1925 Bread Pudding

     I was looking in my vintage cookbooks the other day and one that I haven't spent much time with is "A Calendar of Dinners" a Crisco sponsored cookbook from 1925.  It has dinner menu plans for an entire year with recipes to go along with most of the items on the various menus.  As I was paging through I found this recipe, now I've always been a fan of bread pudding but I rarely make it as a loaf of bread doesn't last in my house.  This one intrigued me though for 2 reasons, first, I had all the ingredients on hand.  It's a rare day that I find a recipe where I don't have to hunt for some ingredient.

Black Forest Cake Recipe

From the start, this has to be the most intensive recipe I have ever made.  I followed the original recipe and made mistakes so what I am giving you here is my modified version for ease of preparation.  You're going to need some must have items in order to make this recipe, 3 cake pans and parchment paper.  Don't skip on the parchment paper or you'll regret it like I did.

Boston Cream Pie, 1920 Recipe

     This is another recipe that comes from a 1920 Cookbook called "Recipes For Everyday" that was underwritten by Crisco.  Naturally all the recipes involve crisco in the ingredients but in this case I can an least agree with it because I think that Crisco makes for a good cake and icing.  Now this recipe is already perplexing you as the picture runs counter to the usual Boston Cream Pie we are used to today, i.e. a yellow cake with custard filling and a chocolate ganache icing.  I thought that at first as well but after trying this recipe I think I like it better than what we are used to.

Potato Chip Cookies

Now here's an interesting recipe.  I'm not really sure of the history of these but they date back to at least the 40's and probably before.  They originated in the Baltimore area with the Hutzler's Department Stores where they were sold at the lunch counter and bakery.

Pumpkin Meringue Pie Recipe

Pumpkin pie, what can be more traditional for Thanksgiving dessert than this?  Once there were many recipes for pumpkin pie but then came Libbey's canned pumpkin and the one recipe to rule them all.  I ate my fill of pumpkin pies made with the Libbey's recipe all my life and always wanted something different, something not covered in mounds of whipped cream and not as sweet.  Then I stumbled upon this recipe, dating from 1920.  Many pies we cover with whipped cream today were actually topped with meringue back in the early 1900's.  This recipe has been a huge winner with both me and my wife and even my family liked it.  It's a little more involved than your typical pumpkin pie but the result is worth it.  I get up early in the morning and make the crust from scratch then whip up the pie and have it baked and ready to go before I put the turkey in the oven.  You can make your own pumpkin puree or use canned but here's something to think about, Libbey's pumpkin is actually a variety of butternut squash, not really pumpkin.  Real pie pumpkin has a different texture and a slightly stronger taste. This recipe took first place in The Fresh Market's holiday recipe contest in 2014.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe

Mixing rhubarb with strawberries is an old tradition probably dating back to the 1800's.  Rhubarb was easy to grow in the garden although it likes cooler weather so thrives best in the spring and fall.  The sweetness of good ripe strawberries is balanced with the slightly tart flavor of the rhubarb to make for an excellent combination.  As with all vintage pie recipes, getting the amount of thickening agent (flour in this case) just right is a bit of a pain.  Too little and pie is juicy and doesn't set right, too much and the pie filling is gummy.  I think in the old days cooks were able to eyeball the juiciness of the fruit in the recipe and their intuition told them how much thickening agent to use.  I highly recommend making your own crust for this or any pie.  There is just no comparison between homemade crust and store bought crust.  Also if you make your own crust you can add the true secret ingredient of this recipe, orange juice.  Just replace the water in the crust recipe with orange juice, in mine I used Indian River Valencia.  I was going to shoot a video of how to do a proper and easy lattice crust top but my camera broke so it's going to have to wait until I get a new one capable of shooting video.

Carnegie Deli Cheesecake Recipe & Review

I made this back when we had some family coming into town to visit.  The Carnegie Deli has been open since 1937 on 55th St. in New York City and quite possibly lays claim to the true, original New York Style Cheesecake.  This is quite different from any other cheesecake recipe out there.  Gone is the graham cracker crust and heavy consistency, this is a light citrusy  cheesecake that will leave you in a state of bliss.  Before we go into the recipe I will warn you just like the Carnegie Deli site does, it may take you a couple times to get this recipe right.  It's very complicated for the home cook, used to opening a box and adding eggs and oil to make a cake.  I say this not to dissuade you from trying it because in great risk there is great reward.  I got it right the first time and you can too if you follow the directions.  Make this the day before you need it, it really needs a day to mature in the refrigerator before you serve it. 

