How to Make Easter Eggs.

I have several recipes for you today from newspapers of the first three decades of the twentieth century, should you wish to make some Retro-Eggs for your own Easter celebrations.

How To Make Jelly Easter Eggs.

REQUIRED: 1 pint packet of jelly, ½ pint milk, whipped cream, a little finely-grated plain chocolate.

1.      To make these attractive eggs you will want some whole empty egg shells. These can be procured by making a hole at one end of the shells and letting the egg trickle out into a basin.

2.      Pour a little water carefully into the empty shells and rinse them out.

3.      Melt the jelly in half a pint of boiling water. Leave until quite cold and beginning to set, then stir the milk quickly into it.

4.      Pour the jelly carefully into the egg shells, quite filling them up, and leave to set overnight.

5.      The next day peel off the shells, and you will have little jelly eggs.

Advocate (Burnie, Tasmania) of 7 April 1939

The next recipe comes from the Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW) of 25 March 1923. It is for “Swiss Easter Eggs,” which require as an ingredient some fondant made according to the recipe which precedes it in the newspaper, so I give you both:-

Cooked Fondant Easter Eggs.

Place in saucepan 2½ cps sugar, ¾ cup boiling water, ¼ cup golden syrup, ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar. Let stand in warm place for one hour to dissolve the sugar, then place on the stove and boil until the mixture registers 240 degrees Fahrenheit on the candy thermometer. If you do not have a candy thermometer, you can test this with a cup of water just as the water comes from the tap. When the mixture forms a soft ball it is ready to remove from the fire. Pour the syrup at once on a well-oiled meat plate and let stand until cool enough to be handles, then work with a wooden spoon, and when it becomes thick and heavy just knead like bread dough. When white and creamy, place in a bowl and cover with a cloth and then with wax paper, set aside for 24 hours to ripen and it is ready to mould into egg shape. Color if you desire.

Swiss Easter Eggs.

Place in the mixing bowl ½ of boiled fondant batch, 1 cup sponge cake crumbs, 1 cup chopped nuts, ½ cup candied cherries chopped fine, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 2 tablespoons water. Mix and knead well and let stand for one-half hour, then form into egg shapes and ice in either the plain water icing or with the crystal icing or chocolate icing.

And here is a different form of fondant Easter egg, using potatoes.

Easter Eggs [Potato]

Peel 1 medium sized potato and cook. Mash and add to it 1 tablespoon butter or margarine and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add confectioner’s sugar until mixture is solid. Shape into eggs and place in refrigerator until hard. Melt chocolate and roll eggs in it.”

The Washington Post, Times Herald] 28 February 1963.

Easter Eggs don’t have to be the sweet treat option of course. How about this savoury dish for lunch or a light dinner?

Italian Easter Eggs.

Boil as many eggs as will be required for twenty minutes, drop into cold water and when cold remove the shells. Cut a slice from the bottom of each egg so it will stand. Then cut the egg in halves, remove the yolks, season with salt, pepper, butter, and a little onion juice. Mash together, add a little milk to the mixture, beat until light and smooth. Fill the hollow whites and heap up in mounds. Place in a dish that will stand the heat or a pretty casserole and set in the oven for eight minutes. Pour a tomato sauce around them, garnish with parsley or watercress and send to the table.

Hutchinson News (Kansas) April 8, 1914.

“Grass Lamb” or “Hay Mutton”?

Easter is lamb-time – or at least it is in the Northern hemisphere, when Easter is in the Spring. I can do no better than give you the words of the inimitable Dr William Kitchiner on the topic of lamb at Easter, as they appear in the 1827 edition of his Cook’s Oracle.

LAMB— (No. 40.)

Is a delicate, and commonly considered Tender meat—but those who talk of tender Lamb—while they are thinking of the Age of the Animal, forget, that even a Chicken must be kept a proper time after it has been killed, or it will be tough picking.

