Author: Little Dorrit

Hot Cross Buns

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Hot cross buns are traditionally served on Good Friday. I made a classic yeasted version of hot cross buns a few years ago, but for this year I wanted something a little easier. This recipe comes from The Bride’s Cookbook, a 1910 cookbook that was produced by local businesses in San Francisco and given to newly wedded brides for free in order to advertise their products. Since these buns are raised with baking powder rather than yeast, they are much quicker and easier to make than traditional buns.

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Cheese Cookies

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Published in 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression, Sheila Hibben’s The National Cookbook became a national sensation in America. In her introduction, Hibben wrote that she was inspired to write her cookbook after seeing a newspaper article featuring an elaborate recipe for a dog sculpted out of whipped cream paddling in a tureen of soup. She hoped that instead of making “frivolous novelties” and “elaborate atrocities” such as the whipped cream dog, her book would “call people home…to learn from the experience of our fathers the best and simplest way of eating.”

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Pumpkin Soup

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This recipe comes from Vegetable Cookery, one of the earliest completely vegetarian cookbooks. It was first published in periodical form in 1812, then went on to be published as a book. This recipe comes from the fourth edition published in 1833. Since the word “vegetarian” wasn’t popularized until the 1850s, Vegetable Cookery doesn’t actually use that term and refers to a “vegetable diet” instead.

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Gatsby Picnic 2023

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Every year at the beginning of September, the Art Deco Society of California hosts the Gatsby Summer Afternoon, a 1920s and 1930s themed garden party and picnic. I went for the first time last year and of course made a whole picnic spread of recipes from 1920s and 1930s cookbooks. I had a blast, but was very tired afterwards and completely forgot to finish writing my post about it…until I started preparing for the picnic this year. So here it is, nearly a year late, but just in time if you happen to be planning your own picnic.

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Her Majesty’s Pudding

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Once again, for Queen Victoria’s birthday on May 24, I am continuing my tradition of making a recipe named after her (ok, so this one isn’t named “Victoria,” but “her majesty” is definitely referring to her). The long-reigning queen inspired many recipe-writers during the 19th century; see here for other recipes I’ve made that were named after or affiliated with her. This one comes from one of my favorite Victorian cookbooks, Eliza Acton’s 1845 Modern Cookery In All Its Branches.

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