Angel Food Cake (part two)

Posted by meetsy in Egg Recipe, Egg Recipe History, Uncategorized May 25, 2017

The Angel Appearing before the Shepherds by Thomas Buchanan Read (1822-1872) Dayton Art Institute

Food historians believe the white sponge cake was a creation of the Northern European immigrants to America. After all, this group made ample amounts of egg noodles (which used only the yolks) leaving many leftover, whites, and the women also made various ring cakes, that were traditionally cooked in a “deep, round, fancy cake pain with a center tube”^[1] (a pan not called for in other immigrant, or classic cooking recipes)

Antique Turk’s Head (also known as Monk’s Head) pans can be found in two style: either like a very plain swirled bundt pan, or, a shallower version of what, today, we call a tube pan, that was referred to in the early 1900’s as an Angel Cake Pan.

early 1900’s “turk’s head” pan

In the 1950s, a group of women in Minneapolis asked a NordicWare designer to recreate a fancy tube cake pan, like the ones their mother’s had brought from the old country. The result was what NordicWare named the “Bundt”. The name was trademarked by NordicWare. Sales languished, and the bundt pan was nearly discontinued until a winner of one of the Pillsbury Bake-Off contests submitted a chocolate cake, dubbed “Tunnel of Fudge”^{^[2]} baked in a bundt pan. Interest in the pan skyrocketed, and bundt pans soon surpassed the tin Jell-O mold pans as the most sold pans in the United States. The trademarked name “bundt” was, later, rejected by the U.S. Trademark Office as too generic a term.

(In Australia a tube pan is called a ring tin.)

Cakes baked in Turk’s heads, and similar pans are, in part, derived from a bread-like cake made in Germany and Hungary called a gugelhumpf or bundkuchen, the Eastern European babka, burgunder rodon, the Dutch tulband, and the Finnish kermakakku, to name a few.

Evan Jones, wrote in his book American Food: The Gastronomic Story^{^[3]}, his angel cake theory:

“…angel (or angel food) cakes, may have evolved as the result of numerous egg whites left over after the making of noodles, and may or may not be the brainchild of thrifty Pennsylvania cooks who considered it sinful to waste anything..”

Tube pans (a straight-edged, or slightly sloping baking tin) were created in the late 1800s. These pans appealed to housewives and became a staple in American kitchens. The tube pan has an advantage over regular cake pans for all sponge cakes because heat flows around the center of the cake, which allows the cake to rise higher, cook faster, and more reliably. It is also more stable and less likely to fall, or collapse when removed from the oven. These tube pans were sold, specifically, as angel pans in catalogs in the early 1900’s.

Variations in flavor of angle food cakes recipes range from vanilla, to almond, to rose water, and orange.

Angel Food Cake

1 cup cake flour, sifted

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Pinch of salt

1½ cup egg whites (approximately 12 eggs)

1½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Line the bottom of a tube pan with parchment paper (do not grease pan)

In a bowl sift together flour, cream of tartar and salt, several times. Set aside.

Wash a copper bowl^{^[4]} or regular bowl, in hot soapy water, to make certain there is no residue of great, and dry thoroughly. Beat room temperature egg whites, until foamy, and then start adding sugar. Beat in a tablespoon at a time, until all the sugar is used up and the egg whites are stiff and form peaks (2-3 minutes with an electric beater, considerably longer if hand whipping). At the very last minute, add the extracts.

Sift the flour mixture over the foam, and fold in, a little at a time, very gently (to not flatten the foam) until all the flour is mixed in. Immediately spoon batter into the tube pan, then tap the pan on the counter several times to dislodge any large air pockets in the batter. Place the tube pan in the oven, and cook for about an hour, or until the cake is golden brown, and the yields gently to pressure, but springs back up when the pressure is released.

Cool the pan, inverted on the feet build into the pan, or over the neck of a bottle so that air can circulate around it. Cool for several hours.

Run the edge of a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen, and remove from the pan. Cut with a serrated knife.

[1] The Settlement Cookbook by Lizzie Black Kander (1910)

[2] Ella Helfrich, the woman who submitted the recipe took second place in 1966.

[3] Dutton Publishing; 1^st edition 1975

[4] Copper bowls react with the proteins in egg whites, and create firmer foam.

Angel Food Cake, an American Invention (part 1)

Posted by meetsy in Egg Recipe, Egg Recipe History, Uncategorized May 23, 2017

454px-Franceschini,_Marcantonio_-_The_Guardian_Angel_-_Google_Art_Project

The Guardian Angel by Marcantonio Franceschini (1648-1729)

The angel-food cake is a light, pale sponge cake made of flour, egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, but no fat (and no yolks). It is usually baked in a tube pan. The angel cake is thought to be (by food historians) an American invention from around 1880-1885.

Food historians look at old recipes and cookbooks to develop their theories of changes in basic recipes, to create something new and different. Around 1870, cook books from around the eastern seaboard were including a recipe for a different kind of sponge cake dubbed snow-drift, silver, white sponge, and angel. Few of the recipes call for a tube pan, so it can be assumed that the pans used were simple, flat cake pan (aka – cake tin).

It is in Mrs. Porter’s New Southern Cookery Book^{^[1]}. That the first white sponge cake appeared in an American cookbook: What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking^{^[2]}. In this book the cake was called a “silver cake”.