Woful experience has warned us to beware of accepting an invitation to Dinner on Easter Sunday,—unless commanded by a thorough bred Gourmand, our Incisores, Molares, and Principal Viscera, have protested against the Imprudence of encountering Young tough stringy Mutton, under the misnomen of GRASS LAMB. The proper name for "Easter Grass Lamb" is "HAY MUTTON."

To the usual accompaniments of Roasted Meat, Green Mint Sauce (No. 303,) a Salad (Nos. 372 and 138,) is commonly added; and some Cooks, about five minutes before it is done, sprinkle it with a little fresh gathered and finely minced Parsley, or (No. 318.) Lamb, and all Young Meats, ought to be thoroughly done; therefore do not take either Lamb or Veal off the Spit till you see they drop white gravy.

Grass Lamb is in season from Easter to Michaelmas.

House Lamb from Christmas to Lady-Day.

Sham-Lamb, see Obs. to following Receipt.

N. B. When green mint cannot be got, Mint Vinegar (No. 398), is an acceptable substitute for it; and Crisp Parsley (No. 318), on a side plate, is an admirable accompaniment.

Hind-Quarter,—(No. 41.)

Of eight pounds, will take from an Hour and three quarters to two Hours:—baste and froth it in the same way as directed in (No. 19 )

Obs.—A Quarter of a Porkling is sometimes skinned, cut, and dressed Lamb-fashion, and sent up as a substitute for it. The Leg and the Loin of Lamb, when little, should be roasted together,—the former being lean, the latter fat,—and the Gravy is better preserved.

Fore-Quarter,—(No. 42.)

Of ten pounds, about two hours.

N.B. It is a pretty general custom, when you take off the Shoulder from the Ribs, to squeeze a Seville orange over them, and sprinkle them with a little Pepper and Salt.

Obs.—This may as well be done by the Cook before it comes to Table; some people are not remarkably expert at dividing these joints nicely.

Leg,—(No. 43.)

Of five pounds,—from an hour to an hour and a half.

Shoulder.—(No. 44.)

With a quick fire, an hour.  

See Obs. to (No. 27.)

Ribs— (No. 45.) .

About an hour to an hour and a quarter—-joint it nicely, crack the ribs across, and divide them from the Brisket after it is roasted.

Loin,—(No. 46.)

An hour and a quarter.

Neck,—(No. 47.)

An hour.

Breast,— (No. 48.)

Three quarters of an hour.

I have previously given you Kitchiner’s recipe for Green Mint Sauce, so for today please enjoy his Green Mint Vinegar which is prepared by the same method as Basil Vinegar, which I therefore give you first:

Basil Vinegar or Wine.—(No. 397.)

Sweet Basil is in full perfection about the middle of August. Fill a wide-mouthed bottle with the fresh green leaves of Basil, (these give much finer and more flavour than the dried,) and cover them with Vinegar—or Wine,—and let them steep for ten days; if you wish a very strong Essence, strain the liquor, put it on some fresh leaves, and let them steep fourteen days more.

Obs.—This is a very agreeable addition to Sauces,— Soups,—and to the mixture usually made for Salads, see (No. 372,) and (No. 453.)

It is a secret the makers of Mock Turtle may thank us for telling; a table-spoonful put in when the Soup is finished, will impregnate a tureen of soup, with the Basil, and Acid flavours, at very small costs, when fresh Basil and Lemons are extravagantly dear.

Green Mint Vinegar—(No. 398.)

Is made precisely in the same manner, and with the same proportions, as in (No. 397.)

Obs.—In the early season of Housed-Lamb, Green Mint is sometimes not to be got; the above is then a welcome substitute.

Easter Egg Cakes.

Avoid having to make a dessert choice between Easter Eggs and Easter Cake – have Easter Egg Cake!

I give you a selection of ideas from Australian newspapers of the 1920’s to 1940’s:-

Easter Egg Cake.