Carnegie Deli Cheesecake

Cookie Crust
1cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 - inch bits

Crust:
1. To make the crust, place the flour, sugar, grated lemon rind, vanilla extract, egg yolk, and butter in a large mixing bowl. With your fingertips, rub the ingredients together until they are well mixed and can be gathered into a ball. Dust with a little flour, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

2. Butter and flour the bottom of a 9 inch X 2 inch spring-form pan, roll out a piece of dough to cover bottom. Dough should be as thick as for a normal sugar cookie (1/4 inch) Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven to a light brown color. Cool the pan and bottom. Butter the sides of the pan. Roll out and line the sides of the pan with more of the cookie dough. Trim excess dough from the edges. 

Cheese Filling

1 1/4 pounds softened cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Filling:
To make the filling, place the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until it is creamy and smooth (use a mixer at low speed, you don't want to incorporate air into the mix). Beat in the sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, and, when it is well incorporated, beat in the flour, lemon, vanilla, eggs and egg yolk and heavy cream. No lumps please!

Baking Step One:
Preheat the oven to 485-500 degrees. Oven should be hot to enhance color. Pour the filling into the cookie dough lined pan, bake in the center of the oven until a dark brown color has been achieved. The cake should also start to rise slightly. Cool for 30 minutes and set oven to 350 degrees.

Baking Step Two:
After cheesecake has cooled for 30 minutes, return the cheesecake to the oven for final baking (this procedure will set the cheesecake).

NOTE: Cheesecake is like a pudding with only eggs being used to firm the cake. When the cake is bouncy in the center and slightly risen in the middle as well as on the sides, it's finished!

Baking time at 350°F will vary (usually 25 to 40 minutes) depending on your oven.

Final Step:
Cool cheesecake in pan for at least 2 hours before trying to remove it from the pan. Refrigerate the cheesecake overnight. For best flavor, cheesecake should be served at nearly room temperature. Slice cake using a hot, wet knife; wipe blade clean between slices.

NOTE: If you overbake, the cake will crack and be too firm. If you underbake, the cake will tend to be soft in the center. 

Despite the steep learning curve of making such a complicated recipe it actually turned out excellent.  Everyone loved the texture and, yes, it's a heavy dessert but nowhere near the belly bomb that your usual cheesecake recipe is.  I will make this again and I've learned a couple things along the way that will help me make this even better than the first time (i.e. Make it the day beforehand and really use a 9" pan not a 10").

Karo Corn Syrup

Wow, people used to get married young back in the old days... ok, not really.  This lovely ad for Karo Corn Syrup is from 1910 and coincides with an ad campaign launched by the president of corn products refining board.  He believed so fiercely in the dependable high quality and flavor of corn syrup that he spend an astonishing (for the time) $250,000 in ads for Karo corn syrup.  This ad is one of the most famous and the Karo Kids are featured again in full color on a Karo Cookbook initially released the same year.  Karo itself was invented in 1902 and name came from either the chemist that invented it who named it after his wife's nickname or was from an earlier syrup called "Kairomel" depending on who you ask.¹

1933 Devil's Food Cake Recipe

I got to thinking about what I was going to post today and after looking over the recipes I realized it's been awhile since I did a dessert one.  I made this cake back in February for Dad's Birthday but it's been sitting in my folder ever since because I was rather chuffed when I posted the picture to the Blog's Facebook Page as everyone was more interested in the red coffee pot than the cake.  I think that's why it took me so long to get around to posting this recipe.  The recipe for the cake comes from a 1933 advertisement for Baker's Chocolate.  You should know my modus operandi by now, I hate and despise anything that comes as a mix in a box, Devil's Food Cake is no exception so I was quite happy when I found this recipe and decided to give it a go and see how it turned out.  I was rather pleased by the result and I think you will be too.