Silver Cake — The whites of one dozen eggs beaten very light, one pound of butter, one pound of powdered sugar; rub the butter and sugar together until creamed very light, then add the beaten whites of the eggs, and beat all together until very light; two teaspoonfuls of the best yeast powder sifted with one pound of flour, then add the flour to the eggs, sugar and butter, also add one-half teacupful of sweet milk; mix quickly, and beat till very light; flavor with two teaspoonfuls of the extract of almond or peach, put in when you beat the cake the last time. Put to bake in any shape pan you like, but grease the pan well before you put the cake batter in it. Have the stove moderately hot, so as the cake will bake gradually, and arrange the damper of stove so as send heat to the bottom of the cake first.

In The Original Boston Cooking School Cook Book by Mrs. D.A. Lincoln, there was a,nearly identical, cake which she called an Angel Cake:

Angel Cake — One cup of flour, measured after one sifting, and then mixed with one teaspoonful of cream of tartar and sifted four times. Beat the whites of eleven eggs, with a wire beater or perforated spoon, until stiff and flaky. Add one cup and one half of fine granulated sugar, and beat again; add one teaspoonful of fine granulated sugar, and beat again; add one teaspoonful of vanilla or almond, then mix in the flour quickly and lightly. Line the bottom and a funnel of a cake pan with paper not greased, pour in the mixture and bake about forty minutes. When done loosen the cake around the edge and turn out at once. Some persons have been more successful with this cake by mixing the sugar with the flour and cream of tartar and adding it all at once to the beaten egg.

(Fannie Merritt Farmer’s updated version, 1896, of the Boston Cooking School Cook Book, has the same recipe as in earlier versions, but the name was changed from angel cake to angel food cake.)

In the Woman’s Exchange Cook Book^{^[3]} (1894) there is a similar white sponge cake that is actually named angel food cake. The pan called for is a Turk’s Head alluding to the shape of a turban, an Ottoman headdress. This is the earliest known cookbook reference that called for a tube pan to bake an Angel food cake in.

Angel Food Cake — Whites of 11 eggs, 1 teaspoon of flavoring, one and one half cups of granulated sugar, 1 cup of sifted flour, 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar. Put the cream of tartar into the sifted flour and sift it five times. Sift the sugar. Beat the whites of the eggs to a very stiff froth, add the sugar, and mix carefully; then add the flour gradually, stirring allthe while, and last the flavoring. Turn quickly into an ungreased pan and bake in a moderate oven (sa, 260 degrees fahr) for forty-five minutes. Take from the oven, turn the pan upside down on a rest, and let it stand until the cake falls out. It is best to bake this in a Turk’s head. You can then rest it on the tube.

In Our Home Clyopedia^{^[4]} published in 1889, there are a number of recipes for multi-egg white sponge cakes. The pan called for is a cake tin, or a brick shaped tin, and, in one, the pan is, first, lined with pastry.

Delicious Sponge Cake — Twelve eggs, one pound of sugar, twelve ounces of flour, a pinch of salt; flavor. Beat the whites to a very stiff froth, the yolks till the bubbles look fine. Then the yolks are beaten enough to add the sugar and beat until the sugar dissolved; then add the whites, and lastly the flour, and bake immediately in brick shaped tins. This will make two loaves. You will find your cake so much nicer if baked in a paste. Make with flour and water only; roll out on the board same as a pine crust, line your greased tins all over with the paste and pour in the batter. Bake nearly an hour. Do not break off the paste till you want to use it. Your cake will be more moist and keep longer; indeed the cake will be much better a day or two old.

White Sponge Cake — Sift together one cup of flour, one-half cup of corn starch, one teaspoonful baking powder; add one cup of sugar, one teaspoonful extract of rose, then add the whites of eight eggs whipped to a stiff froth; mix thoroughly and bake in a well-buttered cake tin in a quick oven 30 minutes.

Recipes, especially back then, were spread by one woman handing another woman a handwritten recept (as recipes used to be called), and so-on, like a virus. Newspapers and magazines had contests for “the best” of various categories along with exotic sounding names and creative adaptations. Sometimes there were cash prizes, but often, the reward was they were published, with citations. These recipes were compiled into various cookbooks that were sold or given away (sometimes, also, as prizes for submitting a winning recipe) which further spread the recipes. Food historians trace the published nuggets, and analyze the subtle difference, to come up with theories as to the origin, including the use of pans.

[1] By M.E. Porter, Published 1871

[2] Abbey Fisher, a former slave from Mobile Alabama, was the first Black American to write a cookbook in 1881

[3] No author is identified. This book appears to be a book that is a compilation of recipes published elsewhere.

[4] No author. This is another collection of recipes, household, and medical tips, that appear to have been cobbled together from other publications.

Egg Soup (Eggs in Purgatory and Shakshuka)

Posted by meetsy in Egg Recipe, Egg Recipe History, Uncategorized March 16, 2017

I woke up to frost on the ground this morning, while I’m still wishing for Spring. Maybe that is why it felt colder than the deep winter of a few months ago. This frost, and the cold wind and rain we’ve been having started me thinking about foods that warm you.

Soup!

Two Old Men Eating Soup, 1819–23, by Francisco de Goya, currently in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Soup is a very old dish. It is as old as fire and a container to boil water in. The oldest written egg soup recipe I could find was from the early 16^th century in England. The recipe is simple: For each person, take strong-flavored broth; one beaten egg; an egg-size chunk of cheese, cut into small bits; minced scallion or green onion; and minced spring greens. Take boiling stock, skim off any foam, beat egg and whisk it into the broth, and add cheese and greens before serving.

