Old-Fashioned Coconut Cake

Summer is the season for picnics and reunions – and lots of good food. I have wonderful memories of lovely Coconut Cakes at family gatherings, so when I saw a Coconut Cake recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook, I decided to give it a try. The cake was delightful, but recipe had two unique features which resulted in this cake being a little different than some Coconut Cake recipes. The recipe called for adding coconut to the cake batter (and not just sprinkling it on top of the frosting). It also called for a teaspoon of orange extract. The cake is not very large, and works well in a 9-inch square baking pan.

The Coconut Cake was light and fluffy with a bold coconut flavor, and a subtle hint of orange. I definitely plan to make this cake again.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Coconut Cake — Source: The Daily Argus-Leader Home Economics and Cook Book (Newspaper Supplement), Sioux Falls, South Dakota (1925)

When I updated this recipe, I updated the spelling of “cocoanut” to “coconut.” Cocoanut is an archaic spelling that I often see in hundred-year-old cookbooks, but that is seldom used today.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Coconut

Servings: 8 - 10
Time: 50 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 eggs, separated

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon orange extract

1 cup shredded coconut

white icing (I used a buttercream icing.)

additional coconut

Preheat oven to 350° F. Put egg whites into a mixing bowl, and beat until peaks form. Set aside.

Put butter and sugar in mixing bowl, then beat to cream. Add egg yolks, milk, flour, baking powder, orange extract, and salt. Beat until well-mixed. Stir in the coconut, then gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Put the batter in a prepared 9-inch square pan. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool. Frost with white icing, then sprinkle coconut on top of the frosting.

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Dry State Punch Recipe

A hundred years ago alcohol was prohibited in the United States. The prohibition era went from 1920 to 1933. Cookbooks published during that time period seldom contain recipes that call for alcohol, but there are recipes for lots of nonalcoholic drinks. I recently came across a recipe for Dry State Punch in a 1925 cookbook. I was intrigued, and decided to give it a try.

I made this recipe on a 90° day and it was delightful. It’s a perfect summer drink. The Dry State Punch was zesty and refreshing. It contains grapefruit juice, orange juice, lemon juice, and pineapple juice.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Dry State Punch — Source: Home Makers’ Cooking School Cook Book (1925)

It is a little confusing how the list of ingredients calls for “juice of grape fruit,” but the directions call for adding “grape juice.” I decided to go with grapefruit juice, but am not absolutely certain that is what the recipe author intended. I added all the fruit juices to the sugar syrup while it was still hot, and did not wait until it cooled to add the grapefruit juice.

I used lemon-lime soda when I made this recipe. Either candied cherries or Maraschino cherries would work as a garnish. Citron is listed as a garnish in the directions, but I didn’t use it.

I didn’t fresh-squeeze either the grapefruit or orange juice, but rather used juice that I bought at the store. I did an online search and found out how much juice a typical grapefruit and orange contain, and then went with that amount. For the pineapple juice, I opened a can of pineapple chunks and poured the juice off and used it. (I did squeeze the lemon to get the lemon juice.)

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Dry State Punch

Servings: 5 - 7
Time: 10 minutes active prep time
Difficulty: easy
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1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup pineapple juice

juice of 1 grapefruit (about 3/4 cup)

juice of 1 orange (about 1/3 cup)

juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)

2 cups lemon-lime soda (Sprite, 7-up, etc.)

candied or Maraschino cherries

Put the sugar and water in a saucepan, bring to a boil using medium heat. Remove sugar syrup from the heat, and add the grapefruit juice, orange juice, and lemon juice. Chill. Just before serving, add lemon lime soda. Garnish with cherries.

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Old-Fashioned Creamed Celery with Almonds

A hundred years ago, cooked celery was a commonly served vegetable. Today, not so much. But, when I saw I hundred year old recipe for Creamed Celery with Almonds, I decided to give it a try. The subtle sweetness of the celery was lovely, and sliced almonds added a bit of crunch. I feel certain that I’ll make this recipe again. Making this side dish reminded me how much I enjoy this tasty and nutritious vegetable.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

I used half milk and half celery stock when I made this recipe. This made the sauce lighter and more flavorful.

Creamed Celery with Almonds

Servings: 2 - 3
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups celery, sliced into 1-inch pieces

water

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 cup milk

1 cup celery stock (Reserve 1 cup of the liquid that the celery was boiled in.)

1/3 cup almonds, sliced

Put the sliced celery in a saucepan; barely cover with water. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the celery is tender (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and drain, reserving 1 cup of the liquid.

In the meantime, melt butter in another saucepan, then stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Gradually, add the milk and celery stock while stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the white sauce begins to thicken. Stir in the cooked celery and the almonds.

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Old-Fashioned Sautéed Summer Squash Casserole

Summer squash casserole on plate

Whew – It’s zucchini season and I’m overwhelmed with the squash. So, I started looking through my hundred-year-old cookbooks for a summer squash recipe. I was pleased to find directions for making a Sautéed Summer Squash Casserole. It called for sautéed squash, grated cheese, chopped hard-boiled eggs, and tomato sauce. The casserole directions were part of a recipe for Sautéed Squash, which also contained a possible luncheon menu that included the squash dish.

