Old-Fashioned Cocoa Raisin Muffins

Cocoa Raisin Muffins

There is a fun children’s book that contains both a story and recipes called Billy in Bunbury. It was a promotional book that was published in 1925 by the Price Baking Powder Company. I decided to make a recipe in the book for Cocoa Raisin Muffins.

The muffins were delicious. They were chocolatey with a hint of cinnamon, and had a nice texture with lots of raisins. And, the recipe does not call for any eggs – an added bonus during this time of exorbitant egg prices. Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Cocoa Raisin Muffins — Source: Billy in Bunbury (1925)

It is a little surprising that a recipe in a children’s cookbook calls for 7/8 cup of milk. I seldom see recipes that call for eights of a cup, and it seems like an especially complex measure for a child to navigate when making this recipe.

Raisins were the last ingredient I added when I made this recipe, and that worked fine.

The recipe indicates that this recipe will make 16 muffins, but when I made this recipe, it only made 12 muffins. The number of muffins is very dependent upon the size of the individual muffin cups in the muffin tin. Apparently, muffins were fairly small a hundred years ago.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Cocoa Raisin Muffins

Servings: 12 -14
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 3/4 cups flour

2 tablespoons cocoa

5 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

4 teaspoons baking powder

2/3 cup raisins

7/8 cup milk

5 tablespoons butter or shortening, melted

Preheat oven to 400◦ F. Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. Slowly add milk while stirring. Continue stirring until the batter is smooth, then add butter or shortening, and stir until combined. Stir in raisins. Put batter into prepared muffin tins. Fill each muffin cup about 3/4th full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

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Old-Fashioned Corn Souffle

Corn Souffle

I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Corn Souffle, and decided to try it. The recipe called for separating the eggs and stiffly beating the egg whites, then folding them into a white sauce and corn mixture which is baked.

The Corn Souffle turned out well. It was delicious, and had a light, creamy, pudding-like texture.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Corn Souffle

Servings: 4 - 5
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 eggs, separated

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1/3 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2/3 cup milk

1 cup cooked corn (I used canned creamed corn.)

Heat oven to 375◦ F. Put egg whites in bowl; beat until stiff. Set aside.

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Put egg yolks in a small bowl; stir until smooth. Place a small amount (approximately 1 – 2 tablespoons) of hot mixture into dish with egg yolk, stir quickly. (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.) Add egg mixture to the remaining hot mixture in the saucepan; stir. Add the corn and stir. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour into an 8″X8″X2″ or similar-sized casserole dish. Bake in oven uncovered until thickens (approximately 25 – 35 minutes.)

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Old-Fashioned Deviled Cheese

Deviled Cheese on crackers

I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Deviled Cheese. It basically was a recipe for hot crackers with a tangy cheese topping. In addition to cheese, the topping contained olive oil, vinegar, ground mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. The zesty topping was tasty. This recipe was easy to make and is a fun twist on more modern ways of serving crackers and cheese.

Here’s the original recipe:

Deviled Cheese Recipe — Source: The Rumford Complete Cook Book, 1925

I spread the cheese topping on the crackers, and then heated in the oven for five minutes. I did not add any salt or pepper. The cheese and Worcestershire sauce already made this a bit salty and, in my opinion, it did not need pepper.

I didn’t try the toast option, or the option of spreading the topping on hot, toasted crackers. The cheese, oil, and vinegar did not combine very well until they were heated, so I didn’t think that it would work very well without actually heating the topping.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Deviled Cheese

Servings: 5 - 8
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used cheddar cheese.)

1 teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

crackers

Preheat oven to 400◦ F. Put the grated cheese, ground mustard and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl; stir to combine. Add the olive oil and stir. Then add vinegar and stir until all ingredients are combined. Put crackers on a baking sheet then spread the deviled cheese on top of them. (Do not go quite to the edge.). Put in oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

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Old-Fashioned Valentine Wafers

In some ways it is hard to believe that it is already February, and time to start thinking about Valentine’s Day. I have warm memories of helping my children prepare valentines to distribute at school and baking heart-shaped cookies, so when I saw a hundred-year-old recipe for Valentine Wafers, I decided to give them a try.

The Wafers were delightful. Each cookie has half of a candied cherry in the center. A unique feature of the recipe is that it calls for whole wheat flour, so I guess that the cookies are marginally healthier than the typical cut-out cookie.

Here’s the original recipe:

Valentine Wafers

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Valentine Wafers

Servings: approximately 36 cookies
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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1 egg white

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup water

2 cups whole wheat flour

candied cherries, cut into halves (approximately 18 cherries needed; may be more or less depending upon size of cookie cutters)

Preheat oven to 400◦ F. Put egg white into a bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add cream of tartar, baking soda, and vanilla; stir to combine. Then add half the water and half the flour; stir. Add remaining water and flour; stir until thoroughly combined, then fold in the beaten egg white. If the dough is sticky, add additional flour to get it to a good consistency for rolling. Roll out the dough on a prepared surface to 1/4 inch thick; then cut into heart shapes. Place on greased baking sheets. Put half a candied cherry in the center of each heart, and press firmly. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

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Old-Fashioned Clove Cake

Slices of Clove Cake

I love Spice Cakes, so when I saw a recipe for Clove Cake in a hundred-year-old cookbook I was intrigued. Was it similar to Spice Cake or quite different? I decided to give it a try and see what it was like.