There are a great many recipes that add a few eggs to hot soup to be poached or stirred in to create a creamier, more nutritious soup. Other recipes call for an egg to be added to a small amount of broth and beaten before it is added to the rest of the soup (tempering the egg—diluting it with some of the liquid—makes it less likely to curdle when added to a full pot of broth). There are a few recipes for a custard-based soup, although the real problem with eggs in soups is that they “break” easily (and become granular) with heat that is prolonged or too high.

The most numerous egg-in-soup recipes—for egg drop soup—make the most of an egg cooking in hot liquid. They involve stirring an untempered beaten raw egg into hot soup to create ribbons of cooked egg. In other recipes, this would be called curdling, but it is a desirable attribute in this case. Egg drop soups include the famous Chinese egg drop soup as well as the Central American sopa de anjo (garlic soup) and Greek avgolemono (egg-and-lemon chicken soup).

Syllabub and German Biersuppe are not quite dessert and not savory. They’re more like soup than like egg drinks but are still borderline. Biersuppe and syllabub are both very old versions of liquid nutrition, or early instant breakfast. They share a history with eggnog and other alcohol-and-egg drinks. They are interesting in that the recipes have persisted to modern times, although often not as breakfast or quick lunch meals but, rather, as appetizers, palate cleansers, or offbeat desserts.

And, finally, there is a dessert type of egg soup. These sweet soups are often served for either breakfast or dessert. Some are warm; others are cold. Included are buttermilk soups (usually cold) and a dessert that was popular prior to World War II, Œufs à la neige (also known as floating islands, clouds, and snow eggs). My grandmother was especially fond of her floating islands, firm blobs of meringue poached in a custard and then served floating in a ladleful of the custard. (It is a dessert I had long forgotten about until I tried the recipe.)

Any soup can have a poached egg added to it, and many people do this routinely. The egg is usually poached in the soup, but some people poach the egg in simmering water and then slide it into the soup before serving. The situation in which to poach an egg separately is when your soup is opaque. (It is a little disconcerting when you drop a few eggs into the soup and cannot find them to serve. They drop to the bottom of the pot and are very elusive.) It is another reason some recipes say to put a raw egg in a bowl and then ladle soup over it. This is fine for those who like their poached eggs on the very runny side, as the temperature in the soup bowl quickly drops and the egg doesn’t cook very much. The egg adds extra nutrition to the soup and, with clear soups, visual interest. One very popular poached egg soup is “eggs in purgatory,” which sounds quite daring and slightly naughty. It is eggs poached in tomato soup. A similar recipe is Israel’s shakshuka, which is spicier.

Eggs in Purgatory Soup

3 cups diced tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
1 egg per serving

In blender or food processor, blend tomatoes until liquid. Set aside. In large cooking pot, heat olive oil to very hot. Add onions, and sauté until lightly browned. Turn heat down, and add flour and cornstarch to make smooth roux. Add pureed tomatoes. Stir until blended, and heat until boiling. Add Worcestershire sauce, honey, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. Reduce heat to simmer, and let soup simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and, while stirring constantly, add cream. Then add milk. Continue to stir, and return pot to stove on low heat. Stir constantly 10 minutes, to let soup heat thoroughly. Remove from heat. Poach one egg for each serving. Crack eggs into measuring cup, and slowly pour into soup. With slotted spoon, move eggs apart and roll them occasionally while cooking (4 to 6 minutes). Ladle soup and poached egg into individual serving bowls.

Shakshuka (Israel)

¼ cup olive oil
3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
1 cup chopped onion
5 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
3 cups diced tomatoes
½ cup red wine
6 eggs
½ cup crumbled feta cheese for garnish
chopped cilantro or Italian parsley for garnish
warm pitas for serving

In deep-sided skillet, heat olive oil until very hot. Sauté chilies and onions together until limp. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook several more minutes until garlic is soft. Add diced tomatoes and red wine. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until flavors are blended and soup is boiling. Turn off heat, and slide whole eggs into soup, distributed across surface. Cover skillet 5 minutes to let eggs set. Remove poached eggs with slotted spoon, and put into individual serving dishes. Ladle hot soup over eggs, and garnish with feta and cilantro. Serve with pita bread.

Mayonnaise

Posted by meetsy in Egg Recipe, Egg Recipe History, Egg Science Cooking, sauces and tagged with egg recipe history, Egg sauce, mayonnaise July 20, 2016

1. Hellman’s Delivery Truck, circa 1930’s 2. BEST FOODS Real Mayonnaise Jar, 1939 3. Mr. Richard Hellmann, 1920’s 4. HELLMANN’S Real Mayonnaise Jar, 1939 5.) Richard Hellmann’s staff and original delicatessen, 1912 6. BEST FOODS delivery vehicle 1920’s

When most of us think of mayonnaise, we think of Best Foods, or Hellmann’s (depending which side of the country you are on). Few people actually TRY to make mayonnaise, because it has the reputation of being difficult to make. Mayonnaise is a popular sauce for pairing with a wide variety of foods, was used in many ways, and had abundant variations. Much of this variety has been lost because of the ease of opening a jar. We have become so imprinted on the Hellman/Best Foods standard flavor that we overlook the delight to be found in fresh, homemade mayo.