Cream together 2oz. of butter and.3oz. of castor sugar; add egg and beat well. Stir in 3oz. of ground rice; add 1 more egg and 2oz. of flour; lastly add 1½ teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Beat well for 6 minutes. Bake in ten little tins (greased); before cakes are quite cold make a hole in the top of each,and insert small chocoate Easter eggs.

— Mrs. M. J. Clarke, 176 Palmerston street, Perth.

Mirror (Perth, West Australia) 2 April 1927.

Easter Egg Cake.

Beat 6 oz. butter to a smooth cream with 6oz. of sugar, and flavour with the grated rind of a lemon. Stir in three well-whisked eggs, and then gently, but thoroughly, fold in 10oz. of

sieved and warmed self-raising flour mixed with half a teaspoonful of spice. If too stiff mix in a little milk, and lastly stir in 4oz. of sultanas, 2oz. of chopped candied cherries, 2oz. of chopped nuts, and 2oz. of shredded candied peel. Beat a spoonful of hot water through the mixture just be

fore turning it into a tin lined with a well greased paper. Bake for about two and a half hours; when cold ice with cinnamon icing, and decorate with tiny sugar eggs and one or two yellow chicks. For the icing mix sufficient powdered cinnamon into the icing sugar to darken it slightly and to give it a pronounced cinnamon taste. Add in few drops of boiling water and beat until smooth. Another way is to use a plain white icing flavoured with almond essence, and to decorate with tiny chocolate eggs. Delicious little eggs can be made at home from almond paste, or they can be bought at any sweet shop.

The Australasian (Melbourne, Victoria) 7 April 1928.

Easter Egg Cake.

Three-quarter pound butter, ¾lb. sugar, 6 eggs, 9 tablespoons milk, 1¼lb.self-raising flour, ½ teaspoon vanilla essence, 2 cups chopped crystallised fruits (cherries, pineapple, apricots, ginger), ½ cup chopped nuts, white Vienna icing, ½ cup whipped cream. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, then milk and vanilla; lastly well-sifted flour. Pour into two basin-shaped moulds and bake in a steady oven for half an hour. Turn onto cake-cooler. When cold, level flat part of each cake and scoop out a little of the centre. Mix fruit and nuts with cream and pile it into the cavities. Join the two cakes together, making an egg shape, then completely cover with white Vienna icing. When icing is set, tie a ribbon of red cellophane round the centre of egg with a big bow on top.

The Australian Women's Weekly, 16 April 1938

Easter Egg Cake.

CAKE: Three ounces margarine or butter, 3oz. sugar, vanilla, 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons milk, 6oz. flour. 1 ½ teaspoons baking-powder, pinch salt, 1 tablespoon apricot jam, browned coconut or crushed cornflakes.

EASTER EGGS: One pound icing sugar. 3oz. fine white breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind, 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon orange juice, 1 dessertspoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon almond essence, red, yellow, and green coloring.

Cake: Cream margarine or butter with sugar and vanilla. Add beaten eggs a little at a time. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt, add alternately with the milk. Turn into greased 8in. recess tin, bake 30 to 40 minutes in moderate oven (375 deg. F.). When cool brush top and sides with heated apricot jam and coat with browned coconut or crushed cornflakes.

Easter Eggs: Sift icing sugar and mix with breadcrumbs and lemon rind. Beat egg-yolk with orange and lemon juice and almond essence. Add to dry ingredients, mixing to a workable paste with the hands. Shape into eggs with the fingers, place on waxed paper. When dry brush with coloring. Arrange in recess on top of cake and decorate with fluffy chickens or chickens cut

from yellow cardboard.

The Australian Women's Weekly, 5 April 1947

Cod Meringue Pie for Easter?

At this time of the year I usually try to find Easter recipes or menus to share with you. I was not disappointed in my search for something different for today. I give you Cod Meringue Pie for your Easter delectation?

EASTER DISHES FAVOURED

Several Easter recipes have been received this week. The winning recipe for cod meringue pie should prove useful to the housewife, It was sent in by

MRS. E. RENAULT,

Prospect.

Cod Meringue Pie.-Cut 21b. cod into slices, sprinkle with salt, pepper and lemon juice, and steam 10 minutes. Pulp ½ lb. tomatoes, add 3oz. grated cheese, melted in a little hot milk, and beat well together, then season with pepper and salt and at little Worcestershire sauce. Pour the mixture into a fireproof dish, arrange the steamed fish slices on top, and cook half-hour in moderate oven. Whisk two egg whites to a stiff froth, spread on top, and put in the oven to brown. Serve hot with parsley sauce.

Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania) of 24 March 1945

There is something rather disturbing about the name of this dish, even though the recipe itself sounds reasonable (if you like twice-cooked fish, that is.) To sooth your nerves, if you too feel a little discombobulated by the pie, here is a rather nice take on the concept of Hot Cross Buns – also from a Tasmanian newspaper of the 1940’s.

Easter Honey Buns.

2 cups S.R. flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger, ½ cup boney, 1 egg, (slightly beaten), 1 cup milk. Sift and mix dry ingredients, add honey, egg, and milk, beat thoroughly, put into patty tins, mark with cross and bake in moderate oven.

Advocate (Burnie, Tasmania) of 7 April, 1944.

Celebrating the Return of Coffee: 1943.

There is no doubt that coffee-rationing took an emotional toll of the American populace during World War II, just as tea-rationing did for the people of Britain. The lifting of coffee rationing in the USA was a boon to newspaper columnists as well as consumers, and some rose to the occasion by suggesting ways to celebrate the return of the country’s favourite beverage. The following article from the Troy Record (Troy, New York) of September 3, 1943 gave some ideas on how to host a celebratory Coffee Party, and even included some recipes which used coffee as an ingredient.

(As a personal aside: those who know and love me will no doubt smile at the reference to drinking from a giant cup – even though mine is filled with tea.)

Celebrate Coffee's Return With Party in Its Honor.

Everybody’s celebrating the elimination of coffee rationing. Most people have taken out the biggest coffee pots they own, and are brewing coffee to the full capacity of them. Others are replacing demi-tasses with the old “mother-in-law” cups – those hug, oversize coffee cups whose name originated from the idea that if a disagreeable mother-in-law was provided with a large enough cup of coffee she’d be too busy drinking it to do much talking during breakfast!

But how about holding a very special celebration of the return of coffee? Have a novel Coffee Party. One of the saddest things about rationing was that you weren’t able to give your guests all the coffee they wanted to drink. What better way of marking the increased supply than inviting some friends to partake of the bounty? Everybody needs relaxation these days, to compensate for long, hard hours spent in the line of duty – whether that “line” is an assembly line or just the clothes line where you’re hanging up more home-washed clothes than ever before!

Coffee Guest of Honor.

Prepare for your party by getting some of the “props” in order. Most fun, of course, during these hot afternoons and evenings, is an outdoor affair. Set up a long table in your backyard, on the lawn, or on the porch. Take out and dust off your largest coffee service and put it in the “guest of honor” spot right in the center of the table.

Then set your table for self-service. Hot or cold, coffee takes top honors in popularity … so be prepared to serve it either way. A large bowl of coffee ice cubes and tall glasses, granulated sugar and cream at one side of the coffee service will take care of requests for iced coffee. Draw the freshly-made, hot coffee from the urn and pour it right over the ice cubes. To make coffee ice cubes, freeze freshly-made coffee in the ice tray in your refrigerator. The, when the hot coffee is poured over the cubes at the time of serving, the drink is not diluted by melting ice. And what a beverage that iced coffee is! Cooling, refreshing and stimulating all at the same time!

At the other side of the coffee service, have your china cups for hot coffee. But do coffee the credit that is its due. Make it strong, fresh, and delicious. Your little coffee party will be a success. It’s bound to be, because coffee has a way of encouraging conversation and bringing people closer together. And, besides that, your guests will be so delighted that there’s cause for having such a party in the first place that everybody will be in the mood to have a fine time.

