Jack O' Lantern Cakes (1920) ★★★★
8:04 PM 1920s , 20th century , 4 stars , dessert , holiday , interwar , snacks , united states 0 Comments

Gibson Tally Card, 1925*

Halloween is a great time to have a historically-themed party. There is tons of information out there on how to have a Halloween party, including some pretty unique ideas. A search for "Halloween" on any of the blogs listed to the right will surely yield some great results. You can even provide your trick-or-treaters with a piece of history by giving out candy from this list, which includes ideas from the 1900s to 1960s.

You can also check out blogs or do a Google search and find some pretty neat historical Halloween costumes. Here's some ideas from the 1920s at Vixen Vintage which I just love!

The recipe I'm sharing today comes from a menu in Mrs. Wilson's Cook Book. This cook book is lovely because it includes a lot of menus for special occasions. I've also been impressed by the recipes I've made previously from this book. Many of them look quite tasty.

Original Recipe:

JACK O' LANTERN CAKES

Bake a sponge cake in individual or muffin pans and then ice with chocolate water icing and make the lantern face with white icing.

SPONGE CAKE—ONE EGG

Place in mixing bowl

One-half cup sugar,

Yolk of one egg,

One tablespoon butter.

Cream well, then add

Three tablespoons water,

Two-thirds cup of flour,

One teaspoon baking powder,

Pinch salt.

Beat to mix, then fold in the stiffly beaten white of one egg; bake in well-greased and floured pan in slow oven thirty minutes.

PLAIN WATER ICING

Place in bowl

One pound XXXX sugar.

Two tablespoonfuls cornstarch,

One teaspoonful lemon juice,

Sufficient hot water to spread.

Beat to mix, then use.

CHOCOLATE ICING

Place in bowl

One pound XXXX sugar,

Two tablespoons cornstarch,

One-half cup cocoa,

Sufficient boiling water to make mixture spread.

Beat until smooth, then add one tablespoon of melted butter and use.

The Verdict:

They were okay. I gave four stars because I probably would eat these by choice, but they're really just average. The cake was very thick and kind of unpleasant to chew through because of it. On its own the cake wasn't very nice. It really needs icing or filling to make it tasty. Maybe I'm just a failure at sponge cake, I don't know. The icing was okay, but not great. If I were to make this again, I would make the cakes half the size of a muffin, so that it's not so hard to eat them. The batter also only made four (!) cakes, so, um, yeah...And on the other end of the scale, even half the frosting was waaaay too much.

Modernized Recipe:

(Adapted from Mrs. Wilson's Cook Book)

1/2 cup SUGAR

1 EGG, separated

1 tablespoon BUTTER

3 tablespoons WATER

2/3 cup FLOUR

1 teaspoon BAKING POWDER

Pinch of SALT

1. Preheat oven to 325F. If not using muffin papers, grease the pan well.

2. In a medium bowl, beat together the sugar, egg yolk, and butter. Beat the egg white separately until stiff peaks form.

3. To the egg yolk batter, add the water, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well and gently fold in the beaten egg white.

4. Divide equally into muffin cups and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 - 25 minutes for full-size muffins or less for smaller ones. Let cool before icing.
5. To make the icing, follow the original recipe (it's easy!), but seriously reduce the amounts...by like halves or quarters.

*I found this image from Sexy Witch. I wanted to find a 1920s representation of a Jack O' Lantern, to make sure I was decorating my cakes accurately!

0 comments:

Cider Jelly Pie (1920) ★★★★★
6:17 AM 1920s , 20th century , 5 stars , dessert , interwar , pastry , pie 0 Comments

Here's a fall recipe using apple cider.
This recipe really intrigued me because it's just so unique! It seems like a pretty cheap way to make dessert - no fruit necessary!
I had bought apple cider a little while ago and I had leftover pie dough from the lemon pudding, so I figured the time was right to make this recipe.

Original Recipe:
CIDER JELLY PIE

Place in a saucepan

Three-quarters cup of brown sugar,

Two cups of cider,

Eight tablespoons of cornstarch.

Dissolve the starch and then bring to a boil. Cook for three minutes and then remove from the fire and add

One-half teaspoon of cinnamon,

One tablespoon of vinegar.

