Rolling Pin Covers and Pastry Clothes Create the “Magic Roller”

Rolling Pie Crust — Source: Mrs. Peterson’s Simplified Cooking (1926)

When I make a pie, I still use a traditional rolling pin with handles to roll out the crust. I cover the rolling pin with a cloth rolling pin cover, and roll the pie pastry out on a thick canvas pastry cloth that I’ve dusted with flour. I know that many people swear that it’s easier to make a nice crust using a straight rolling pin that looks almost like a piece of a thick dowel, but so far I’m sticking with the traditional rolling pin.

I recently was browsing through a hundred-year-old cookbook and was thrilled to discover that the cookbook author supports how I roll out pie crusts, and that she even considers the use of a pastry cloth and rolling pin covered with a cloth rolling pin cover to be the “magic roller” method. It’s good to know that an expert (even if she lived a hundred years ago) supports the process I use.

Here’s what the old cookbook says. (The cookbook author refers to “paste.” This is an archaic term for “pastry.”)

The “magic roller,” made of a square of heavy linen or canvas with a stockinet cover for the rolling pin, makes it possible to handle the paste with practically no addition of flour. The canvas and stockinet material, unlike wood, allow the little flour used to sink into the meshes, and the paste when pressed between the two surfaces slides along without sticking or absorbing the flour.

Mrs. Peterson’s Simplified Cooking

Old-Fashioned Cranberry Banana Dessert

Cranberry Banana Dessert in dish Cranberries were a popular fruit a hundred years ago, and many old cookbooks contain a few cranberry recipes. This year, I was intrigued by a recipe in a 1926 community cookbook from Peoria, Illinois. It contained a recipe for Cranberry Banana Dessert.

The Cranberry Banana Dessert was easy to make, tasty, and a delightful “new” way to serve cranberries. Sliced bananas, cranberries, chopped walnuts, and sugar are layered in a flat baking dish, which is then put in the oven until the cranberries burst, and the mixture is hot and bubbly. This dessert is allowed to cool before serving. It is then put into serving dishes and topped with whipped cream.

Here is the original recipe:

Recipe for Cranberry Banana Dessert — Source: 1926 cookbook compiled by the Domestic Science Class of the Peoria (IL) Women’s Club

When I made this recipe, I was befuddled by the directions to serve the Cranberry and Banana Dessert with “whipped cream and marshmallows.” I couldn’t quite picture how to combine those two things into a topping, so I just went with the whipped cream and skipped the marshmallows.

The old recipe called for 1/4 to 1/2 cup nuts. When I made the recipe, I used 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.

It took longer for the cranberries to burst, and for the mixture to become hot and bubbly than indicated in the original recipe. I used an oven temperature of 350° F. Maybe the recipe author used a higher temperature. In any case, when I updated the recipe, I increased the cooking time.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Cranberry Banana Dessert

Servings: 3 - 5
Time: 40 - 45 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Print

3 medium bananas

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

2 cups cranberries

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

whipped cream

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350° F.

Step 2. Peel and slice the bananas, then put the slices in a flat baking dish. (A 9-inch by 9-inch baking dish works well.)

Step 3. Spread the chopped walnuts over the banana slices.

Step 4. Spread the cranberries over the walnuts, then sprinkle the sugar over the cranberries.

Step 5. Pour the water into a corner of the dish.

Step 6. Place the dish in the oven, and bake until the cranberries burst and the liquid is hot and bubbly (about 30 – 35 minutes), then remove from oven and gently stir the top layers of the mixture to mix the cranberries and sugar. (Use care not to stir so deeply that the banana slices are mixed into the cranberry layer.)

Step 7. Return to oven and cook until the mixture again begins to bubble (about 3 – 5 minutes).

Step 8. Remove from oven and let cool, then serve with whipped cream.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Aunt Milly’s Exact Recipe for the Perfect Cake

spice cake on plate Old community cookbooks often contain lots of items in addition to recipes. They often have household tips, and may include poems or even humor. For example, the 1926 Pennsylvania State Grange Cook Book had a short, humorous piece about measurement “exactness” when making cakes:

Exactness

When you wish to try a new recipe, or in using an old one, always follow it to the letter. One often hears the remark: “The first time I made it, it was just perfect, but I have never been able to get it like that again.” Is it not because you changed a little from the exact recipe?

