Old-fashioned Fried Cauliflower with Onion

Fried Cauliflower with Onion in Serving Dish

Cauliflower is a tasty, nutritious vegetable. It contains lots of vitamin C and folate – and is a good source of fiber. So I was thrilled to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Fried Cauliflower with Onion. The recipe was easy-to-make and delicious. This makes a great side dish.

Here is the original recipe:

Recipe for Fried Cauliflower with Onions — Source: Good Housekeeping’s Book of Recipes and Household Discoveries (1920)

I cut the florets from the stalk before putting boiling – though the head of cauliflower could be put in a large pot of boiling water to cook, and then the florets could be separated after cooking, if preferred.

And, here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Fried Cauliflower with Onion

Servings: 4 - 6
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 head cauliflower

1 teaspoon salt

1 large onion, chopped

2 tablespoons fat (cooking oil, shortening, or lard)

Cut cauliflower florets from the main stalk. Put florets in a saucepan and cover with water; add salt. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and cook until tender, about 5 -7 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

In the meantime, put fat in a skillet and heat until hot using medium heat. Add onions and fry until transparent and just beginning to brown while stirring occasionally. Add cooked cauliflower florets, and fry until lightly browned (about 10 minutes), while stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and serve.

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Old-fashioned Baked Honey Custard

Individual Serving of Baked Honey Custard Fall is in the air, the days are getting shorter, and I’ve been craving comfort food. So I was thrilled to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Baked Honey Custard. The recipe is a winner. Baked Honey Custard was easy to make, and had a delicate, silky texture. The honey and cinnamon flavors merged beautifully to create a delightfully flavored custard.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Baked Honey Custard

Servings: 7 - 9
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: moderate
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4 cups milk

5 eggs

1/2 cup honey

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon milk

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Scald the milk by putting in a saucepan, then heat using medium heat until the milk steams and is almost ready to begin boiling; stir constantly while heating the milk. (Another option is to scald the milk using a microwave. Set aside.)

In the meantime, put the eggs into a mixing bowl, and beat just until smooth. Add the honey, cinnamon, and salt; beat until the ingredients are combined. Add a small amount (approximately 1 – 2 tablespoons) of the hot scalded milk, while stirring. Continue to very slowly add the hot milk while stirring constantly. [The egg is first combined with a little of the hot mixture to prevent it from turning into scrambled eggs when introduced into the hot combination.]

Pour into custard cups. Place cups 13 X 9 X 2 inch baking pan. Pour very hot water into pan around cups to within 1/2 inch of top of cups.

Bake about 45 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Remove cups from water. Serve custard warm or chilled.

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Old-fashioned Flavored Beets

Beets are a perfect vegetable. They are colorful, tasty, high in fiber, and nutritious. They are a good source of folate, manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C.

I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Flavored Beets. When I read the ingredient list, the Flavored Beets sounded a lot like the Harvard Beets that my mother made in my youth, so I decided to give the recipe a try.

The Flavored Beets turned out wonderfully. This recipe is a keeper. The delightful sweet sour sauce was lovely, and worked perfectly to enhance the rich, earthy flavor of the beets. The sauce was not as thick as I remember the Harvard Beet sauce my mother made, but the taste was very similar.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Flavored Beets

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups sliced, cooked beets (I boiled, then sliced 4 medium beets – though canned beets would also work.)

3/4 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

Put the cornstarch and vinegar in a saucepan; stir until smooth. Add sugar and salt, and bring to a boil using medium heat while stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes while continuing to stir. Add butter, and stir until melted. Add beets, and reheat until the beets are hot while gently stirring. Serve

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Old-fashioned Stuffed Peach Salad

I eat lots of fresh fruit; canned fruit not so much. But a hundred-year-old recipe reminded me that canned fruits are delicious. Stuffed Peach Salad was easy to make, attractive, and most importantly, tasty.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Stuffed Peach Salad

Servings: approximately 5
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 15-ounce can peach halves

grapes, quartered

chopped walnuts

Drain peaches and arrange on plate. Fill the cavity of each peach with grapes and walnuts.

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Old-fashioned Butterscotch Apples

Fall is in the air! Evenings are a bit nippy, and the trees are starting to turn color. And, it’s the season for apples, so browsed through old magazines and books for an apple recipe. And, I think I found a winner.

I found a delightful hundred-year-old recipe for Butterscotch Apples. Stewed apples are served in a creamy brown sugar sauce.

Here is the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Butterscotch Apples

Servings: 2 - 3
Time: 25 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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5 large apples

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 to 1 tablespoon butter (I used 1 tablespoon.)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Peel, core, and quarter the apples.

In the meantime, put the brown sugar and water in a large saucepan. Using medium heat, bring to boil while stirring occasionally. Add the quartered apples. Cover and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently until the apples are tender (5-10 minutes) while stirring occasionally. (The apples can boil over, so watch carefully and reduce heat further if boiling too vigorously.) Remove the apples from the syrup using a slotted spoon; set both the apples and the syrup aside.

Put the cornstarch in another saucepan. Gradually stir in milk, and stir until smooth. Using medium heat, bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Add the syrup that the apples were cooked in. Bring back to a boil, and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the salt, butter, and vanilla.