Beat to mix and then cool and bake between two crusts.

The Verdict:

I didn't really expect much of this pie, but it was actually really good! I thought for sure the vinegar would be nasty, but it wasn't! Mr. Man looked like he was about to gag when I showed him the pie (it was really jiggly), but after I forced him to try it he practically inhaled the whole piece and sheepishly claimed it was amazingly delicious. Little Y and I enjoyed it as well. The filling is pretty tasty. It tastes exactly like an apple pie. I think it would be awesome with some actual apple pieces or caramel sauce, but truthfully it doesn't need anything extra. So if you don't feel like peeling 8 apples, this is a great substitute!

Modernized Recipe:

(Adapted from Mrs. Wilson's Cook Book)

3/4 cup BROWN SUGAR
2 cups APPLE CIDER
1/2 cup CORNSTARCH
1/2 teaspoon CINNAMON
1 tablespoon VINEGAR
2 PREPARED PIE CRUSTS

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. If using homemade pie crust, prepare the bottom crust in a pie dish.
2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cider, and cornstarch. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until thickened. Whisk in the cinnamon and vinegar. Let cool.
3. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust and cover with the other. Make a hole to vent and decorate (or not) as desired. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes.

0 comments:

Delicious Lemon Pudding (1877) ★★★★★
12:00 AM 1870s , 19th century , 5 stars , dessert , fruit , pastry , pie , pudding , united states , victorian 0 Comments

Is it just me or does it seem like everything in baking was called "pudding" at one time or another?
Seriously, pudding is so confusing.
So apparently this is a "delicious lemon pudding", but it really just seems like a lemon meringue pie...

Original Recipe:

The Verdict:
I was kind of worried about this pudding because when I baked it the custard made this huge dome in the middle which I had to deflate. So the lemon layer was very thin in places. I also was milliseconds away from burning the meringue. People, be careful with your broilers. It was barely brown and about 30 seconds later it was smoking. Ahh!
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised! The whole thing was quite tasty. I used butter in the crust and it was yummy and buttery and held up well. The lemon filling was thick and quite tart. The meringue was nice too. I used 1/3 cup of milk for the filling, which didn't make very much, so I was glad to have the meringue because it filled up all the extra space perfectly.
Really this is a lemon meringue pie. I mean, I'm not sure if it was meant to be baked in a circular shape, but that's what I went with. Mr. Man gave it five stars, even though he hates meringue. I would have to concur. I can't think of anything to change!

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from Buckeye Cookery, And Practical Housekeeping: Compiled From Original Recipes)

1 LEMON
1 cup SUGAR
2 EGGS, separated
3 tablespoons FLOUR
MILK (I used 1/3 cup)
1 PREPARED PIE CRUST*
4 tablespoons SUGAR

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Make pie crust if needed.
2. Zest the lemon and juice it. In a medium bowl, mix the lemon zest and juice with the sugar, egg yolks, flour, and enough milk to fill your baking dish. Make sure there are no lumps of flour.
3. Line the baking dish with the prepared pie crust. Pour in the lemon filling and bake until thick and done, about 25 - 30 minutes.
4. While the pudding is baking, whip the egg whites with 4 tablespoons of sugar until stiff. When the pudding is done, spread the whites on top and brown in the oven. Serve.

*The recipe doesn't give directions for the crust ("paste"), so I used a recipe from the same cookbook:
GOOD COMMON PASTE.
One coffee-cup lard, three of sifted flour, and a little salt. In winter, soften the lard a little (but not in summer), cut it well into the flour with a knife, then mix with cold water quickly into a moderately stiff dough, handling as little as possible. This makes four common-sized covered pies. Take a new slice of paste each time for top crust, using the trimmings, etc., for under crust.--Miss Katy Rupp.

0 comments:

Pot Roast (1913) ★★★★★
3:32 PM 1910s , 20th century , 5 stars , beef , united states 0 Comments

One of the ways I like to make historical recipes is by simply cooking them as part of a meal. We all have to eat, don't we? Mr. Man sometimes objects to me making "weird" things for dinner, but a pot roast is hard to complain about. On top of that, pot roast is still made in pretty much the same way as it was in the past - except now we have electric slow cookers. I could've done this recipe in a big pot on the stove, but I find the slow cooker is better and prevents burning. I guess in that respect I've not made this recipe exactly as called for, but simply by cooking in a modern kitchen I'm not authentic anyway. The point of Kitchen Historic is not to exactly recreate these historical recipes, but to adapt them for modern tastes in a modern kitchen. I think this is still a legitimate method of appreciating the past.
So, without further ado, a pot roast!

