Unusual and Old Recipes (Eastport: house, wedding, live)

[elston]

I thought it might be fun to share some of the old time recipes. Here is one that not only produces a great cake but also makes you do some biblical research. I have made it and it was good; but it was a long long time ago. It is a substantial cake!

Scripture Cake

4 cups I Kings 4:22 (first part)
1 cup Judges 5:25 (last clause)
2 cups Jeremiah 6:20
2 cups I Samuel 30:12
2 cups Nahum 3:12 (found in the Apocrypha)
1 tablespoon Numbers 17:8 (I think she meant 1 cup and that is what I used)
1 large Tablespoon I Samuel 14:25
Season to taste of II Chronicles 9:9
6 of Jeremiah 17:11
A pinch of Leviticus 2:13
1/2 cup Genesis 24:20
2 teaspoons of Amos 4:5

Follow Solomon's advice for making good boys, Proverbs 23:14 and you will have a good cake.

This recipe dates back over the generations and is just as good today as when our great and great-great grandmothers copied it down and passed it on.

[Bydand]

Very cool Elston! I'm printing it out right now. If you don't mind, I may just make a few 3X5 cards and give them to friends and family this season.

[elston]

I don't mind at all; It pleases me to think that you would. Did you look up the ingredients? lol I made it one year in small loaf pans and gave them with a 3x5 card to a few friends. (In those days cakes, even wedding cakes, were very substantial, rather like the density of a fruit cake.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by elston

In those days cakes, even wedding cakes, were very substantial, rather like the density of a fruit cake.

The way a cake should be. Not just semi-formed air, made to hold up a layer of frosting like most of the ones today. Thanks!

[msina]

4 cups of flour
1 cup of butter
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of raisins
2 cups of figs (I'd chop the figs)
1 cup of almonds (I'd use slivered almonds)
1 heaping tblsp. of spices (combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg?)
6 eggs
Pinch of salt (1/4 tsp.)
1/2 cup of water
2 teaspoons baking powder (not sure on that one, it says "leavoning" but, it looks like a quick bread recipe)


BEAT WELL

combine the flour with the baking powder, salt and spices, set aside
cream the butter and sugar till light, add the eggs 1 at a time till well combined.
alternately add the flour mixture and the water till everything is combined.
stir in the raisins, figs and almonds
bake in a 350 degree oven, I'd GUESS about 45 minutes


Am I close Elston?

[elston]

(msina, I hope that you are always close.)

Yes! you must have had your Bible at the ready and been no stranger to looking up chapter and verse.

When I made it, (many years ago) I know I used ground clove and I think I also used cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. I am not sure what would have equalled "spices" in biblical time.

I did interpret "leavoning" to mean baking powder although I think soda was commonly used for leavoning back a hundred or more years ago. In fact I think there was a formula for home made baking powder in Grams cookbook--perhaps???soda and cream of tartar??????? I am not at all sure of that!!!! And baking powder worked just fine.

[msina]

YES!! Thank You for the post. That was fun! Yes you can use baking powder and cream of tartar. Ground cloves are a good idea as well.

[GregW]

FWIW - Baking powder is a mix of Baking Soda (Calcium bicarbonate) and Cream of Tartar (Tartaric acid) as dry powder. Add water and the acid releases carbon dioxide from the bicarbonate. This is how cakes can be made to rise without using yeast.

Also another FWIW – my niece and nephew cooked a couple of small turkeys in front, not over, but in front of a fireplace fire for thanksgiving dinner. It took a lot of wood and the house was really warm but they did get cooked and it only took about one half hour longer than the electric oven. They tasted good as well.

[msina]

Thanks Greg! Roasting the turkeys in front of the fire was a nice idea

[elston]

Here's another old one made with "Tolman Sweet Apples"*.

Boiled Cider Apple Sauce

2 quarts Tolman Sweet Apples*
1/2 cup thick boiled cider

Peel and quarter apples; just cover with hot water, add cider and let simmer until the apples are done. Serve very cold. A little more water can be added if more juice is desired. Boiled cider is made by boiling down cider until it is as thick as molasses. (It was also the main ingredient in Boiled Cider Pie.)

Tolman Sweet Apples originated in Dorchester,Mass in the late 1700's and were one of the first apples grown in Maine. They were large and sweet and a favorite cooking apple especially for apple sauce. Because of their natural sweetness they didn't require a lot of sugar, which was a real plus. My grandfather had an orchard in Maine in which he grew many of the old heirloom apple varieties. (lol in those days he didnt consider them "heirloom" I am sure.)


Does anyone else have any real old Maine recipes? We already have Mollysmiles, Eastport Brown Bread.