Like old Aunt Milly, when asked if she was willing to give her recipe for a nice cake, replied: “Why, certainly. It’s just as easy as nothing to make it. I just take as much flour as I think I’ll need and quite a little dab o’ butter, and a pinch or two o’ creamy tartar, an’ sev’ral eggs, if they’re plenty, an’ less if they ain’t, an’ mabbe a mite of salt, an’ stir ’em until I git tired an’ bake it in an averidge oven until I think it’s done. That’s all there is to it.

By the 1920’s, standardized recipes were commonly used. Most cookbooks contained recipes with a title, list of ingredients, baking temperature, and directions. Women’s magazine (as well as commercially published cookbooks) often stressed the importance of accurate measurement when making a recipe. As standardized recipes became common, it became humorous to poke fun at cooks who still used less precise cooking methods.

Since this cookbook was compiled by Grange members in rural Pennsylvania, and many residents of the state in the 1920’s were Pennsylvania Dutch (German), I’m guessing that the author of this short piece was trying to imitate the accent of someone who had a Pennsylvania Dutch accent.

Grilled Apples (Apples with Caramel Sauce)

Grilled Apples (Apples with Caramel Sauce) in baking dish

Sometimes hundred-year-old cookbooks contain recipes with names that seem incorrect or make little sense. I recently came across a 1926 recipe for “Grilled Apples” that basically was for peeled apple quarters that were smothered in a caramel-flavored sauce and then baked until tender. Dark corn syrup provided the caramel flavor in the sauce. The recipe did indicate that the baked apples were supposed to be put under the broiler to brown the apples after they were baked, so maybe that’s why the recipe author called them “Grilled Apples.”

The Grilled Apples (Apples with Caramel Sauce) were tasty and made a nice fruit dessert. The sauce had a rich, robust sweetness with hints of caramel and a slight molasses flavor.

Here is the original recipe:

Recipe for Grilled Apples (Apples with Caramel Sauce) — Source: The Modern Method of Preparing Delightful Foods (1926)

This recipe was in a cookbook published by the Corn Products Refining Company. The cookbook promoted the use of Karo corn syrup, but any dark corn syrup would work in this recipe. I have a somewhat negative opinion of corn syrup, but the brand I used said on the label that it contained “0 grams” of high fructose corn syrup which reassured me a little.

I also did an online search to learn more about high fructose corn syrup, and found a FAQ page on the Karo website. It says that Karo does not currently contain high fructose corn syrup:

When Karo^® was introduced in 1902, it did not contain high fructose corn syrup. In the 1970s, high fructose corn syrup was added to the Karo^® Light, Karo^® Dark and Karo^® Pancake Syrups. In response to consumer requests, high fructose corn syrup was removed from Karo^® Light and Karo^® Dark.

It’s interesting that cooks using Karo both a hundred years ago and now are not using a syrup that contains high fructose corn syrup, but that during some of the intervening years they were.

Mazola Corn Oil is another product made by the same company that makes Karo. I didn’t bother to grease the baking dish, but, if desired, it could be greased with butter or any cooking oil.

Here is the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Grilled Apples (Apples with Caramel Sauce)

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 50 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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4 cups quartered apples (Use an apple variety that keeps its shape when baked – Haralson, Rome, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Braeburn, etc.)

3/4 cup corn syrup

1/4 cup water

1/8 teaspoon salt

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350° F.

Step 2. Put the corn syrup, water, and salt in a bowl; stir to combine. Set aside.

Step 3. Put the quartered apples in a single layer in a flat baking dish. (A 9-inch by 9-inch baking dish works well.)

Step 4. Spoon the corn syrup mixture over the apples, then put the apples in the oven.

Step. 5. Bake until the apples are tender (approximately 30 – 45 minutes); occasionally baste the apples with some of the syrup while baking.

Step 6. Put the cooked apples under the broiler for 1-2 minutes to lightly brown the apples. The apples can be served either hot or cold.

http://www.hundredyearsago.com

1926 Mueller’s Egg Noodles Advertisement

Advertisement of Mueller's Egg Noodles — Source: American Cookery (July/August, 1926)

Hundred-year-old advertisements provide a window into the times. Sometimes these ads say things that are offensive or make little sense today. A 1926 advertisement for Mueller’s Egg Noodles in American Cookery magazine does both. It makes me cringe that the ad assumes that the magazine readers are white.

