A Collection of Free Christmas Cake Recipes
These Christmas Cake recipes are from the southern states and come from the kitchen of a wealthy family, the Baltimores.
WE ARE told of three special cakes, the pride of Southern housewives, that were made by the original Calvert or Lord Baltimore family for the Christmas holidays, and the recipes for the cakes were much talked of among the ladies.
Lady Baltimore Cake.
Place in a mixing bowl two cupfuls of sugar and three-quarters of a cupful of butter and cream thoroughly. Add four cupfuls of sifted flour, three level teaspoonfuls of baking powder, and one cupful and a half of milk. Beat to mix thoroughly, and add one teaspoonful of vanilla and one teaspoonful of almond extract. Cut and fold in the stiffly beaten whites of five eggs. First grease three deep layer cake pans, then line with paper. Grease the paper lining and pour in the batter. Bake in a moderate oven for eighteen minutes.
Now prepare a filling as follows: Place half a cupful of sugar in a saucepan and add one cupful of white corn sirup and half a cupful of water. Cook until the mixture forms a soft ball in cold water—about 240 degrees Fahrenheit, using a candy thermometer. Let the sirup cool for three minutes, and then pour in a fine stream upon the stiffly beaten white of one large egg. Beat until blended, and add, chopped, one cupful of nuts, one cupful of seeded raisins, half a cupful of candied citron, three-quarters of a cupful of figs, one teaspoonful of almond extract and half a teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly, and use to put the cake together.
Ice the cake with fondant icing: Place in a saucepan two cupfuls of sugar, three-quarters of a cupful of white corn sirup, a quarter of a cupful of water and one tablespoonful of lemon juice. Stir, bring to a boil and cook to 240 degrees.
Pour on a well-greased platter and, when cool, beat until creamy, and then work just like bread dough. Place this fondant into a double boiler, melt it slowly, and add one tablespoonful of boiling water to reduce to the desired consistency. Ice the cake, and decorate with acorns, made by shelling and blanching almonds and inserting them in seeded raisins.
Lord Baltimore Cake.
His lordship could not abide such a sweet cake, so for him one less sweet was prepared. For this cake place in a mixing bowl one cupful and three-quarters of sugar and the yolks of six eggs. Cream until light lemon color. When the yolks of eggs and the sugar are creamed, add three-quarters of a cupful of butter that has been creamed in a warm bowl. Beat the creamed yolks of eggs, sugar and butter until the mixture is a light fluffy mass, add four cupfuls of sifted flour, five level teaspoonfuls of baking powder and one cupful and a quarter of milk. Beat to thoroughly mix, bake in three deep layer-cake pans in a moderate oven for twenty minutes.
For a filling, wash the salt from four ounces of creamery butter, place the butter in a bowl and beat it until creamy. Add the white of one egg, and beat again; then add sufficient XXXX sugar to make the mixture spread. This usually takes about a pound and a half. Spread between the layers with finely chopped nuts and three-quarters of a cupful of preserved cherries to the entire cake. Put the layers together and ice the cake with the balance of the icing and cover it with finely chopped nuts. Decorate with candied fruit flowers.
Baby Baltimore Cake.
This cake was prepared for the children of the family and is less rich than either of the other two. To make it, place in a mixing bowl three-quarters of a cupful of sugar and the yolks of three eggs. Cream these until a light lemon color; then add seven tablespoonfuls of butter. Beat again; then add one cupful and three-quarters of flour, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and nine tablespoonfuls of milk Beat to mix thoroughly and then cut and fold in the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Bake in well-greased and floured, deep, iron muffin pans or custard cups in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes.
For the filling put half a cupful of dried coconut through a food chopper, and then place in a bowl and add the juice of half a lemon, the juice of one orange, and half a cupful of almonds, chopped fine, with sufficient XXXX sugar to spread. Cut the cakes into three layers and spread with the prepared filling. Ice with plain fondant icing and decorate with candied rose petals and leaves, or leaves of candied citron trimmed to the shape of rose leaves.
Sugary, Spicy, Nutty Cookies and Fruited Cakes
THERE are six kinds of cookies in the basket. The recipes are given here:
Sugar Cookies.