Try Coffee Recipes.

Coffee will almost make a party all by itself these days, but of course you’ll want to serve something with it. to carry out the theme, bring out those favorite coffee-flavored recipes that you’ve been able to use less frequently during rationing. Cakes, cookies, pies – there are unusual recipes using coffee flavoring for all of them.

Here are two other coffee-flavored recipes to add to your collection: Coffee Chiffon Pie and Spiced Coffee Muffins. These recipes have been fully tested, of course, and both will contribute greatly to making your coffee party a very pleasant affair.

Coffee Chiffon Pie.

1 tablespoon of gelatin

1 ¼ cups cold coffee

½ cup sugar

2 egg yolks, well beaten

¼ teaspoon salt

2 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Pie shell.

Soften the gelatin in ¼ cup coffee. Add ¼ cup sugar gradually to beaten egg yolks. Add coffee and salt and blend. Cook over boiling water 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add softened gelatin and stir until thoroughly dissolved. Chill until mixture begins to thicken. Beat remaining sugar gradually into beaten egg whites, and fold into coffee mixture. Pour into 8-inch pie shell made with corn flake or graham cracker pastry, or into a baked pastry shell.

Spiced Coffee Muffins.

1¼ cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon or allspice

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 ¼ cups fine dry breadcrumbs

¾ cup cold coffee

⅓ cup molasses

1 egg, well beaten

2 tablespoons melted shortening

Mix and sift flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices. Combine crumbs and coffee. Add molasses and beaten egg. Stir in sifted dry ingredients. Add shortening. Mix well and bake in small muffin tins in moderately hot oven (425 degrees Fahrenheit) about 25 minutes. Yield: Two dozen small muffins.

A Coffee Bequest.

It was not unusual in times long past for an individual to provide in his or her will a sum of

money to be used to supply bread, or cheese, or herrings or some other staple to the poor of the village at a determined day in the year. No doubt this was done in the hope or expectation of divine reward after death. The relatively recent story I give you today speaks of a very different type of bequest, and leads me to long to know the ‘story behind the story’ – because there must surely be an interesting one! The story comes from the New York Times of March 10, 1912.

$200 BEQUEST FOR COFFEE.

--

William Faversham’s Aunt-in-Law Benefits Brooklyn “Wasp” Party.

ALBANY. March 9. – Involved in a case before the Court of Appeals for decision calling for an interpretation of the will of Elisa Graf of Brooklyn, aunt of Mrs. William Faversham, is a unique bequest of $200 to an association known as the “Coffee Party Wasp” of Brooklyn. The money was left to the association “to make such disposition thereof as it deemed for the best interests of the said coffee party.”

In a letter accompanying the will the testatrix said: “I have left $200 to the coffee party, and ask that you will visit my grave on the second day of November, All Souls’ Day: it is my birthday. Use the interest of the $200 and put a few flowers on my grave. All go have a good cup of coffee and think kindly of grandma.”

The recipe for the day must be for something suitable for an indulgent grandma with a sense of fun to make for her loved ones.

Coffee Marshmallow Sundae.

Sundaes are always served individually. Fill a sherbet or frappe glass moderately full with vanilla or coffee ice cream or a combination of both, preferably using an ice cream scoop. Pour over coffee marshmallow sauce, which should be ice cold, and serve at tone.

Coffee Marshmallow Sauce.

1 cup brown sugar

1 ¼ cups boiling coffee.

½ cup marshmallow cream

¼ teaspoon vanilla.

Combine the sugar and coffee and simmer for about 18 minutes, adding the marshmallow cream the last moment or two and beating it in thoroughly. Chill, flavor and use as directed with the ice cream.

Galveston Daily News (Texas) June 21, 1930

A Coffee Protest.

For the next three days I have some little coffee anecdotes for you, and will of course include some recipes which use coffee as an ingredient.