Original Recipe:
POT ROAST.—Take a nice piece of the round beef weighing about four pounds, season well with salt and pepper and dust over thoroughly with flour. In a flat bottomed kettle melt a piece of butter the size of an egg, when hot put in the meat, turning until well browned on every side. When roast is brown add a little onion, six cloves, six allspice and enough boiling water to come up half way to the top of the meat. Cook slowly for three hours. When done take out meat, add one tablespoon of flour to a little cold water to thicken gravy.

The Verdict:
Delicious! I accidentally used oil instead of butter to brown the roast, but it got this beautiful, brown crust so I was happy anyway. It tasted good too - I do enjoy the cloves/allspice with beef. It works well. And this recipe is ridiculously simple. It would be nice with potatoes and carrots added, just so that you don't have to cook vegetables separately. That's pretty much the only change I would make to this. Oh - and 1 tablespoon of flour is a joke - just save yourself the hassle and use cornstarch. It thickens so much better. I had to puree my gravy because the flour made lumps, but that's optional.

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from Civic League Cook Book)

The original recipe is easy to follow. I lightly fried my onions in the leftover fat before adding them to the crockpot. In a crock pot it will take quite a while - about 8 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high, depending on how done you want your meat.

0 comments:

Noodle Ring with Cheese Sauce (1939) ★★★★
5:50 PM 1930s , 20th century , 4 stars , interwar , pasta , united states 7 Comments

I've been wanting to do some new posts for a while now, but I had a super busy couple of weeks with school. I managed to find a bit of extra time this weekend, so I whipped up this interesting recipe from 1939. Making it, I thought it might turn out really gross, but I was actually pleasantly surprised.

Original Recipe:

The Verdict:
Mr. Man and I settled on a high four stars for this noodle ring. We both thought it was delicious, even though it was a little mushy. It was kind of like a cross between mac n cheese and a cheese souffle. I put green peas in the center of the ring, much to the dismay of Mr. Man, who said he would have given it five stars otherwise. I think he's crazy.
It's definitely an edible recipe, and fairly simple to make as well. I doubled everything because I was using my bundt pan. Even then it didn't fill the whole thing up, so obviously the recipe is meant for a much smaller mold.

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from New York World's Fair Cook Book: The American Kitchen)

The original recipe is easy to follow. Add pepper if desired.
Make sure to use a whisk to prevent lumps in the sauce, and whisk in the eggs quickly, one by one, to prevent cooked lumps of egg from forming.

7 comments:

Pineapple Marshmallows (1911) ★
12:00 AM 1 star , 1910s , 20th century , candy , dessert , edwardian , fruit , holiday , united states 2 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers!
You know, just a few days ago I realized that Thanksgiving here in Canada was only established as a national holiday in 1957! Of course it was celebrated much earlier, but not always on the same date or for even the same reason. I spent a lot of my childhood in the United States, so I still have this notion of Thanksgiving relating to pilgrims and such.
This recipe is from a 1911 cookbook printed in Chicago. Apparently this treat is a "good confection for Thanksgiving." Personally, I've never had marshmallows on Thanksgiving, let alone pineapple ones. Pineapple also seems like such a summer fruit to me, so it seems odd to have it in the mid-fall.
I looked EVERYWHERE for the gum arabic called for in this recipe, but I just couldn't find any. I did find some online, but I can't justify spending $8 plus shipping just to make some marshmallows. I decided to substitute xanthan gum, which is a similar product.

