“Cry Babies” Cookies

 

"Cry Babies" CookiesSometimes old recipes have really fun, descriptive names. When I saw a recipe in a hundred-year-year old cookbook for “Cry Baby” cookies, I just knew that I needed to give it a try.

The cookies are an old-fashioned drop cookie with molasses and spices – and lots of raisins and nuts. They were lovely – and I can see why children would “cry” for them. These cookies would be a perfect addition to a child’s (or adult’s) packed lunch.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for "Cry Babies" Cookies
Source: The New Home Cook Book, 1924 Edition (Published by the Illinois State Register, Springfield, IL)

This recipe makes a lot of cookies – probably about 100 cookies. Most modern cookie recipes don’t make that many cookies, so I updated the recipe to make 1/2 of the old recipe.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

'Cry Babies' Cookies

  • Servings: approximately 50
  • Difficulty: easy
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1/2 cup hot coffee

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup shortening

1 egg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

dash salt

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 375° F. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot coffee.

Put sugar, molasses, shortening, egg, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and the coffee with baking soda in a large mixing bowl; beat until combined. Add flour, and stir until combined and smooth. Add raisins and walnuts; stir to distribute throughout the dough. Drop heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

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Old-Fashioned Corn Beef with Vegetables

Corn Beef with Vegetables on plate

March is the perfect time for corned beef so I was excited when I found a hundred-year-old recipe for Corn Beef with Vegetables. (Is it “corned beef” or “corn beef”? I’ve always called it “corned beef” but the old recipe says “corn beef.”

The recipe called lots of root vegetables – rutabaga, turnips, and carrots – as well as cabbage and onions.

The Corn Beef with Vegetables was delightful. The briny saltiness of the corn beef combined nicely with the earthiness of the root vegetables and the subtle buttery sweetness of the cabbage.

Here’s the original recipe:

Corn Beef with Vegetables recipe
Source: Low Cost Cooking (1924) by Florence Nesbitt

This recipe makes a lot of vegetables and a relatively small amount of corn beef. (I got this recipe from a cookbook called Low Cost Cooking, so that probably explains why the recipe called for relatively little meat). I made this recipe using a 2-pound corn beef brisket as called for in the recipe. In hindsight, I wish that I’d used a larger piece of meat, so I updated the recipe to allow for the use of a larger piece of corn beef brisket if desired.

About half an hour before I wanted to serve, I put the rutabaga, turnips, and carrots into the Dutch oven without removing the meat. After about 20 minutes I removed the meat and added the cabbage and onions for the last 10 minutes. By doing it this way, I didn’t need to worry about the meat getting cold before serving.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Corn Beef with Vegetables

  • Servings: 4 - 8
  • Difficulty: moderate
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1 corn beef brisket (2 – 5 pounds)

1/2 pound rutabaga (about 1/2 of a medium-sized rutabaga), peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 pound turnips (about 2 medium turnips), peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch piece

1 pound carrots (about 5 medium carrots), peeled and each cut into 2-3 inch pieces

1/2 pound cabbage (about 1/2  medium cabbage), cut into wedges about 2 inches wide

1 large onion, sliced

Put the corn beef in a Dutch oven and cover with water.  Bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 1/2- 3 hours (More time is needed for a larger piece of meat.) Add rutabaga, turnip, and carrot pieces. Simmer for an additional 20 minutes. Remove meat from the Dutch oven, and add onion slices and cabbage wedges. Cook another ten minutes. Drain water.

Slice the corn beef and arrange with the cooked vegetables on serving plate.

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1924 Place Setting Diagram for a Formal Dinner

Place setting diagram
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)

Old-Fashioned Cherry Toast

Cherry Toast

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:

Recipe for Cherry Toast
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.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Cherry Toast

  • Servings: 2-4
  • Difficulty: moderate
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1 egg

1/2 cup milk

4 slices bread

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.

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Lemon Citron Cake

Lemon Citron Cake

This week I decided to make a hundred-year-old recipe for Lemon Citron Cake. I can already sense your questions. Why make this cake in February? Isn’t citron a holiday fruitcake ingredient that is usually only available in stores in December?

Well . . . let me explain.

Do you ever have ingredients left over after completing holiday baking, and don’t know how you’ll ever use them? Well, that’s how I felt about some citron that was still lingering in one of my kitchen cabinets. I thought that I might have to throw it out; but, then I happened across a recipe for Lemon Citron Cake in a hundred-year-old cookbook and decided to give it a try.

The cake was delightful. It had a lovely, light texture and a sunny citrus flavor. The original recipe didn’t indicate whether the cake should be iced. I decided to put a light lemon glaze on it, which worked well with the citron. Citron is too tasty to be relegated to just the winter holidays. Assuming you can find the citron, this cake would be lovely during any season.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Lemon Citron Cake
Source: The Whys of Cooking by Janet Mckenzie Hill (1924)

It seemed unusual that this recipe called for two egg yolks and three egg whites, so I decided that maybe there was a typo and used three egg yolks. It worked fine. I’m also not sure why the recipe called for creaming some of the sugar with the Crisco shortening and the remainder with the egg yolks, and then combining. I just put them all in the mixing bowl.

Any shortening will work for this recipe so I didn’t specify a brand. Additionally, I gently stirred the citron into the cake batter after all the other ingredients had been combined rather then adding pieces of citron “here and there” as the batter was being poured into the pan.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Lemon Citron Cake

  • Servings: 8 - 10
  • Difficulty: moderate
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3 eggs, separated

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

grated rind, 1/2 lemon

2 ounces citron (about 1/4 cup)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Put egg whites in a medium mixing bowl and beat until stiff. Set aside.

Put the shortening, egg yolks, and sugar in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth. Add milk, flour, baking powder, and salt; beat to combine. Gently fold in the egg whites, then gently stir in the grated lemon rind and citron. Spoon the batter into an ungreased tube pan with removable bottom (angel food cake pan). Bake for 45 minutes or until the cake is lightly browned and the top springs back when lightly touched.

If desired, glaze with a thin icing made with melted butter, confectioners sugar, and lemon juice.

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