Half a cupful of shortening, one cupful of sugar, two eggs, half a cupful of sour milk, half a teaspoonful of soda, a little salt and half a teaspoonful of nutmeg. Mix in flour enough to make a soft dough; cut into fancy shapes. Bake in a quick oven; sprinkle over with sugar. Raisin Cookies. Two cupfuls of sugar, one cupful of melted shortening, one teaspoonful of soda in half a cupful of hot water, half a cupful of milk, one cupful of seeded raisins, chopped fine, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, one teaspoonful of cloves, one teaspoonful of baking powder, a little nutmeg and two eggs beaten light. Add flour enough to make a soft dough. Roll out, cut with a cookie cutter and bake in a quick oven. Ginger Cookies. One cupful of sugar, half a cupful of shortening, one beaten egg, one teaspoonful of soda, two cupfuls of Graham flour and one cupful of seeded raisins. Drop on tin. Bake in quick oven.
Fruited Layer Cake.
One cupful of sugar creamed with half a cupful of creamed butter; add two eggs and two-thirds of a cupful of milk, and beat thoroughly. Sift a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda and a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt with two cupfuls and a third of flour; beat in gradually and flavor with lemon. Divide this mixture into two parts; divide one part in two and bake this in two large cake pans; add to the remaining part half a cupful of raisins, chopped and seeded, a tablespoonful of dark sirup, a quarter of a pound of citron, spice and an additional spoonful of flour. Bake in the same size layer tins. When done, and hot, place the fruit layer between the two layers of plain cake, spreading a little jelly between. Cover with boiled icing. Decorate with candied citron and spicy candies.
Cinnamon Crisps.
Three-quarters of a cupful of sugar, one-third of a cupful of shortening, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, one quarter of a cupful of milk, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and one cupful and a half of flour. Mix all together; add more milk, enough to make a soft dough to roll out; roll thin and cut out. Bake in a quick oven.
Lemon Cookies.
Half a cupful of shortening, two eggs, half a cupful of sugar, the grated rind of one lemon, three-quarters of a cupful of milk, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and flour enough to roll out. Cut into rounds. Bake in a quick oven.
Nut Cookies.
One cupful of brown sugar, half a cupful of shortening, two well-beaten eggs, half a cupful of sour milk, one teaspoonful of soda, one cupful of chopped nuts, and flour enough to roll out. Cut out and bake quickly. Butterless and Eggless Fruit Cake. One pound of fat salt pork, chopped, one pound of raisins, one pound of currants, four cupfuls of light-brown sugar, two cupfuls of New Orleans molasses, one nutmeg, grated, one tablespoonful of all kinds of ground spices and one heaping tablespoonful of soda in one quart of hot water. Put everything into a large mixing bowl, pour hot water and soda over it, then stir in enough flour to make a medium thick batter. Bake for -three hours in a medium oven. Cover with icing, and decorate with angelica and candied cherries.
Fig Cake.
One cupful of butter, creamed; add two cupfuls of sugar, and beat smooth; then add the yolks of three eggs and a cupful of milk, and beat until creamy. Mix a teaspoonful of cream of tartar and half a teaspoonful of soda with three cupfuls of pastry flour and beat in thoroughly, then fold in the three beaten whites, and flavor with almond extract. Bake in deep layerelle tins. Boil one cupful and a half of sugar with half a cupful of water until it threads, and pour over the well-beaten whites of three eggs. Ice the top and sides with this icing, reserving sufficient to mix with a cupful of chopped figs for the filling.
Source: The Ladies Home Journal - December 1919
FOOD RESOURCES
Christmas Dinners Dec.1919
4 Christmas Dinner Recipes including main courses and desserts.
Food Shortage by 1960 Predicted ~1925
A prediction that food shortages would cause war and famine by 1960.
Creole Cookery of Old New Orleans ~1923
Old style Creole cooking the way it used to be done. Includes recipes from 1923.
Food Storage Room ~1923
A 1920's style room for storing food without using electrical power.
Food Preservation Methods ~1923
Typical Food Preservation and Storage Techniques from 1923.