The verdict– The recipe makes a small loaf cake. I have mixed feelings about this cake. It was tasty, but not very aesthetically pleasing. The cake had an old-fashioned goodness with the warm, sweet, spiciness of cloves. The flavor is more intense than the typical spice cake, but it was good. My husband said that the worst thing about the cake was that there was not enough of it. The texture of the cake was nice, however, the cake fell when I took it out of the oven, so it did not look that great. The recipe called for a really high ratio of sugar to flour, and I think that this might be the issue.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Clove Cake — Source: The Home Makers’ Cooking School Cook Book (1925)

I am unclear why the recipe calls for adding the raisins before adding the baking soda and some of the flour. It’s difficult to get a well-mixed batter when there are chunky raisins in the mixing bowl, so I updated the recipe to add the raisins last.

When I made this recipe, the chopped raisins sank to the bottom. In hindsight I realized that I probably should have tossed them in flour prior to stirring them into the batter. This probably would have helped keep them dispersed throughout the cake. When I updated the recipe, I indicated that the raisins should be floured.

Sweet milk is just regular milk. In the days before pasteurized milk, some cake recipes called for sour milk. I’m not sure why the recipe author felt the need to clarify that milk that had not soured should be used.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Clove Cake

Servings: 5 - 7
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup flour + 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup chopped raisins

Preheat oven to 350◦ F. Grease and flour a loaf pan (bread pan). In a small bowl, toss the raisins with two tablespoons to flour. (This will help keep them from sinking to the bottom). Set aside.

Put butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream. Add the eggs, milk, 1/2 cup flour, baking soda and cloves; beat until combined. Stir in the chopped raisins. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 35 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. If desired, glaze or frost cake after it has cooled.

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Old-Fashioned Chicken Curry (Recipe 2)

Chicken Curry on plate

I was surprised to find a Chicken Curry recipe in a hundred-year-old St. Paul, Minnesota church cookbook compiled by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Chicken Curry is a traditional Indian dish, and I would not have expected it to be commonly made in the U.S. in 1925. But, maybe one of Sisters had been a missionary in India, or maybe I just did not realize how small the world already was becoming.

The Chicken Curry was lovely and had a very nice sauce.

Here’s the original recipe:

Chicken Curry Recipe — Source: Diamond Jubilee Recipes Compiled by the Sisters of Saint Joseph (St. Paul MN, 1925)

Two teaspoons of salt seemed like a lot, so when I updated the recipe, I changed it to 1 teaspoon.

The recipe called for covering the chicken with water and then thickening with flour. When I made this recipe I had a lot of broth, so a measured out 2 cups of broth and only thickened that amount.

The original recipe called for a whole chicken that was cut into pieces. These days rather than selling chicken parts for the entire chicken, they are often sold by the particular type (thigh, breast, leg), so when I made this recipe I decided to use chicken thighs.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Chicken Curry

Servings: 4 - 5
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: moderate
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1 3-lb. chicken cut into pieces (or 3 pounds of chicken pieces) – I used thighs.

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon curry powder

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

water

Put vegetable oil in skillet and heat using medium heat. When hot, add the chicken pieces; cook for 10 minutes. Turn the pieces of chicken. Make a space at one side of the skillet and add the onion slices. Cook for another 10 minutes.

In the meantime, combine vinegar, salt, curry powder and 1 cup water in a small bowl. Then add to the chicken and onions. Add enough additional water to just barely cover the chicken. Bring to a boil and cover. Cook until the chicken is tender (about an additional 20 minutes).

Remove lid and measure out 2 cups of broth. Set aside.

Melt butter in saucepan then stir in the flour. Gradually add the broth while stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and when the mixture has thickened remove from the heat. Strain the sauce.

To serve, put the chicken pieces on a plate. Top with the sauce. Serve with rice.

Addendum: After this post was published, a reader discovered that I’d previously done a post in 2019 with another Chicken Curry recipe. I added “Recipe 2” to the title of this post. Not quite sure how I had forgotten doing the original one. In any case, both versions are nice. Here’s the link to the other version:

Old-Fashioned Chicken Curry (Recipe 1)

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Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Sticks

oatmeal sticks

When I was recently browsing through the recipes in a hundred-year-old cookbook I saw a recipe for Oatmeal Sticks and was intrigued. Breadsticks are a nice addition to a meal, and I thought that Oatmeal Sticks might be a nice change of pace. When I read the recipe, I was surprised that flour was the main ingredient and that the recipe called for a relatively small amount of oatmeal, but decided to proceed anyway and give it a try. Many breadstick recipes call for yeast, while this recipe was in a cookbook published by the Rumford Baking Powder Company so it called for the use of baking powder.

The Oatmeal Sticks were very rustic and had an artisan look. They were tasty but denser than the typical breadstick and had the texture of a quick bread. I could not tell that the baked Oatmeal Sticks actually contained oatmeal, though it may have contributed to the texture.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Oatmeal Sticks — Source: Rumford Complete Cook Book (1925)

It took me substantive time to shape the Oatmeal Sticks, and even though I tried to do it very carefully, they were not as smooth as the typical bread stick (which I will again attribute to the use of baking powder rather than yeast).

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Oatmeal Sticks

Servings: approximately 18 sticks
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: moderate
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1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 cup oatmeal (I used quick 1-minute oatmeal.)

3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup shortening

Preheat oven to 425◦ F. Using medium heat, bring milk to a boil, then stir in the oatmeal and turn off heat.

In the meantime, in a mixing bowl combine the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder, then cut in the shortening. Add the cooked oatmeal and mix until all the ingredients are combined, then put on a prepared surface and knead for a few minutes until the mixture is smooth. Roll into sticks about the length and diameter of a pencil. Place on baking sheets (space about 1 1/2 inches apart). Cover dough that has not yet been made into sticks as well as the sticks that have been shaped while working to prevent them from drying out. Put in oven and bake until lightly browned (about 10 minutes).

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