Easy Recipes for Sweet or Savory Crepes

Crepes have been around for a long time and each country has their own version of the crepe.  They were truly made famous by a French chef who invented Crepes Suzette.  There are 2 ways to make crepes, the sweet way with wheat flour for desserts and the crepes gallette way with buckwheat flour for savory dishes.¹  Most Americans think making crepes is some sort of wizardry, harder than it really is.  If you can make a pancake, you can make crepes.  It is however helpful to have some specialist equipment such as a crepe pan.  Crepe pans are flat with very low sides that make it easier to flip the crepes when they are cooking.  The pans can be found in non-stick and blued steel versions.  I recommend the non-stick for beginners because the blued steel pans require a bit of seasoning before use.  Also helpful is to have a long thin metal spatula called an icing spatula.

Tiramisu' al Lampone (Tiramisu with Raspberries)

The other day we had a visit from a cousin of ours that we had never met.  She was very nice and it was a great to meet members of the family we've never met before.  I already had lasagna (click for recipe) planned for the day so I wanted to get a dessert together that stuck with the Italian theme of the day.  This was when dad suggested a tiramisu, specifically Tiramisu' al lampone (Tiramisu' with Raspberries).  This recipe comes from a cookbook sold by 5 brothers pasta sauce.  5 brothers is still around, it's just marketed under the Bertolli name now.  The recipe in the cookbook was an ultra decadent traditional tiramisu made with mascarpone and marsala wine.  This is not a cheap dessert, this is a "pull out all the stops I want to impress the guests" dessert.  Don't be tempted to replace the mascarpone with cream cheese.  You won't be saving anything and the loss of flavor and texture will result in an insipid end result that will be reminiscent of restaurant tiramisu everywhere.  Make this a day ahead if you can, it needs a minimum of 8 hours to chill and set.

Louisiana Cooking: Jacksonville Mardi Gras King Cake

King cake is a Mardi Gras tradition dating back many years.  Filled with cinnamon sugar, Pecan praline or cream cheese filling it has come to symbolize the whole Mardi Gras experience.  The colors on the cake represent Faith (Purple), Justice (Green) and Power (Gold), meanings they were given in 1872 by "Rex" king of Mardi Gras.  You may be wondering why I decided to name this Jacksonville King Cake... isn't king cake a New Orleans tradition?  Yes, but I decided to give it a twist and replace the lemon peel in the recipe with orange peel.  If you really want to keep it traditional then just stick with lemon peel where I use orange peel.

Fresh Blueberry Pie Recipe

One of the great things about living in Florida is all the fresh produce, and we get it before anyone else in the country gets it. Right now is early berry season here and we're able to get fresh strawberries from Plant City and blueberries from Winter Haven. Since the blueberries were on sale 2/$5 at Publix and I had a nice vintage recipe for blueberry pie with a lattice top I figured I'd give it a go.

Try Spry For Cooking On The Fly

It's time for another Spry Ad!  Actually I don't think I ever had one to post before since I have a hard time finding them.  I can't really make fun of these ads too much because the Spry Cookbook has been so valuable in instructing me how to cook with shortening.  Well that's a great thing since that's what it's original writers intended but for me it's different.  Housewives of the 1930's were used to cooking with fats like shortening and lard but after so many years in the grips of the food Nazi's and a health profession that performs "Studies" whored out to the highest bidder we have a nation that is fat shy.  Indeed we cringe at the mere thought of cooking with fats like Nosferatu seeing a crucifix.

Wordless Wednesday, Pumpkin Pie

The First Pumpkin Pie of 2011

Recipe: Spry Spicy Apple Pie

Rustic Apple Pie

I've been fooling around with a vintage Apple Pie Recipe for a long time now and finally nailed it the other day.  This recipe is from the Spry Cookbook "What Shall We Cook Today?" although it has been modified slightly so that it will turn out better.  I don't know if apples are just different from what you used to be able to get (This is what dad tells me and he's 66), but I've never been able to make a proper apple pie from a vintage recipe.  They always come out runny and not cooked enough.  So here's the recipe:

Recipe: Butterscotch Cake With Butterscotch Icing

As promised the recipe for Butterscotch Cake from the 1934 Spry Cookbook.

Before I start with this recipe I have to give a word of warning.  Do not attempt this without a candy thermometer.  I'm assuming housewives in the 30's knew what hard ball stage was in reguards to candymaking and I knew because of experimentation with candymaking years ago, but I still was very much in want of a candy thermometer.  That being said, here's the recipes: