Grandma’s strawberry shortcake
One of my favourite desserts! Straight from my grandmother’s recipes.
Author: Agnes
Soft sugar cookies
The best soft sugar cookies – a perfect canvas for decorating. Delicious and beautiful!
No-knead molasses seed bread
This has been our go-to bread throughout the coronavirus lockdown, because it only uses 1/4 tsp of yeast per loaf – gotta conserve that yeast!
We have made a bunch of no-knead bread, which is bread with a long rise time that allows the rise to develop the gluten in the bread. It’s a wet dough, so cooking it up in a dutch oven or French oven creates a lovely crisp crust because of the steam trapped in by the lid.
(Although no-knead bread is thought to be a very modern invention, there are written versions dating back to the 18th century! This recipe is not one of them. However, we might try one in the future. If you want an 18th century bread recipe, try Louisbourg Soldier Bread).
This makes one loaf, and is modified from Taste of Home.
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour 3.5 + 0.5 cups bread flour 1/4 tsp yeast 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup mixed seeds (pumpkin, sesame, flax, sunflower, etc.) 1/2 dried cranberries (optional) 2 1/4 cups cold water 2 tbsp blackstrap molasses
Instructions
Mix together whole wheat flour, 3.5 cups of bread flour, yeast, salt and seeds (and cranberries, if using). Add water and molasses. Mix well. Let sit for 12-18 hours at room temperature. Mix in another 1/2 cup of flour (knead in briefly). Form into a loaf and set on top of a parchment sling in a bowl. Cover and let sit 2 hours. Before the end of the 2 hours (about 20 minutes before), set a dutch oven or French oven with a close-fitting lid into a 425F oven. Once dutch oven is heated, open lid and set bread dough inside on the parchment. Place lid back on. Bake with lid on for 20-22 minutes, then remove lid and bake for another 20-22 minutes. Allow the dutch oven to cool slightly, and remove bread to cooling rack.
The Verdict
We’ve made this many, many times (so many that I know the recipe by heart now). It’s really great. Hearty and flavourful. I especially like it with pumpkin seeds and cranberries.
Try this one and tell us how it goes!
Tart pastry cases
Assemble these tart cases from pre-made puff pastry (or homemade, if you are adventurous), then let loose with the fillings!
Dessert Cream
In From the Hearth, the author describes this dessert cream as a filling for puff pastry tarts, as well as listing the many different flavourings it could be given. Dessert cream also makes a great filling for cream puffs, and I think some of the batch I made was also spread on crackers, mixed with berries, and even eaten by the spoonful out of the container …
Orange flower water isn’t a common ingredient in my house (or at least it wasn’t before this 18th-century cooking adventure started), but it’s used in a lot of cuisines and available at speciality stores (like Gourmet Warehouse).
Candied lemon peel, on the other hand, was impossible to find. (Why, I ask you?!) But you can easily make your own (see my recipe) or replace with lemon zest.
Finally, this uses a whack-load of egg yolks, and nary an egg white. Make a triple batch of Lemon Meringues to use up those lonely whites!
Modified slightly from the original. Makes 2 cups of dessert cream.
Ingredients
1 cup white sugar 5 egg yolks 1/2 cup flour 2 cups boiling milk, or half milk and half cream 1 tbsp butter 1/2 tsp orange flower water 1 tsp candied lemon peel, finely chopped
Instructions
Heat milk to boiling in a pan or the microwave. Set aside. In a metal bowl (if you have one), whisk the sugar into the egg yolks, and continue beating for 2-3 minutes until the mixture turns pale yellow and forms a ribbon (flows in a continuous stream from a spoon). Beat in flour. Slowly pour in boiling milk (in a thin stream of droplets) as you mix continuously. Set metal bowl (if you have one) over a pot of boiling water, OR pour mixture into the top of a double boiler (if you have one), OR pour mixture into a regular pot. Cook in double boiler/over moderately low heat, stirring continuously and making sure to reach all over the bottom of the pan/bowl. When it reaches a simmer, cook for 2-3 minutes, still stirring continuously. (If it gets lumpy in the pot, just keep stirring and it will smooth out). Remove from heat and stir in butter, orange flower water, and candied peel. If not using right away, dot the top with pieces of softened butter to prevent a skin from forming. Keeps several days in the fridge (if you don't have people snacking on it!).