I suspect that the commercial mayonnaise makers were responsible for the unreasonable claims that it is finicky and difficult to make. There are still pervasive myths. Among the most outlandish: Mayonnaise cannot be made by a menstruating woman. (It will fail to emulsify.) Also, mayonnaise cannot be made on a warm summer’s day, during a thunderstorm or a rainstorm, or when the barometer is showing a winter storm approaching. Some recipes insist that all the ingredients must be very cold, whereas others caution that they should be at room temperature. The mystique that surrounds creating the emulsion known as mayonnaise is certainly interesting. It makes you wonder: If it is so difficult to make, how is it that factories are able to consistently churn out truckloads of mayonnaise every day. (Do they ban menstruating women? Shut down during thunderstorms and fluctuating barometric pressure?)

The truth is: Mayonnaise is not difficult to make. If the idea was mastered in the 1500s, without refrigeration, by cooks during war campaigns — mayonnaise just cannot be that difficult.

The thing about making mayonnaise is that it, like most other cooking, is anything but an exact science. The most important ingredient (aside from good eggs and bland oil) is patience. A homemade product will, predictably, not turn out exactly the same every time. That is the nature of homemade, and the variations are part of the charm. The thing to remember about homemade mayonnaise is that it has a quality that cannot be mass-produced. It is an affordable luxury.

The science behind it is simple. Mayonnaise is an emulsion, which is a mix of two immiscible ingredients. Immiscible means incapable of mixing without a third substance called an emulsifier. In the case of mayonnaise, it is oil with a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar, which is mixed SLOWLY into egg yolks’ (lecithin in the eggs acts as an emulsifier). A pinch of mustard powder or squeeze of prepared mustard (called for in most recipes) is an additional emulsifier. The acid (lemon juice or vinegar) strengthens and lengthens the yolk’s proteins.

It is egg, and oil, with a little acid added (any kind of vinegar, lemon, or lime), plus a dash of salt. Mustard does help the emulsion hold together, so it is a good addition. Everything else is a suggestion. Keep this in mind when you read the following recipes. You can experiment with different kinds of mustards (grain, brown, dry powdered, prepared yellow) for different flavors. You can use different oils or oil mixtures. You can add various spices or other ingredients. The worst thing is to try to duplicate Hellman’s/Best Foods in flavor, texture, and color. It is nearly (if not completely) impossible to obtain the white color of commercially made mayonnaise. Yours will always be a richer, more interesting yellow. The flavor will be broader and the texture richer and creamier. The final product will often be thick. Add a tablespoon or more of cold water (or cream) to thin it.

The natural variation of homemade mayonnaise is due to the ingredients, the temperament of the cook, and the eggs. Eggs are not just eggs. They vary in seasonal quality—a spring egg is “wetter” than a late summer egg. A stored egg or an older refrigerated egg is thicker and dryer than a newly laid egg. An egg from a chicken fed on natural grasses is vastly different from an egg from a chicken raised on commercial pellets. A pastured chicken egg is different from a battery cage chicken egg. A freshly laid egg is different to work with than a commercial store-bought egg. Eggs from different strains of chickens probably have some minute differences, and eggs from different species have some very different characteristics. (A duck egg yolk and white are thicker than those of a chicken egg. A goose egg yolk is creamier than either a duck’s or a chicken’s.)

A freshly laid chicken egg is the easiest to work with for mayonnaise. But, unless you have chickens, this won’t be an option. Duck eggs make a very thick and rich mayonnaise, although you might need to add milk, cream, or water to thin it. Goose eggs make delicious mayonnaise, although some people find that it is too intensely egg-flavored.

A little about oil: Olive oil is the standard go-to for mayonnaise, but many olive oils are too flavorful and any undesirable traits, such as bitterness or an overbearing acid flavor, will be accentuated in the mayonnaise. In most cases, this detracts from or clashes with the flavors in the meal. It is better to find a neutral olive oil (such as a Spanish one) or use another type of bland, neutral oil such as safflower or sunflower oil. You can even try melted unsalted butter, it makes a very interesting mayonnaise, which is quite rich, and very unique.

(What causes me the most challenges is one of my own human foibles: impatience. Do not attempt to make mayonnaise if you are in a hurry. Mayonnaise cannot be rushed.)

Making an emulsion takes patience! By its very nature, an emulsion is something that does not want to blend. You have to coax the egg into accepting the oil and dribble the oil in slowly. I use an eyedropper and try not to add more than a few drops at a time. (I have never tried “pour in a thin stream” without awful results). I dribble the oil, drop by drop, at the start, and then move up to teaspoonfuls. I also give the yolk ample time to “rest.” Stopping for a moment is handy. Stop and take a breath. This tip is good to remember if you begin to see the emulsification stalling and the mayonnaise just beginning to “break” (forming big, ugly curds that will not go back together again). You can settle the mixture down by pausing, adding a few drops of cold water, and just waiting a moment before continuing.

If you want a good workout, use a wire whisk and a large bowl that will allow the yolk to spread out into a very thin layer. It will give you a clear view of what is going on, and if any breaking starts, you can stop it quickly. (A deep, narrow bowl does not afford as much control.)

I’ve read that you can use a hand whisk, a rotary hand mixer, an electric hand mixer, a stick blender, an upright blender, or a food processor. However, I have used only a whisk or an electric hand mixer. It took me about three tries (one afternoon) before I managed to find a technique that worked for me. I have tried since then to use a blender and a food processor but always return to what I find easiest: the hand mixer and a big bowl with a flat bottom. But there is no one right way. Experiment, and find what works for you.

Expect a few mishaps before you get your technique down. The most common error, from my experience, is rushing it and adding the oil too fast. The point is to keep the egg yolk (or yolks) in motion while you add the oil, a drop at a time.

Basic Simple Mayo Recipe:

Mayonnaise

3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon wine vinegar or lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon prepared mustard
1½ cups olive oil, salad oil, or mixture

2 tablespoons boiling water

Beat egg yolks with salt, mustard, and vinegar or lemon juice. Add oil, a drop at a time, and keep beating. Dribble oil in, in short bursts, beating constantly to make sure egg mixture absorbs oil smoothly. Dribble, and then stop and beat. Dribble, stop, and beat. When 1/3 cup oil is mixed in, the chance of the whole sauce’s breaking is lessened, so you can add oil in larger amounts (such as a teaspoon at a time). Continue until all oil has been used. The end result will be very thick and creamy. Thin with a little boiling water or a mixture of hot water and more vinegar or lemon juice if mixture is too thick. Add seasoning after mayonnaise has been chilled, covered, for an hour. (If not covered, it may develop an unsightly “skin” on top.)

If you are at all fearful of the dreaded “salmonella” (which I will cover on a different post, and best avoided by buying the freshest eggs, from the most natural source you can find — like a farmer’s market with the actual chicken wrangler right there selling them, or, naturally, from chickens wandering your backyard) then here is a “cooked” mayo recipe:

Cooked Mayo

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon dry mustard

dash pepper

1 cup very light olive oil

In double boiler, over simmering water, stir egg yolks, lemon juice, water, mustard, and pepper until blended. Continue stirring constantly. Using a glass cooking thermometer, get temperature to 140 degrees and maintain that temperature for 3½ minutes. Remove from heat (take pan off hot water), and let sit for several minutes to cool. Pour into blender, cover, and blend at high speed. Add oil, drop by drop, slowly. Keep adding more oil while blender is going, until all oil is absorbed. Yolk will become very thick and smooth. Occasionally turn off blender to scrape down sides with rubber spatula. Remove mayonnaise from blender, and placed in covered container. Keep refrigerated.

Dessert Deviled Eggs

Posted by meetsy in desserts, Egg Recipe and tagged with dessert eggs, egg recipe June 23, 2016

Everyone knows variations on deviled eggs, but what about dessert deviled eggs?

These two recipes are fantastic (and not just for the shock {wow} factor) Perfect for a potluck:

Chocolate Deviled Eggs

12 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup cream cheese

¼ cup superfine sugar

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

several drops vanilla extract

¼ cup whipping cream

cocoa powder for garnish

Remove yolks from eggs, and set whites aside. With fork mash yolks and put into bowl. Add room-temperature butter and cream into yolks. Add room-temperature cream cheese, and blend into butter mixture. Add sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract, and blend in well. Put spoonfuls of yolk mixture back into egg whites, and reassemble both egg halves. Refrigerate to firm. To serve, whip up whipping cream with small amount of sugar, place dollop of whipped cream on plate, and place egg on top. Sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Italian Sweet Hard-Boiled Eggs

8 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

½ cup butter, softened

¼ cup sugar

several drops vanilla extract

¼ cup flour

½ cup cornstarch

Cut eggs in half, and separate yolks from whites. Set whites aside. Mash yolks with fork. Cream butter and yolks, and add sugar and vanilla extract. Stir together flour and cornstarch, sprinkle a little at a time onto yolk mixture, and blend in. Fold until flour is incorporated. Make firm ball with dough. Refrigerate 2 hours. Remove, and make 16 small balls of dough. Place a dough ball in cavity of each egg white. Flatten dough slightly. Place on cookie sheet. Bake in 350-degree oven 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden-brown. Serve warm, or chilled.

Columbia Cookbook (1902) More Recipes

Posted by meetsy in about eggs, Egg Recipe, Egg Recipe History, Uncategorized and tagged with egg cooking, egg recipe, egg recipe history January 18, 2016

Omelet Soufflee

Whites of six eggs, yolks of three eggs, juice of half a lemon, three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. First grease a quart baking dish with butter, and then see that the oven is hot. Now beat the whites to a very stiff broth, beat the yolks, add them to the whites, then the sugar and juice of a lemon; stir carefully, and quickly heap into the baking dish; dredge with powdered sugar and put into the oven. Bake fifteen minutes or until a golden brown, and serve immediately. It may also be baked in paper cases.

Rum Omelet

Put a small quantity of lard into the pan; let it simmer a few minutes and remove it; wipe the pan dry with a towel and put in a little fresh lard in which the omelet may be fried. Care should be taken that the lard does not burn, which would spoil the color of the omelet. Break three eggs separately, put them into a bowl, and wisk them thoroughly with a fork. The longer they are beaten the lighter will the omelet be. Beat up a teaspoonful of milk with the eggs, and continue to beat until the last moment before pouring into the pan, which should be over a hot fire. As soon as the omelet sets, remove the pan from the hottest part of the fire. Slip a knife under it to prevent sticking to the pan. When the centre is almost firm slant the pan, work the omelet in shape to fold it easily and neatly, and when slightly browned hold a platter against the edge of the pan and deftly turn it out on to the hot dish. Dust a liberal quantity of powdered sugar over it and singe the sugar into neat stripes with a hot iron rod, heated in the coals; pour a glassful of warm Jamacia rum around it, and when it is placed on the table set fire to the rum. With a tablespoon dash the burning rum over the omelet, put out the fire and serve. Salt mixed with the eggs prevents them from rising, and then it is so used the omelet will look flabby, yet without salt it will taste insipid. Add a little salt to it just before folding it and turning out on the dish.

