Treats From The Past

[plumtreeblossom]

I'm trying to come up with a 1930s or 40s sweet treat to make for the concession stand at Tomes Of Terror III. I'd like it to be something one might have found at a 1930s or 40s Halloween party. Last year Wabbit helped me make old-fashioned popcorn balls and they were great, but they were incredibly labor-intensive and we burned our hands, so something else is in order this year.

This food timeline was fascinating and I spent entirely too much time there, even though it didn't have many autumn-specific foods. Still, there were some interesting finds. With some of them, I have no idea what they are, and those are marked with a (?). Maybe some of you can tell me.

1930s offered these, among others:

hermits
fruit betty (apple, rhubarb, peach, etc)
spice cake
prune pudding (?)
petit fours
maple meringue cookies
preserved kumquats
butterscotch toast (?)
daisy cream candy (?)
junket custard
chocolate rice (?)

1940s pickin's were slim for desserts, due to war time sugar rationing. Fruit eaten whole seemed to be the most common dessert and sweet snack, but I did find these:

hot water gingerbread (?)
mince turnovers
apple-cheese crisp
jellied coffee souffle
pineapple and apple salad
gelatin fruit dessert (J-E-L-L-O!)
frozen chocolate russe (?)
bran butterscotch refrigerator cookies
orange sticks (?)
War Cake (eggless, butterless, milkless, sometimes sugarless)



Damn, I'm hungry.

Comments

[moonshadow.livejournal.com]

Carrot cake was popular during the 40s, especially in Britain, because of rationing. So I believed, and so Wikipedia confirms.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

it's not very sweet, but cucumbers+cream cheese sandwiches, on white bread with the crusts cut off, is somewhat topical. And chocolate truffles are timeless! cupcakes can work. Rice Krispies treats are a maybe, they might fit into the 1940's.

[vanguardcdk.livejournal.com]

Still too bad about the popcorn balls...they were a huge success with the patrons. :)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I'd do that again if I could find a way not to burn my hands. We wore rubber gloves, but it didn't protect us enough from the molten lava heat of the melted sugar...

[smacaski.livejournal.com]

Mmm, my grandmother used to make the best hermits.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Are hermits still popular? I've only had one in my life, which came in a tin of Christmas cookies I received. I remember it tasted like allspice and clove.

[smacaski.livejournal.com]

I don't know how "popular" they are, but I know several people who have heard of them, and I personally loved them as a kid. I think they're a good old-timey treat--it's a comforting, warm, spiced kind of treat, like hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick. Mmm...

[rozasharn.livejournal.com]

You can get hermits in the bakery section of Stop & Shop or Foodmaster. They tend to have less chemical content than other ready-to-eat cookies.

[hahathor.livejournal.com]

I'd recommend Kentucky Colonels, which were popular in the 30s. Very easy to make (though they take time - mostly time waiting around while stuff is in the fridge) and they are sinfully rich & delicious.

8 oz butter
1 lb confectioners' sugar
1 cup Bourbon (about)
40 pecan halves
14 oz semisweet chocolate chips


Cream together butter & confectioners' sugar
Roll into 40 balls & place on two or more cookie trays covered with wax papers
Place trays in fridge till the balls are pretty hard
Poke a well in each ball
Put a drop. or two, or six, of bourbon in each ball
Squeeze the wells shut (so you have a ball of butter sugar with bourbon inside)
Stick back in the fridge for AT LEAST an hour, maybe more. Those babies should be rock hard
Melt the chocolate chips on the top of a double boiler
Dip each ball in chocolate, then place a pecan half on top
Put 'em back in the fridge till the chocolate solidifies

'Course, there's plenny to be said for good ol' fashioned pralines, or divinity....
Roll into balls about the size of walnuts

[heliopsis.livejournal.com]

I have a great recipe for Hot Water Gingerbread. It's delicious, especially with applesauce and whipped cream.

Hot-Water Gingerbread

[rozasharn.livejournal.com]

My cookbook just calls it gingerbread, but the cookbook is The American Woman's Cookbook, copyright 1946, and the recipe calls for hot water. You were supposed to melt the butter in the hot water, then add the molasses, then combine wet ingredients with dry. Since I have a modern microwave, I just melt the butter in the microwave and use water straight from the tap.

This recipe works well with whole-wheat flour, but you can use white if you want. To make a vegan version, use margarine.

And remember that the 1940s cover more than just WW2. For the latter half of the 1940s, we didn't have rationing.

Gingerbread:

2.5 cups whole-wheat flour (or white flour)
1.5 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp baking soda
(1/2 tsp salt)
nutmeg/cloves/cinnamon/allspice, to taste
1/2 cup butter or Willow Run margarine, melted
1/2 cup water
1 cup molasses

Mix dry ingredients, mix wet ones, add dry to wet, mix completely.
Bake in greased 8" pan at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.