The ad is also very confusing. I get that noodles are a substitute for potatoes, and I also know that, both then and now, people were concerned about rough, dry hands. But then I get lost. Does peeling potatoes somehow result in rough hands?

Many people a hundred years ago ate potatoes at almost every meal. Potatoes were often peeled to make boiled, fried, or mashed potatoes. But, is peeling potatoes more likely to cause rough hands than other tasks related to cooking?

I don’t peel potatoes twice a day, and potatoes purchased at a store today generally have already been washed. But, I do regularly peel potatoes, and my hands are rough (though fortunately not grimy). Maybe I should decrease my potato consumption and serve more noodles. Peeling Potatoes

The ad also highlights that it takes less time to prepare noodles than to make potatoes. It says that that noodles can be cooked in 9 minutes, while it takes 35 to 40 minutes to peel and cook potatoes. Cooks, generally women, a hundred years ago embraced commercially-produced foods, and dishes that could be prepared quickly.

Old-Fashioned Marshmallow Fudge

Pieces of Marshmallow Fudge on plate

It’s always fun to look through hundred-year-old cookbooks and magazines to find recipes to make for this blog. I generally select recipes I think would be tasty and fun to make. Often the recipes use seasonal ingredients.

This week I decided to make a hundred-year-old recipe for Marshmallow Fudge for a very practical (and perhaps boring) reason. Several weeks ago, I made Apple Mallows (Baked Apples with Marshmallows), and I had some left-over marshmallows. When I was flipping through an old cookbook and saw a recipe for Marshmallow Fudge, I immediately thought, “What a great way to use up those marshmallows in the cupboard!”

The recipe called for melting marshmallows in a hot fudge mixture. The melted marshmallows helped create a lovely smooth fudge, as well as provided some of the sugar in this recipe.

I’m glad I decided to make Marshmallow Fudge. It was easier to make than many candies and turned out beautifully. The fudge contained walnuts, was rich, and melted in my mouth. It was not the least bit grainy.

Here is the original recipe:

And, here is the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Marshmallow Fudge

Servings: about 40 pieces
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
Print

1 tablespoon butter

3 cups sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1/8 teaspoon salt

5 teaspoons cocoa

3 tablespoons water

8 ounces marshmallows

1 cup chopped walnuts

Step 1. Melt and lightly brown butter in a large saucepan. (Use care not to burn the butter.)

Step 2. Add sugar and cream; stir until combined.

Step 3. Bring to a boil using medium heat, then reduce heat, but continue to gently boil until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (235-240° F.). (Do not stir the boiling mixture to avoid crystallization.)

Step 4. In the meantime, put the cocoa in a small bowl; Gradually add the water while stirring. Stir until the mixture is smooth.

Step 5. Add the salt and the cocoa mixture to the boiling sugar mixture which has reached the soft ball stage; gently stir until thoroughly combined.

Step. 6. Continue boiling for a little longer until the mixture again reaches the soft ball stage (235 – 240° F.).

Step 7. Add the marshmallows to the mixture and immediately remove pan from heat; stir until the marshmallows are melted, then continue stirring until the fudge is creamy and begins to thicken.

Step 8. Stir the chopped walnuts into the fudge.

Step 9. Line a 9-inch by 9-inch pan with parchment paper (or thickly butter the pan), then spread the fudge in the pan. Lightly score the fudge to mark where it will be cut.

Step 10. Allow fudge to cool, then cut into pieces.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Afternoon Teas and “At Home” Days a Hundred Years Ago

Woman by table set for tea — Source: The New Winston Cook Book of Guaranteed Recipes (1926)

Afternoon teas and “at home” days were two ways that women entertained a hundred years ago. Here’s what it said in a 1926 cookbook:

Afternoon tea is continually becoming more popular, and for good reason. From its very simplicity, it is no tax on the hostess, and is a most welcome and restful break in the “busy-ness” of a busy day. At an “At Home” day, which may be a set day and hour at intervals throughout several weeks, a hostess receives many of her friends at one time, and although she owes each guest a call in return, she has the pleasure and satisfaction of being “in” when her friends call.

The New Winston Cook Book of Guaranteed Recipes (1926)