Smoked beef with Eggs

Cut some smoked beef in thin shavings or chips, put them into a frying pan, and nearly fill it with hot water; set it on the fire and let it boil up once, then pour it off; add to the beef a good bit of lard, twice the size of an egg, for a half pound of the beef, shake a little pepper over it, and let it fry for a few minutes over a quick fire; then break two or three more eggs into it, stir them together until the eggs are done and then turn it onto a dish. Or, after frying the beef with a little wheat flour dredged over, fry eggs, and serve with it the same as ham.

Ham and Eggs

Fry the eggs in a little every nice salted lard; drain off every drop of grease and lay them upon a hot dish with neat slices of fried ham around the edges., half the size of the slice as the first, carved from the ham. Trim off the rough edges of the eggs, and cut the ham evenly in oblong pieces before dishing. Garnish with parsley.

Egg Nogg

Beat the yolks of twelve eggs very light, stir in as much white sugar as they will dissolve, pour in gradually one glassful of brandy to cook the eggs, one glassful of old whiskey (or two glassfuls of sherry wine), one grated nutmeg, and three pints of rich milk. Beat the whites to a froth and stir in last.

Egg Sauce

Three hard boiled eggs, a good teacupful of drawn butter, a little salt. Chop the yolks only of the eggs very fine, and beat into the hot drawn butter, salting to sates. This is used for boiled fowls and boiled fish. For the former, you can add some minced parsley; for the latter chopped pickles, caper, or nasturtium seed. For boiled beef, a small shallot minced fine.

Columbia Cookbook (1902) More Recipes

Posted by meetsy in about eggs, Egg Recipe, Egg Recipe History and tagged with egg cooking, egg recipe, egg recipe history January 11, 2016

More Recipes from the Columbia Cookbook:

Deviled Eggs

Twelve eggs, one large teaspoonful of French mustard, two heaping tablespoonfuls of cold-boiled ham or tongue, one tablespoonful of olive oil, salt and cayenne to taste. Cover the eggs with warm water and boil fifteen minutes, then throw them into cold water for half and hour; this prevents the whites from turning dark. Remove the shells, and cut the eggs in halves lengthwise. Take out the yolks carefully without breaking the whites. Rub the yolks into a smooth paste with the mustard, oil, and then add the ham or tongue finely chopped, the salt and pepper, and mix thoroughly. Fill the hollowed whites with this mixture, and serve on a bed of water-cress or salad.

For picnics or garden parties, put the two corresponding halves together and press them closely. Cut white tissue paper into pieces six inches square, fringe the opposite sides, roll one egg in each paper, twist the fringed ends the same as the candied secrets. Serve on a napkin, in a pretty little basket, garnish with smilax or myrtle.

Breaded Eggs

Boil the eggs hard, and cut in round thick slices,; pepper and salt; dip each in a beaten raw egg, and then in fine bread crumbs or powdered cracker, and fry in butter hissing hot. Drain off every drop of crease and serve on a hot dish for breakfast.

Eggs on Toast

Put a good lump of butter into the frying pan. When it is hot, stir in four or five well beaten eggs, with pepper, salt, and a little parsley. Stir and toss for three minutes. Have ready to your hand some slices of buttered toast (cut round with a tin cake cutter before they are toasted; spread thickly with ground or minced tongue, chicken or ham. Heap the stirred egg upon these in mounts, and set in a hot dish garnished with parsley and pickled beets.

Eggs, Newport Style

Take one pint of bread crumbs and soak in one point of milk. Beat eight eggs very light and stir with the soaked crumbs, beating five minutes. Have ready a sauce pan in which are two tablespoonfuls of butter, thoroughly hot, but not scorching; pour in the mixture, season with pepper and salt, as the mass is opened and stirred in with the “scrambling,” which should be done quickly with the point of the knife, for three minutes, or until thoroughly hot. Serve on a hot platter with squares of buttered toast.

Plain Omelet (Fine)

To make an omelet, beat the yolks lightly (twelve beats is said to be the magic number), as too much beating makes them thin and destroys the appearance of the omelet, then add the milk, the salt, pepper, and the flour if any is used, and lastly the whites beaten to a stiff froth. Have the skillet as hot as it can be without scorching the butter; put in a tablespoonful of butter, and pour in the omelet, which should at once begin to bubble and rise in flakes. Slip under it a thin broad bladed knife and every now and then raise it up to prevent burning. As soon as the under-side is hard enough to hold together and the eggs begin to ‘set,” fold over, shake the skillet so as to entirely free the omelet, carefully slide it on a hot platter, and serve at once. It should be cooked in from three to five minutes.