The Verdict
Seriously delicious. I will definitely make this again. And I expect it to rapidly disappear from the fridge again.
See tarts for the dessert cream in action.
Where would you use this dessert cream? Tell us in the comments!
Lemon meringues
This is a sweet (and lemony) way to use egg whites when you’ve made a recipe that only takes the yolks!
Candied lemon peel
Candied lemon peel is hard to find in stores but easy to make! It’s useful for many 18th-century recipes.
Frangipan pie (cream, almond flour, and candied lemon peel)
I had no idea what this would turn out to be like when I first made it. I mean, ground almonds and orange flower water? But it was a hit – my neighbour said it was the best pie she’d ever had, bar none.
The texture lands somewhere between “custard pie” and “butter tart”. It’s not too sweet, either. Just the right balance, in so many ways!
Orange flower water, or orange blossom water, shows up in a number of 18th century French recipes, but it was definitely not something I had on hand in my kitchen. Luckily, it’s also used in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and North African cooking, so specialty stores in North America (like Gourmet Warehouse, where I got mine) do carry it.
Ground or powdered almonds (sometimes called almond flour) are not in every North American kitchen either – you can get them at some grocery stores (I got mine at Famous Foods) or you can make your own with some whole raw almonds and a good food processor or blender. (If you are getting some for this recipe, definitely some extra to make this chocolate-y Swedish kladdkaka (sticky chocolate cake) recipe!)
Candied lemon peel was impossible to find in a store. So I made my own, and it was surprisingly easy! (Candied lemon peel recipe here).
Modified from the recipe in From the Hearth, this makes one 9″ pie.
Ingredients
Pastry: 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp salt 1 cup lard 1/3 cup plus 1-2 tbsp very cold water Filling: 5 oz powdered almonds (about 1.5 cups) 2 oz candied lemon peel (about 1/2 cup) 2 egg yolks 2/3 cup white sugar 2 cups whipping cream 1 tbsp orange flower water Gilding: 1 egg yolk 2 tbsp milk Topping: 2 tbsp white sugar
Instructions
Pastry: Mix the flour and salt. Cut in the lard until it is pea-sized pieces or smaller. Add the cold water and mix gently with a spatula until it comes together as a dough. You may need to knead it a few times. If it needs more water, add a little at a time. Make into a ball and place in the fridge while you get the filling ready. Filling: In a saucepan, whisk together all the filling ingredients, taking care to break up any lumps of almond flour. Heat saucepan on medium while continuing to whisk until thickened. Let cool. Assembly: Preheat oven to 425F. Roll out two pieces of pastry. Line a 9" pie pan with one piece. Pour in cooled filling. Place remaining pastry on top in decorative strips (about 3/8" wide) or lattice. Brush with gilding mixture. Bake at 425F for 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for another 5 minutes.
Once I got all the ingredients, the recipe is pretty straightforward. The original recipe has you mixing the egg yolks and almond flour first, but that ended up lumpier than if I added the liquid earlier in the filling proceedings. You might play around with the order of ingredient addition for the filling.
I didn’t end up doing the gilding step (or a proper lattice top), but did all the rest. The filling gets bubbly and the sugar sprinkle gets brown and the whole thing ends up looking and tasting great.
The Verdict
Yes, yes, yes. This one is a winner. I’ve already made this a second time, and a wide range of folks have liked it. I actually think it’s better on the second day, when those citrus and almond flavours have had time to merge.
(Note that you will have leftover egg whites after you make this – try making Lemon Meringues too!)
Are you ready to try something different in the pie department? Then try this one, and tell us about it in the comments!
Eggs au fromage (soft-scrambled eggs with cheese and wine)
Like soft-scrambled eggs and cheese fondue in one amazing dish. Great recipe for weeknight dinner or weekend brunch!