Historic Cooking: Halloween Fruit Cake from 1920

Halloween Fruit Cakes.
Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

I realized, as I was going through my past food history posts, that while I have made various recipes from the 1920s (like cheese straws and Club sandwiches), I had never written them up or taken photos.  While I will have to re-create the cheese straws and Club sandwiches at another time, I recently discovered a cookbook on VintageRecipes.net: Mrs. Wilson's Cook Book published in 1920.  It has a lot of interesting recipes, but none, as far as I can discover, that contain alcohol any stronger than cider; this is a recipe book for the frugal, teatotal household, not one headed by a "flapper".  It does, however, contain recipes named after various holidays, and since Halloween just happened, I couldn't resist making the recipe called Halloween Fruit Cake.

Orange Jelly from 1852

Image from MorgueFile.com

Happy New Year!  I hope 2013 has been good to you so far.  In my research (see my last post from December 28th) I've been re-reading a lot of Gold Rush-era American newspapers and magazines (Google Books is my friend!) including Godey's Lady's Book. Because of letters to the editor from "California correspondents", we know that Californians were reading the Lady's Book during the Gold Rush, and probably followed the recipes printed in each issue.  Oranges will be coming into season in Northern California this month, so here is a ca. 1852 recipe from Godey's for a good midwinter dessert: Orange Jelly.

How about some homemade orange spice tea?

So many people associate the scent and flavor of spiced oranges with the fall and winter season. Making old-fashioned clove oranges is a lovely pastime that results in a natural and decorative air freshener for the home, but also a delicious garnish for punches, hot beverages, and teas like the blend below. Orange spice tea is one of the most popular blends for cold weather, at least in the United States, but most people purchase theirs, and are unaware that it is a fairly simple recipe to make at home. With all due respect to Bigelow tea company and their classic Constant Comment blend, here is a homemade version:

Homemade orange spice tea (by the pot):
4 cups water
1 tablespoon black tea
1 tablespoon orange marmalade, plus extra
5 whole cloves, plus extra
1 whole cinnamon stick

Bring the water to a rolling boil. Place a tablespoon of loose black tea in the bottom of a warmed teapot, with one cinnamon stick and 5 whole cloves which have been bruised or cracked. Add one tablespoon of orange marmalade. Fill the teapot with boiling water, cover, and allow to steep for up to 5 minutes. Strain into cups and enjoy. Using the same tea leaves and spices, but adding up to 1 tablespoon orange marmalade each time, you can get up to 4 teapots of orange spice tea.

Not only will you have a delicious and popular hot beverage, you can adjust the amount of orange and spice to suit your own taste! Serve with a thin slice or wedge of fresh orange, with 2 or 3 whole cloves pushed into the peel.