Bread Omelet

Three eggs, one quarter teaspoonful of salt, one dash of black pepper, one half cup of bread crumbs, one half cup of milk, piece of butter the size of a walnut. Beat the eggs separately. Add to the yolks. Add to the yolks the milk, salt, pepper, and the bread crumbs. Now stir into this carefully the beaten whites; mix very lightly. Put the batter ina very smooth frying pan; as soon as hot turn in the mixture gently, and set it over a clear fire, being very careful not to burn; shake occasionally to see that the omelet does not stick, the same as plain omelet. Now stand your frying pan in the oven for a moment to set the middle of the omelet. When done, toss it over on a warm platter to bring the brown side of the omelet uppermost; or it may be folded in half and then turned out in the center of the platter. Serve immediately or it will fall.

Omelet with Ham, Tongue, or Chicken

Make precisely as above; but when it is done, scatter thickly over the surface some minced ham, tongue, or seasoned chicken, slip our broad knife under one side of the omelet and double in half, enclosing the meat. Then upset the frying pan upon a hot dish.

Omelet au Naturel

Break eight or ten eggs into a basin; add a small teaspoonful of salt and a little pepper, with a tablespoonful of cold water, beat the whole well with a spoon or wisk. In the meantime put some fresh sweet putter into an omelet pan, and when it is nearly hot put in an omelet; whilst it is frying with a skimmer spoon, raise the edges from the pan, that it may be properly done. When the eggs are set, and one side is a fine brown, double it half over, and serve hot. These omelets should be quite thin in the pan; the butter required for each will be about the size of a small egg.

Spanish Omelet

Six eggs, one medium sized tomato, one small onion, one dash of black pepper, three tablespoonfuls of milk, five mushrooms, one quarter pound of bacon, one quarter teaspoonful of salt.

Cut the bacon into very small pieces and fry it until brown; then add to it the tomato, onion, and mushroom chopped fine; stir and cook for fifteen minutes. Break the eggs in a bowl, and give them twelve vigorous beats with a fork; add them to the salt and pepper. Now put a piece of butter the size of a walnut into a smooth frying pan, turn it around so as to grease the bottom and sides. When the butter is hot, pour in the eggs and shake over a quick fire until they are set. Now quickly pour the mixture from the other frying pan over the omelet, fold it over at once, and turn it out in the centre of a heated platter, and serve immediately.

Rice Omelet

Take a cupful of cold boiled rice, turn over it a cupful of warm milk, add a tablespoonful of butter melted, a level teaspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper, mix well, then add three well beaten eggs. Put a tablespoonful of butter in a hot frying pan and when it begins to boil pour in the omelet and set the pan in a hot oven. As soon as it is cooked through, fold it double, turn it out on a hot dish, and serve at once. Very good.

Savory Omelet

This is made like a plain omelet with the addition of one taplespoon of chopped parsley. A little grated onion may be used also if you like it.

Tomato Omelet

Peel a couple of tomatoes, which split into four pieces; remove the seeds, and cut them into small dice; then fry them with a little butter until nearly done, adding salt and pepper. Beat the eggs and mix the tomatoes with them, and make the omelet as usual. Or stew a few tomatoes in the usual way and spread over before folding.

Potato Omelet

Two boiled potatoes, chopped fine. Put a tablespoonful of butter in a frying pan, and, when very hot, add the potatoes. Shake over the fire until a nice brown; then sprinkle with chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Stand them where they will keep warm until you make a plain omelet. When the omelet is partly set, spread over the potatoes, roll, and serve.

Green Corn Omelet

Boil one dozen ears of sweet corn, cut from the cob. Beat together five eggs; mix with the corn and season with pepper and salt; make into small cakes. Dip into the beaten yolk of an egg, and then into bread crumbs; add a teaspoonful of flour to the bread crumbs and season them with a little salt and pepper. Fry brown

Jelly Omelet

Make a plain omelet, and just before folding together, spread with some kind of jelly. Turn out on a warm platter. Dust it with powdered sugar.

Oyster Omelet

Allow for every six large oysters, or twelve small ones, one egg; remove the hard part and mince the rst very fine; take the yolks of eight eggs, and the whites of fou, beat until very light; then mix in the oysters, season and beat all up thoroughly; put into a skillet one gill of butter, let it melt; when the butter boils, skim it and turn in the omelet; stir until it stiffens, fry light brown; when the under side is brown, turn onto a hot platter; if wanted the upper side brown, hold a red hot shovel over it.

Mushroom Omelet

Clean a cupful of large button mushrooms, canned ones may be used; cut them into bits. Put into a stew pan and ounce of butter, and let it melt; add the mushrooms, a teaspoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, and a half a cupful of cream or milk. Stir ina teaspoonful of flour, dissolved in a little milk or water to thicken, if needed. Boil ten minutes, and set aside until the omelet is ready.

Make a plain omelet the usual way, and just before doubling it, turn the mushrooms over the centre, and serve hot.

Cheese Omelet

Beat up three eggs, and add to them a tablespoonful of milk and a tablespoonful of grated cheese; add a little more cheese before folding; turn it out on a hot dish; grate a little cheese over it before serving

French Omelet

One quart of milk, one pint of bread crumbs, five eggs, one tablespoonful of flour, one onion chopped fine, chopped parsley, season with pepper and salt; have butter melted in a spider; when the omelet is brown, turn it over; double when served.

Asparagus, Cauliflower, and Onion Omelet

Cook the vegetables as if for the table; place them in the centre of the omelet just before folding.

