Month: March 2025

Playing Card Suit Sandwich (Cookie?) Cutters

Card Suit Sandwich Cutter Ad
Source: American Cookery (March, 1925)

I was flipping through a hundred-year-old issue of American Cookery magazine and near the back was a page showing free premiums that new subscribers to the magazine could select. I almost fell over when I saw a set of card suit sandwich cutters. I have a similar (but not identical) set that I use as cookie cutters.

My cookie cutters were once my mother’s, and she had them for as long as I can remember. The metal on my cutters is a little worn and some parts are shinier than other parts, but I really like them. They are a nice size and nicely cut the cookie dough.  I’m now wondering if my cutters were originally intended to be sandwich cutters – though I tend to think that they probably are cookie cutters since they have metal on the top and it might be difficult to cut a thick sandwich with them.

I never really thought about it before, but assumed mine were mid-20th century cookie cutters. Now I am wondering if they are older than that and something that my mother originally got from her mother.

Old-Fashioned Apricot Souffle

Apricot SouffleWhere I live March came in like a lion, and I wanted to make a cheery dessert. I found a hundred-year-old recipe for Apricot Souffle that fits the bill. It was light and had a lovely apricot flavor with a hint of almond.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Apricot Souffle
Source: Rumford Complete Cook Book (1925)

I got this recipe out of a cookbook that I bought off eBay. It had a penciled checkmark at the top which suggests that the original owner of the cookbook made it.

I used a 15-ounce can of apricots. I drained them, and then measured the apricots and had about 1 cup of them which I then pureed. I baked the apricot souffle in custard cups. I did not grease and sugar the cups because I thought it might make the top portion of the cups that was above the apricot mixture look messy. It worked fine not to grease them.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Apricot Souffle

  • Servings: 4 - 5
  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Print

1 can (15-16 oz.) canned apricots

1/2 cup sugar

6 drops almond extract

3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Preheat oven to 350◦ F. Drain apricots and puree. Put pureed apricots in a saucepan and bring to a boil using medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and almond extract. Put a small amount of the apricot mixture (1 – 2 tablespoons) in the beaten eggs whites, and fold in. (The egg white is first combined with a little of the hot mixture to prevent it from immediately cooking when introduced into the hot combination.) Fold the egg whites into the remaining apricot mixture, then put into individual custard cups.  Put the custard cups in a pan containing enough hot water to come halfway up the cups. Bake until set and just beginning to brown (about 20 minutes).

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com