I decided to make the suggested menu for lunch recently. My husband and I had the Sautéed Summer Squash Casserole, a green salad, bread with butter, and coffee. It was a nice lunch. The casserole was good, with the tomato flavor predominating. Personally, I might have liked the flavor better if the cheese and some of the other flavors had been more noticeable.

My mother-in-law had a zucchini casserole recipe that called for boiling sliced zucchini before adding to the casserole, while this recipe called for sautéing the slices. The squash slices are definitely firmer when sautéed rather than boiled, which makes a nice texture.

Here’s the original recipe:

Sauteed Summer Squash Casserole recipe — Source: The Home Makers’ Cooking School Cook Book (1925)

When I updated the recipe, and throughout this post, I spelled “sauted” as “sautéed.” I believe that is the preferred spelling, though both spellings can be found on current websites.

Since the original recipe does not include amounts, I took a stab at guessing the amounts when updating the recipe.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Sauteed Summer Squash Casserole

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 small summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash, etc.)

1 egg, beaten

1 cup fine white bread crumbs (I tore up 2 slices of bread, and put them in a blender to pulverize them.)

shortening/oil

2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1 cup grated cheese (I used cheddar.)

1 1-lb. can tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 375° F. Wash and cut the squash into 1/2-inch slices; dip in the beaten eggs, and coat with bread crumbs. Set aside.

Heat 1/2 inch of shortening or oil in a large skillet. Carefully place the breaded squash slices in the pan in a single layer. Depending upon pan size, the slices may need to be cooked in several batches. Sauté for about two minutes or until the bottom side of each slice is lightly browned, then gently turn and fry until the other side is browned. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.

Put a thin layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish. (I used a 1-quart dish.) Add a layer of the fried squash slices, then add layers of chopped hard-boiled eggs and grated cheese; cover with tomato sauce. Fill the casserole with additional layers of fried squash slices, chopped hard-boiled eggs, grated cheese, and tomato sauce. Bake in the oven until the mixture is hot and bubbly.

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Old-Fashioned Lemon Snowballs with Lemon Sauce

Lemon Snowballs with Lemon Sauce

Lemon Snowballs were popular both a hundred years ago and now. They are a lemony dessert that is rolled in powdered sugar. Most modern Lemon Snowballs are a type of cookie that are made by making a dough and then rolling (or scooping) it into balls that are put on a baking sheet. Based on the information in a 1925 cookbook, a hundred years ago Lemon Snowballs were made using a different process. The old recipe called for making a batter, then folding in beaten eggs whites. The mixture is then put into mini-muffin cups that are set in a pan of hot water for baking (similarly to how custards are baked). The old-time Lemon Snowballs are served with a Lemon Sauce.

I decided to give the hundred-year-old recipe a try. The old-time Lemon Snowballs with Lemon Sauce were a delightful very light, lemony, cake-like dessert and the zesty Lemon Sauce was a lovely, flavorful addition.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Lemon Snowballs — Source: Rumford Complete Cookbook (1925)

I bought the cookbook that contained this recipe off eBay. The Lemon Snowballs recipe appears to be recommended by a previous owner of the cookbook. There is a checkmark made with a pencil on the righthand side of this recipe.

This recipe makes about 48 small Snowballs. I didn’t have enough mini-muffin tins to make that many, so I put some of the batter in regular muffin tins – which worked fine, though those Snowballs were much larger.

Even though the recipe calls for serving with a Lemon Sauce, there was no Lemon Sauce recipe in the Rumford Cookbook. Maybe the Rumford Cookbook author assumed that the recipe for Lemon Sauce was so basic that there was no need to include it in the book. I found a Lemon Sauce recipe in an old home economics textbook:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Lemon Snowballs with Lemon Sauce

Servings: approximately 48
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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3 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

grated rind of 1 lemon

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350° F. Put egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat until firm peaks form. Set aside.

Put egg yolks and sugar in another mixing bowl; beat until thoroughly mixed. Add water, lemon juice, and grated lemon rind; beat to combine. Add flour and baking powder and continue beating until thoroughly mixed, then gently fold in the beaten egg whites.

Grease mini-muffin cups, then put a heaping tablespoon of batter in each. Place the muffin tin in a pan that contains hot water that is about 1-inch deep. Place the pan (with the muffin tins) in the oven. Bake about 30 minutes or until a pick inserted in center of the Snowballs comes out clean. Remove the muffin tin from pan with the water and let cool slightly for a few minutes, then remove the Snowballs from the muffin cups. Roll the warm Snowballs in powdered sugar. If desired, serve with Lemon Sauce (see recipe below). May be served warm or cold.

Lemon Sauce

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups boiling water

1 lemon (juice and grated rind)

1 tablespoon butter

In a saucepan, mix the sugar and flour thoroughly, then slowly add the boiling water while stirring constantly. Bring to a boil using medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, grated lemon rind, and butter; continue stirring until the butter is melted.

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Old-Fashioned Praline Ice Cream (Prauline Ice Cream)

bowl of praline ice cream

Summer has arrived and temperatures are soaring. On hot days, nothing hits the spot like ice cream. I came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Praline Ice Cream and decided to give it a try.

