and red wine pies, as well as inch-thick custard slices.
Walking down Fore Street, I passed three butchers; the Old Bakery, its window decked out in strudels, Chelsea buns, custard slices and toffee fudge flapjacks; a greengrocer; two healthfood shops; Riverford Goes To Town, the retail arm of Riverford organic food enterprises; Effings, more of a jumbled food jewellery box than a deli/restaurant.
Serve with oatmeal, custard, a slice of vanilla cake, or ice cream.
Been on the road three days, and so far I've driven over 770 miles, eaten 12 chicken wings, two fried chicken breasts, a half slab of ribs, one corn dog, two frozen custards, three slices of deep dish pizza and three orders of french fries.
The only true Goan item on the dessert menu is bibinca, a multi-layered coconut custard served in slices.
Especially soothing was the peach-almond panna cotta, a delicate milk custard with pickled peach slices and a sprig of mint on top, served on a plate polka-dotted with creme anglaise and raspberry coulis.
