Honey Angel Cake (Christmas, Festive, Traditional) - 1960's (Marguerite Patten Recipe Card)

Christmas Pudding 1960's - Marguerite Patten Recipe Card

Love it of loathe it, that time of year is bearing down on us.  It is about this time the foodies among us, start thinking about Christmas Pudding, which takes a lonnng time to make if you do it properly.

So I invite you to have a go at Marguerite Patten's version, and see if you can make one just like you used to have when you were a kid (hopefully a good thing).

Tollhouse Cookies - 1930s

So we made some Tollhouse Cookies from this recipe which is pretty well documented in nearly every single recipe book you could care to read that includes recipes for biscuits/cookies.  This recipe is pretty generic and very easy.

Here is an interesting thought.  Chocolate Chip Cookies come under the 1930s category because they were first developed at that point, only becoming popular during the war.  Well that is what the wikipedia article says.

180g/6.5 oz unsalted butter, cubed and softened
140g/5 oz soft brown sugar
110g 3.75 oz granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
280g/10oz plain all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
350g/12 oz dark chocolate bits
100g/3.5 oz pecans (or flaked almonds) roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 190C/375F and line two large baking trays with baking paper/greaseproof paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugars with electric beaters until light and fluffy.
3. Gradually add the egg, beating well after each addition.
4. Stir in the vanilla extract, then the sifted flour and bicarbonate until just combined.
5. Mix in the chocolate bits and pecans/almonds.
6. Drop table spoons of mixture onto the trays; leave room for spreading.
7. Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  When completely cold, store in airtight container.

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.

Roast Pigeons - 1930's

You have to hand it to our previous generation, they really knew how to live off the land.  This recipe is probably a lot older than the 1930's but as it is from a cookbook of that period it is being cataloged as such.  The assumption made here is that the cook knows how to pluck and gut a pigeon, if you're not entirely au-fais with it then buy one from a butcher.

This recipe is a challange as it requires the pigeon to be continually basted in butter.

3 pigeons
3 slices of fat bacon
3 oz. butter
Pepper and Salt
3 slices of buttered sauce
Garnish of fried parsley

1. Singe and draw three pigeons.  Put about three-quarters of an ounce of butter inside each pigeon and season them with pepper and salt.
2. Truss them for roasting with a slice of fat bacon tied over the breast of each.
3. Toast the slice of bread, butter them, and stand one pigeon on each.  Roast them, in front of a brisk fire or in a gas oven, for 20 minutes, basting them continually with butter.
4. When pigeons are cooked, remove the strings and the bacon, or, if liked, the bacon can be left on the breasts.  Place the pigeons and toasts on a hot dish and garnish with bunches of fried parsley.

Keith Floyd's Apple Pie - 1980's

Image via Wikipedia

To make Keith Floyd's Apple Pie:

8 oz (250g) shortcrust pastry
1lb (500g) cooking apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
3 oz Granulated Sugar
3 Cloves

1. Divide pastry in two and roll out one half large enough to cover an 8 inch (20cm) ovenproof plate.

2. Put the apples onto the pastry-lined dish and sprinke on most of the sugar.

3. Position the 3 cloves strategically.

4. Brush the pastry edges with alittle cold water.

5. Roll out the remaining pastry and lift carefully over the apples.

6. Press the edges well together and trime away the excess.  With your thumb and finger push up the edges and pinch the top.

7. Make a cross in the centre to allow the steam to escape.

8. Decorate with trimmings optional, brush top with water and sprinkle on remaining sugar.

Bake at 190 celsius (375 F) for 40 to 50 minutes until golden brown. 

Image via Wikipedia

Related articles

• Cookbook Focus: Floyd on Britain & Ireland (1988) (recipevintage.wordpress.com)