The ice cream was delightful with small pieces of pecans and crunchy caramelized sugar brickle.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Praline Ice Cream — Source: The Daily Argus-Leader Home Economics and Cook Book, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (1925)

I think that there is a typo in the title of this recipe, and that it is for “Praline Ice Cream” and not “Prauline Ice Cream.”

The recipe called for chopped nuts. Of course, I used chopped pecans. (It just wouldn’t seem like Praline Ice Cream with any other kind of nut.) I did not combine the chopped pecans with the caramelized sugar prior to breaking the caramelized sugar into very small pieces. Instead, I spooned the caramelized sugar onto a buttered plate to cool, then put the pecans in the pan (which still contained a little melted sugar), and stirred for a minute or two. A mortar and pestle could be used to break the cooled praline mixture into very small pieces. I actually used the “pulse” feature on my blender to create the small pieces. I then combined the pecans and the praline pieces. I’m not sure exactly what was meant when the recipe said to sift the praline mixture after it is broken apart, so I skipped sifting.

I did not use a double boiler, and instead just stirred the milk mixture constantly, which worked fine. I always have difficulty with ice cream recipes that call for adding egg yolks to the hot milk. No matter how hard I stir, I end up with small clumps of cooked egg yolk in my mixture, so I strained it after cooking to remove them.

I did not stir the praline mixture into the milk mixture until the ice cream began to harden in the ice cream freezer. My ice cream freezer directions say that nuts, fruits and other additives should be added about 5 minutes prior to the completion of the churning.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Praline Ice Cream

Servings: 6 - 8
Time: 1 hour active prep time
Difficulty: moderate
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1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup sugar

butter

3/4 cup chopped pecans

2 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup heavy cream

Caramelize 1/2 cup sugar by putting in a small cast iron skillet; put over low heat and stir constantly until the sugar turns light brown. Spoon the caramelized sugar onto a lightly buttered plate and let cool. There will be a little sugar that has liquified still in the skillet; add the chopped pecans and stir for 1-2 minutes to lightly toast the pecans and to coat with the sugar. Once the caramelized sugar has cooled, break into very small pieces using a mortar and pestle (or the pulse function on a blender), then combine with the chopped pecans. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, the egg yolks, and salt. Stir until thoroughly mixed and smooth. Set aside.

In a saucepan, scald the milk using medium heat while stirring constantly. Slowly pour the hot milk over the egg yolk and sugar mixture while stirring briskly. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and using medium heat, cook while stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and strain to remove any small pieces of egg yolk that clumped together during cooking. Chill in the refrigerator.

Shortly before churning the milk mixture into ice cream, whip the cream to the firm peak stage. Stir the vanilla into the chilled milk mixture, then fold in the whipped cream. Freeze following freezer directions. Add the small pieces of caramelized sugar and pecans about 5 minutes before churning is completed. Continue churning until the caramelized sugar and pecans are distributed throughout the ice cream.

(When I made this recipe, I used a 1 1/2 quart automatic ice cream maker that with a bowl which is frozen in the freezer overnight, but a regular ice cream maker would also work.)

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Old-Fashioned Lettuce, Cucumber, and Chive Salad

Lettuce, Cucumber, and Chive Salad

I’m enjoying making various summer salads, so when I saw a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for Lettuce, Cucumber, and Chive salad, I decided to give it a try. The salad had a light vinaigrette-style dressing on it and was lovely.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Lettuce, Cucumber, and Chive Salad — Source: The Daily Argus-Leader Home Economics and Cook Book, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (1925)

And, here is the original recipe for French Dressing:

I had a lovely bunch of leaf lettuce that I used to make this recipe. I’m not sure what type of lettuce the recipe author anticipated cooks using, but I did not try very hard to arrange the leaves as near as possible to the original shape. I thought that it was more important to have the lettuce in bite-size pieces than to worry about the shape.

The recipe called for serving this salad with French Dressing. I used a French Dressing recipe that was in the same cookbook as the salad recipe. It is a vinaigrette-style recipe and is quite different from the modern commercially-produced, orange-colored French Dressing. I’ve seen many French Dressing recipes in various hundred-year-old cookbooks over the years, and they have all have been vinaigrettes. I’m not sure when the shift occurred to the orange-colored type of French Dressing.

The French Dressing recipe called for a f.g. of cayenne (red pepper). I have no idea what unit of measure an “f.g.” is, but assumed that it wasn’t calling for much, so I interpreted it to mean a dash.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Lettuce, Cucumber, and Chive Salad

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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1 head/bunch lettuce

1 cucumber, peeled and thinly slices

3 tablespoons chives, finely chopped

Dressing

1 clove garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

dash cayenne (red pepper)

2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar

6 tablespoons olive oil

Wash and dry the lettuce, then tear into pieces and arrange on plates or in a bowl. Put the chopped chives on top of the cucumber slices. Just before serving, top with the dressing.

To make dressing, cut the garlic clove in half, then rub a small bowl with the cut garlic. Put the salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, tarragon vinegar and olive oil in bowl and stir vigorously to combine.

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