Original Recipe:

The Verdict:
Well first off, this recipe was a mess - literally. I wonder what the weight of xanthan gum is in comparison to gum arabic (or the absorbability) because 4 ounces was like a cup of xanthan gum and the 1 cup of juice just made it into a lumpy mess. I had to add about THREE cups of juice just to make it workable, since it's supposed to be heated. So I tried to use my hand mixer on it to smooth out the lumps, but it just made a huge single lump that clogged up my beaters. I couldn't see how else to mix in the egg whites except to use my hands, so I dumped the goop and the egg whites into a big bowl and mashed them all around. There were still big chunks of gum, though, which wouldn't blend in. I don't know if my food processor would've done any better? The stuff was sooo sticky.
When it had been in the fridge for over 12 hours, I took it out. It was really wet, but managed to hold its shape...until I tried to cut it into squares. Then I could see that it just wasn't working. The whole thing was a messy failure.
I tasted a bit, and it was okay. A little bit weird, but I did get a slight sense of marshmallow. I wouldn't eat it voluntarily, though. Mr. Man thought it looked like something from the insides of an animal and refused to go near it. Looking at it, it seems like the lumpy bits of xanthan gum were actually quite solid, but the rest of it was just unmixed egg whites. I think I would try this again with gum arabic and a food processor to make sure everything was well blended. The recipe does have promise, but it sure didn't work out this time.

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from Good Things to Eat, As Suggested By Rufus)

4 ounces GUM ARABIC
1 cup PINEAPPLE JUICE
1/2 pound POWDERED SUGAR
3 EGG WHITES
1 teaspoon VANILLA or ORANGE JUICE
CORNSTARCH, for dusting
POWDERED SUGAR, for dusting

1. Dust a square pan with cornstarch. Whip the egg whites with the vanilla until stiff.
2. In a medium saucepan, add the pineapple juice. Slowly stir in the gum arabic until well combined. Let stand until dissolved.
3. Add the powdered sugar to the saucepan and heat over low heat (or use a double boiler). Stir until white and thickened and a drop of the mixture forms a ball in cold water.
4. Whip in the stiff egg whites and turn out the dough into the prepared pan. Smooth out and let sit in the fridge for 12 hours. When firm, invert onto a cutting board dusted with powdered sugar and cornstarch and cut into squares. Roll in powdered sugar and cornstarch to prevent sticking.

2 comments:

Pacific Red Pineapple Sauce (1939) ★★★★★
12:00 AM 1930s , 20th century , 5 stars , condiments , fruit , gluten-free , interwar , united states , vegan 0 Comments

This recipe for a sweet sauce comes from the portion of the cookbook dedicated to the Southwest and the West. The section doesn't really make distinctions between the states, but considering the recipe calls specifically for Oregon strawberries, I think it's fair to make a guess that this is a recipe from Oregon.

I love the name of this recipe - something about the phrase "pacific red" makes me think of a vibrant sunset over the Pacific ocean.

Original Recipe:

The Verdict:
Full disclosure - I did use frozen strawberries. It's just more economical, I mean, I already had them in my kitchen. I also only had 3/4 cup of pineapple juice, so I added some crushed pineapple to reach the full 1 cup amount. I love how simple this recipe is, though - three ingredients, 1 cup of each. I was pretty sure this would turn out super yummy, and I was right! This sauce is really lovely. My only complaint was that it was a tad sweet. Next time I would add a bit of lemon juice to cut the sweetness a bit. I also had to boil mine a little harder, just because the frozen berries released a lot of liquid. It will thicken a little bit when it cools. I half-mashed my berries, because I like to have chunks. Actually, the crushed pineapple I added made some nice crunchy bits too. I love having that texture, but Mr. Man shuddered when he looked at it, so I guess if you don't share my enthusiasm for lumpy sauce, it can be pureed. I would definitely make this again - in fact, I might keep this as my go-to strawberry sauce.

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from New York World's Fair Cook Book: The American Kitchen)

The original recipe is easy to follow.

0 comments:

Rancho Spiced Beef (1939) ★★★★
12:00 AM 1930s , 20th century , 4 stars , beef , gluten-free , interwar , united states 0 Comments

I found this neat cookbook from 1939, called New York World's Fair Cook Book: The American Kitchen. The cookbook features all sorts of interesting recipes from across the United States, organized by state/region. It's a really cool read to see the regional specialties. This recipe is from the southwest/west section, which includes the states of Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Montana. Unfortunately this makes it impossible to know exactly which state it is from.