To serve: May be served hot or cold. (I served it hot.) Put in the cooked apples in serving dishes, and spoon sauce over them.

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Emily’s White Cake with Confectioner’s Chocolate Frosting

slice of cake on plate — Source: Balanced Daily Diet (1920) by Janet McKenzie Hill

I recently came across a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for Emily’s White Cake, and decided to give it a try. I was intrigued by the recipe’s name. Who was Emily? – The recipe’s author? . . her daughter? . . . a neighbor who shared the recipe? . . .

I also wondered: Are recipes that are named after someone more likely to be good than more generically named ones? . . . or vice versa?

To make the frosting, I used a recipe in the same cookbook.

Here are the original recipes:

cake recipe — Source: Balanced Daily Diet (1920) by Janet McKenzie Hill

Frosting Recipe — Source: Balanced Daily Diet (1920) by Janet McKenzie Hill

The old recipe referred to moderate heat and high heat (and probably assumed that the cook was using a wood or coal stove). Many cakes are baked at 350° F, so I just used that temperature. It took a little longer to bake the cake than indicated in the old recipe.

The old cake recipe called for 3 tablespoons of baking powder – which seemed like a lot. I wondered if it was a typo – and really supposed to be 3 teaspoons. But in the end, I went with what the recipe said and used 3 tablespoons. The frosted cake tasted fine – though I think that it might have been better if I’d used less baking powder. (I ate a few cake crumbs, and they may have been a bit bitter, but it was not noticeable once the cake was frosted.)

[9/14/20 Note: Based on the research and comments of readers about other sources for this recipe – e.g., old Crisco advertisement that contained the recipe, other editions of the cookbook – I’ve determined that 3 tablespoons of baking powder was a typo and that it should be 3 teaspoons. I now include this information in the updated recipe.]

I doubled the recipe for Confectioner’s Chocolate Frosting to make enough to ice the cake layers. When I made the Confectioner’s Chocolate Frosting, the consistency and spreadability seemed a bit off, so I added 3 tablespoons of melted butter. This greatly improved the texture of the frosting, so when I updated the recipe I included butter as an ingredient.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Emily's White Cake with Confectioner's Chocolate Frosting

Servings: 8 - 10
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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Emily’s White Cake

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

3 tablespoons baking powder (I used 3 tablespoons which is what the old recipe called for, but other sources for this recipe state that 3 teaspoons should be used. The larger amount worked, but if I made the recipe again I’d use 3 teaspoons of baking powder. See note in blog post for details.)

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring

3 egg (whites only)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour two 9-inch baking pans.

Put egg whites in a medium mixing bowl; beat until stiff. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar. Add flour, baking powder, salt, water, flour, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Bake about 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool, then assemble layers and frost.

Confectioner’s Chocolate Frosting

2 squares chocolate, melted

3 tablespoons butter melted

1/4 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons boiling water (more water may be needed)

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups confectioner’s sugar

Put the melted chocolate and butter in sauce pan, add the granulated sugar and water. Heat using medium heat, while stirring until smooth. Remove from heat add the vanilla and confectioner’s sugar. Stir until smooth. Add additional water, if needed.

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Frozen Canned Apricots

I select most of the hundred-year-old recipes that I post on this blog because they genuinely sound like something I might enjoy. But, occasionally I chose a recipe because it seems so odd. This is one of these times.

The March, 1920 issue of American Cookery featured Frozen Canned Apricots – which is basically canned apricots frozen in the can. After they are frozen, they are removed from the can, and placed on a plate in the middle of a circle of marshmallow cream.

In 1920, there were few photos in magazines, but the editors of American Cookery were so enthralled with this recipe that they included not only the recipe, but also a photo.

Frozen Canned Apricots on Plate — Source: American Cookery (March, 1920)

The Frozen Canned Apricots were surprisingly tasty. My daughter said, “This is better than most of the recipes you make.” I decided that it was best not to probe too deeply into what that meant, but I think that it was praise.

There was a downside to the recipe. I didn’t really like the way it looked on the plate. If I made this recipe again, I think that I would just put the canned apricots and syrup in a freezer box, freeze – and then scoop the frozen mixture into bowls with a little marshmallow cream topping.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Frozen Canned Apricots — Source: American Cookery (March, 1920)

The old recipe called for freezing the contents of the can using ice and salt (somewhat similarly to how ice cream is made). A hundred-years-ago, most cooks probably didn’t have freezers, but since I have one, I decided to just open a can of apricots, cover it with plastic wrap, and freeze it in the freezer. This worked fine.

The old recipe called for a pint (2 cups) of marshmallow cream. When I made the recipe, that seemed like too much, so I only used approximately 1 cup.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Frozen Canned Apricots

Servings: 2 - 3
Time: 10 minutes active prep time
Difficulty: moderate
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1 can apricots (15-16 oz.)

approximately 1 cup marshmallow cream

Remove lid from can of apricots. Cover with plastic wrap, then secure the wrap with a rubber band. Put in freezer until frozen. (I froze it overnight.) About an hour before serving, remove from freezer, and let sit at room temperature. When ready to serve, make a circle of marshmallow cream (approximately 7-8 inches in diameter) on a plate. Slide the frozen apricots out of the can, and then place the frozen apricots in the middle of the marshmallow cream. Serve immediately.

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