Apple Tansy (1950s)

Apples are my favourite fruit.  I am sorry but a banana doesn't hold it for me and there are so many varieties to choose from.  If you travel back fifty or sixty years ago however there were countless different varieties, even more than today but many have become extinct down to neglect and the commercial homogeneity of the cider industry in the eighties and nineties.

About.com has a whole bunch of information about Apples as I am more interested in what you do with them once you get them.

They feature quite heavily in vintage cooking given their ease of growth and availability.

So what is an Apple Tansy? It is essentially a sweet omlette.  As with most things, there are many different takes on this recipe, but this take is provided by Farmhouse Fare being contributed by Kathleen Thomas.

You will need:

3 large apples
Sugar to taste
1 pint of milk
3 eggs
A little mixed Spice
1 cupful of fine breadcrumbs

1. Peel and slice the apples, cook gently in a little butter until soft and pour into a greased fireproof dish.
2. Beat the eggs and add them to the milk, sweeten to taste and add a pinch of the mixed spice and the nutmeg.
3. Pour the mixture over the breadcrumbs and beat lightly then pour the mixture over the apples and bake very slowly till set.

There isn't any indication about what temperature you should cook it at so your guess will be the right one.

Vinegar Cake (pre 1950s)

So it has been a few months since I've posted a recipe, so I thought I would kick off with something really appetising.

For Vinegar Cake you'll need...

1lb Flour
1/2 pound Sugar
1/2 pound butter and dripping
1/2 pound of currants
1/4 pound of stoned raisins
3 tablespoons of vinegar
1 teaspoonful of Bicarbonate of Soda
1/4 pint of milk

1. Rub fat well into the flour add fruit and sugar.
2. Put the milk into a large jug and add the vinegar.
3. Mix the bicarbonate of soda with a little milk and pour it into the milk and vinegar quickly taking care to hold the jug over the cake mixture as it will froth up.
4. Stir into the flour, fruit etc and put in to a well greased tin and bake in a hot oven for the first half hour, then a cooler one until cooked.

Treacle Scones - 1930's

This comes from Farmhouse Fare, a book first published in 1935 and revised over the years.  I have the 1971 edition which contains lots of great recipes from over the years.  Some of these are older than the thirties, but for the sake of cataloging I am sticking to the date of first publication.
The ease of this dish would make a great little starter for beginners, or something quick to whip up at the last minute.  Again, with many of these recipes, timings are not exact and one has to use ones own instinct when it comes to how quickly they will take to cook.  This recipe also calls for a vintage ingredient, Cream of Tartar.  It is still available from supermarkets or online.  If you don't have it to hand, then white vinegar will be a good substitute.

8 oz Flour
1 oz sugar
1 oz treacle
1 oz margarine
1 teaspoonful of cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda
Buttermilk or ordinary milk

1. Rub the margarine into the flour, add the sugar, cream of tartar and soda and mix to a rather soft dough with the treacle which has been been dissolved in half a cupful of buttermilk.

2. Turn out on to a lightly floured board, stamp quickly into rounds and bake in a fairly hot oven.

Green Pea Cakes - 1950's

This recipe might be a lot older than 1950s.  It sounds delicious, and is an old Scottish recipe.  It involves pushing pease through a sieve, so make sure its a metal one.

The recipe comes from a book called The Scottish Cookery Book, by Elizabeth Craig.  Nowhere does it say to make them in to patties.  Do you cook it all in one or in small bits? What shape?
Again a really nice recipe but let down by a badly written methodology.  I would recommend cooking them in patties, it'll help cook even all the way through.


2 cups cooked dried peas
1 teaspoon butter
salt and pepper to taste
2 well-beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 lb flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1. Rub peas while hot through a sieve.  Mix with the butter, salt pepper and eggs.
2. Beat well, stir in the flour sifted with baking powder.
3. Fry in rounds dropped from a jug into a frying pan containing enough hot fat to cover bottom of pan till bubbles form on top, then turn and fry on other side.  Serve with fried sausages for breakfast.

Extra Rich Vanilla Fudge - 1960's

This isn't a vintage recipe exactly.  Making fudge isn't necessarily something that ONLY happened in the 1960's, but given the nights are long and the wind is cold I want to inspire you to make home-made sweets stuff.

I am also launching a another food blog dedicated to junk food, fast food and unhealthy fatty things, treats etc.  I will post up the URL somewhere obvious here on this blog when it becomes something worth visiting.  This recipe for Extra Rich Vanillia Fudge will be included on that blog at some point.

So, how do you make Extra Rich Vanilla Fudge?

1lb granulated sugar
half a pint of cream
2 oz butter
3 tablespoons water
half a pint of milk
1 - 2 teaspoons vanilla essence (or a vanilla pod).

1. Put all ingredients, including the vanilla eessence or the cut vanilla pod into a strong saucepan.  This is very important because of the high cream content.
2. Stir until sugar is thoroughly dissolved.
3.Boil steadily, stirring quite frequently, until the mixture reaches the 'soft ball' stage.  This fudge is nicer if its a bit soft so do not let it exceed 238F (digital thermometer would be handy here, or just use your instinct).  Take out the pod, rinse under cold water and store in a jar of sugar.
4. Beat until slightly cloudy, pour into a well oiled or buttered tin.
5. Allow to set and cut in to squares.

Stelk (A Traditional Irish Recipe)

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For this traditional Irish side dish, adapted from Farmhouse Fare you need:

2 dozen of the later spring onions. (Those which are too coarse to use otherwise, are best for this dish but normal ones are acceptable).
Potatoes
Milk

You can use chives for this dish as an alternative.

1. Chop the onions into small lengths and simmer in milk until tender.

2. Boil or steam a good dish of potatoes. (1 lb possibly?)

3.  When cooked, mash them with a little milk and strain the onions and add these to the potatoes mixing well.  Serve very hot.

4. Add a large piece fresh butter (Clover or organic butter possibly?) to each plate that the Stelk is to be served on.

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