Original Recipe:

The Verdict:
It was pretty good. I was so scared of the amount of cayenne and cloves, but surprisingly they weren't overpowering. It was spicy, but not so much that wimpy me couldn't eat it. Actually, it was probably better than eating tacos (Yes, eating tacos is an ordeal for me. For some reason I just cannot handle spicy!). The cloves weren't overpowering either, which was nice. There was a nice crust on the outside from the spices, but the inside of the roast was pretty blah. This could be because I didn't marinate it overnight, though. If you're like me and forget to do things ahead of time, just chop your roast up a bit so that there's more surface area to get a crust. The only other alteration I made was to add the wine with the water, just because Little Y was eating it too and I wanted the alcohol to be a little weaker. Oh, and the 1 tablespoon of flour apparently didn't thicken the sauce (Mr. Man did it for me), so it may require extra. Overall, a nice and somewhat different flavour

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from New York World's Fair Cook Book: The American Kitchen)

2 1/2 pounds BEEF SHOULDER
1/2 teaspoon GROUND CLOVES
1/2 teaspoon ALLSPICE
1/2 teaspoon CAYENNE
SALT, to taste
PEPPER, to taste
1 clove GARLIC
1 tablespoon BUTTER, melted
1 cup SHERRY or WHITE WINE
1 cup WATER
2 BAY LEAVES
1 teaspoon LEMON JUICE
1 tablespoon FLOUR

1. In a small bowl, mix the cloves, allspice, cayenne, salt, pepper, and garlic. Rub it all over the beef.
2. In the same bowl (emptied), mix together the lemon juice and the butter. Pour it over the beef. Let it marinate overnight.
3. In a crockpot, add the water and bay leaves. Add the marinated beef. Cook on high for 3-4 hours and add the wine. Cook for another 1-2 hours, or until the meat is tender and easy to shred. Add 1 tablespoon of flour to thicken the sauce.

0 comments:

Cinnamon Scones (1914) ★★★
12:00 AM 1910s , 20th century , 3 stars , breakfast , dessert , new zealand , pastry , snacks , WWI 6 Comments

You know when you go to look something up on Wikipedia and you click on a link in the article and before you know it 2 hours have passed and you've gone from the history of pasta to the 1974 Olympics? Yeah, that's something like how I found this recipe. I was browsing Wikipedia and I stumbled across a website which had a digitized version of The Sure to Rise Cookery Book. This cookbook was originally published in 1908 and has been in print since then (but is now known as the Edmonds Cookery Book, after the Edmonds company). It is considered "the quintessential guide to traditional New Zealand cuisine". This recipe for cinnamon scones comes from the 1914 edition.

Because there weren't a lot of directions included in this recipe and because I have never made scones before, I took some direction from a slightly older scone recipe I found in an American cookbook from 1921.

Original Recipe:

The Verdict:
Not bad. At 20 minutes, mine were slightly overcooked, but I think I also made them on the small side. The cinnamon on the inside was a little dry - it didn't soak into the dough at all, so it just sort of sat there. I think maybe mixing it directly into the dough or brushing the inside of the scones with milk or melted butter would help the cinnamon get a bit wetter. I used 4 heaping tablespoons of sugar, and although these weren't very sweet, I liked them that way. The 1921 recipe called for just 2, so it could be reduced. I should also note that I used about a 1 to 4 ratio of white to whole wheat flour, so they were a bit dense and weren't very fluffy. More like cookies, than scones. I'm not sure if I would make this exact recipe again, but I will definitely eat all of them because they are tasty. I give them a high 3 star rating, because the taste is good, but the execution needs improvement.

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from The Sure to Rise Cookery Book)

1 pound FLOUR
3 teaspoons BAKING POWDER
SUGAR, to taste (I used 4 tablespoons)
A pinch of SALT
2 ounces UNSALTED BUTTER
1 EGG, beaten
1/3 to 1/2 cup MILK
2 teaspoons CINNAMON

1. Preheat the oven to 375F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl or in a food processor, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
3. Use a pastry cutter or your food processor to blend in the butter. Add the egg and enough milk to make a soft dough. If it's a little wet, that's okay, because it will absorb flour during rolling.
4. On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/2 an inch thickness. Cut into 3-inch squares and sprinkle on cinnamon. Fold into triangles and press lightly.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.