Source: Modern Priscilla Cook Book: One Thousand Home Tested Recipes (1924)
Does anyone host formal dinners anymore? I don’t. They seem like something from the past – though apparently formal dinners were on their way out even a hundred years ago. Here’s what it said in a 1924 cookbook:
A formal dinner is an expensive and elaborate affair not to be undertaken unless one has at her command plenty of help and plenty of money. Very few really formal dinners are given nowadays except in those circles of society where the rigors of etiquette are punctiliously observed. We live in an informal age, and yet through all our informality we observe, generally, more rules of correct usage than the average family has ever done before. That is, there are more of us trying to follow the rules of good manners and consideration (upon which quality all good manner are built) than was the case when one element of society lived and moved by rule, and the rest of it went as it pleased.
The Modern Priscilla Cook Book: One Thousand Home Tested Recipes (1924)
I’m always looking for interesting breakfast foods, so was intrigued by a hundred-year-old recipe for Cherry Toast. This is basically is French Toast topped with a cherry sauce. The recipe turned out well – though the sauce seemed different from modern French Toast toppings. The sauce soaks into the toast for old-fashioned goodness and texture.
Here’s the original recipe:
Source: Modern Priscilla Cook Book: One Thousand Home Tested Recipes (1924)
Something is off with the number of slices of bread in this recipe. It calls for 16 slices of bread, but 1 egg plus 1/2 cup of milk is not nearly enough liquid to dip that many slices of bread into. When I made this recipe, it was enough liquid for 4 slices of bread. The recipe as written makes an appropriate amount of sauce for 4 slices.
I decided to use tart canned cherries (like the ones I use to make a pie) rather than sweet ones. The can I bought contained cherries canned in water, so I added 1/4 cup sugar to the sauce to make it a little sweeter.
When I made the sauce, I approached the process similarly to how I make white sauce, which is a slightly different process than described in the original recipe. I melted the butter in a saucepan, then stirred in the flour. I gradually added the cherry juice while stirring constantly, then stirred in the cherries.
1 can (approximately 14.5 ounce) tart cherries including both cherries and juice
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
approximately 1/4 cup sugar (optional)
Beat the egg, then add the milk; beat until mixed together. Dip the slices of bread in the egg and milk mixture, then brown both sides on a hot griddle.
In the meantime, melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour, then gradually add the cherry juice while stirring constantly. Stir in the cherries. Continue heating and stirring until the mixture boils. If the cherries were canned in water (rather than a sugar syrup), add sugar to taste. Remove from heat.
To serve, spoon the cherry sauce over the browned bread slices.