Bengal Omelet

Take half a dozen fresh eggs, beat the whites and the yolks well together, chop half a dozen yong onions fine, mix all together and fry after the form of a pancake

Old Cookbooks: Columbia Cook Book, 1902

Posted by meetsy in Egg Recipe, Egg Recipe History and tagged with cooking tips, egg cooking, egg recipe, eggs January 4, 2016

In my old first edition (1898), Columbia Cook Book, which was written by the Ladies Aid Society of the First Baptist Church of Colombia, Tennessee, there are some egg recipes that I have never come across in my quest for egg recipes. Eggs are discussed at great length in this compiled book. It was back in the day when every home had chickens in the yard. The recipes have been copied exactly as they were written in the cookbook. In old cookbooks the recipes were written by many different people, and not well edited, or formatted to list ingredients first, and then instructions. In some cases the wording is awkward, and who knows what they’re talking about. It’s a little odd to read, but the variation and scope of the use of eggs as a meal. Its interesting to revisit these old gems..

Columbia Cookbook 1902 , the Bradley & Gilbert Company

There are so many ways of cooking and dressing eggs that it seems unnecessary for the ordinary family to use only those that are most practical.

The first point of importance is to see that your eggs are perfectly fresh by putting them in a pan of water, and if fresh they will sink immediately, or float if doubtful. Or, hold them before a strong light, and if the yolk appears round and the white surrounding clear, the chances are that it is good.

Eggs are highly nutritious, pleasing to the palate, and easy of digestion, and are said to contain all that which is required for the sustenance of the human body. So that they should form part of the daily bill of fare for every family.

The fresher eggs are, the more wholesome, although new-laid eggs require to be cooked longer than others. Eggs over a week old will do to fry, but not to boil. Do not mix eggs in a tin: always use earthenware.

The best and safest plan to feel assured of the freshness of an egg before using is to break each egg into a saucer before cooking, for if one egg is slightly tainted, it will leven the whole.

Boiled Eggs

The fresher laid the eggs are the better. Put them in boiling water; if you like the white set, about two minutes’ boiling is enough. A new-laid egg will take three minutes if you wish the yolk set. To boil hard for salads or made dishes will take ten minutes.

Poached Eggs

Two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of milk, half a tablespoonful of butter. Beat the eggs and add the salt and the milk. Put the butter in a small sauce-pan, and when it melts add the eggs. Stir over the fire until the mixture thickens, being careful not to let it cook hard. About two minutes will cook it. The eggs, when done, should be left soft and creamy. Serve immediately

Creamed Eggs

Break as many eggs in a buttered pie-dish as it will hold without crowding each others. Sprinkle with pepper and salt, and put a bit of butter on each. Have ready a cup of hot milk in which has been cooked for one minute a teaspoon of corn-starch, or better yet arrowroot wet up with cold water. Pour this, a spoonful at a time, about the raw eggs, and bake it in a quick oven until the eggs are fairly set. Five minutes should do it. Send to table at once in the pie-plate.

Baked eggs

Soak a cupful of bread-crumbs in a half a cupful of hot milk for twenty minutes, stir in a teaspoonful of butter, the yolk of an egg, a tablespoonful of grated cheese, two tablespoonfuls of savory broth, a little minced onion, and a teaspoonful of minced parsley. Pour the mixture into a neat pie-plate, and set, covered in a quick oven. In six minutes lift the cover, break as many eggs on the bubbling surface as the dish will hold, sift the fine crumbs on top and leave in the oven for three minutes longer. Serve in the dish.

Fricasseed Eggs

Boil for fifteen minute, throw at once into cold water, and let them lie there for the same time. Peel, cut each in half length-wise; extract the yolks and rub smooth with a teaspoonful of anchovy paste, a little made mustard, and the tiniest suspicion of cayenne. Mold this pasty mixture into balls of the same shape and size as the yolks, put them into the cavities left in the halved whites, fasten them in place by tying firmly with cotton twine when you have skewered them together with wooden toothpicks, once through each bisected egg. Have ready in a sauce-pan a good cupful of drawn butter (drawn with milk, not water), season with pepper, salt, and minced parsley. Lay the eggs in carefully; set the sauce-pan covered in boiling water, and cook gently, keeping the water outside at a slow boil for ten minutes. Arranges the eggs in a pile on a heated platter, and pour the sauce over them.

Meringued Eggs

Whip the whites of the eggs very stiff. Lay great spoonfuls of the standing froth on a platter that will stand the oven heat. With the back of a tablespoon make a hollow in the middle of each heap, and put a raw yolk in it. Set in the oven until the meringue begins to color faintly, sprinkle with pepper and salt, lay a bit of butter on each egg, and serve in the platter in which they were baked.

Fried Eggs

Melt some butter in a frying pan, and when it hisses drop in the eggs carefully. Frey three minutes; dust with pepper and salt, and transfer to a hot dish

Scrambled Eggs

Heat the spider, and put in a little butter; have the eggs broken into a dish, salt and pepper them,; add a small piece of butter; beat up just enough to break the eggs, then our into the buttered spider; scrape the up from the bottom with a thin knife, to prevent their cooking fast; do not cook too dry

Buttered Eggs

Four eggs, two ounces of butter, two tablespoonfuls of cream, a little grated tongue, pepper, and salt to taste, pieces of buttered toast. Break four eggs into a basin, and beat them well; but two ounces of butter and two tablespoonfuls of cream into a saucepan; add a little grated tongue, pepper and salt to taste; when quite hot add the eggs, stir until nearly set, then spread the mixture on pieces of buttered toast and serve.