Our first story concerns Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, first Vice-president and second President of the United States. Abigail kept up a regular correspondence with her husband during his frequent travels, updating him about the goings-on in Boston. On July 31, 1777 she wrote about a protest by some of the women of the town at the opportunism shown by local coffee merchants looking to capitalize on the shortage of coffee.

"I have nothing new to entertain you with, unless it is an account of a New Set of Mobility which have lately taken the Lead in B[osto]n. You must know that there is a great Scarcity of Sugar and Coffe, articles which the Female part of the State are very loth to give up, especially whilst they consider the Scarcity occasiond by the merchants having secreted a large Quantity. There has been much rout and Noise in the Town for several weeks. Some Stores had been opend by a number of people and the Coffe and Sugar carried into the Market and dealt out by pounds. It was rumourd that an eminent, wealthy, stingy Merchant (who is a Batchelor) had a Hogshead of Coffe in his Store which he refused to sell to the committee under 6 shillings per pound. A Number of Females some say a hundred, some say more assembled with a cart and trucks, marchd down to the Ware House and demanded the keys, which he refused to deliver, upon which one of them seazd him by his Neck and tossd him into the cart. Upon his finding no Quarter he deliverd the keys, when they tipd up the cart and dischargd him, then opend the Warehouse, Hoisted out the Coffe themselves, put it into the trucks and drove off. It was reported that he had a Spanking among them, but this I believe was not true. A large concourse of Men stood amazd silent Spectators of the whole transaction."

Women throughout history have regularly protested vigorously, and sometimes violently, over the cost of staples such as bread and potatoes needed to feed their families, but this is the only example I have come across of action taken over luxuries such as coffee. No doubt there are other examples, and if you know of any I would be grateful if you would tell us all via the comments.

Coffee was not commonly used in cooking in the eighteenth century, but that is not to say there are no recipes at all. I have previously given you a recipe for Coffee Cream from the era, so today needs something different.  In The practice of modern cookery; adapted to families of distinction, as well as to those of the middling ranks of life. …, published in Edinburgh in 1781, the author, George Dalrymple gives a recipe for a Coffee Pie, as a variation of one for Chocolate Pie.

Tourte de Chocolate. Chocolate-pies.

Mix a little flour with a pint of cream, and chocolate in proportion, a little sugar, and four eggs; boil it about a quarter of an hour, stirring it continually for fear it should catch at bottom; then put it in the paste, and the whites of four eggs beat to a snow upon it; glaze it with sugar, and bake it.

N.B. Coffee-pie is make after the same manner, boiling two or three dishes of clear coffee with the cream instead of the chocolate, as the preceding; they are both to be done without top-crusts.

Mocking it up with Mutton.

Australia’s economy was said to be have been founded “on the sheep’s back” – a reference to the enormous importance of the wool industry between the 1850’s and 1950’s. A side benefit of the wool industry of course is a large amount of mutton, and it is not surprising that recipes for this meat are pre-eminent in the early cookery books and newspaper columns of the country.  Our palates being more refined nowadays, or our palates being more tender, it is also no surprise that lamb remains Australia’s favourite meat.

The easy availability of mutton, and the boredom that this no doubt engendered, meant that many creative ways of using it were developed. Some of the ideas had the added value of compensating for a desirable ingredient that was perhaps not so easily available, as in the following recipes from The Central Queensland Herald (Rockhampton, Qld.) of 14 February 1935:

Mock venison: Remove the bones from a loin of mutton. Stew the bones and 1 onion, salt and pepper to taste, add also ¼ teaspoon ground cloves or a few bruised whole cloves. Stew bones for 2 hours. Strain [into?] with a large saucepan. Add a little finely chopped sage (which has been stuffed with savoury filling) into the saucepan, simmer until tender. About ¾ of an hour before serving, lift out of the saucepan and place in a hot meat dish in the oven to brown. Potatoes may be browned with it. The liquid in which it was boiled may be skimmed and thickened for gravy. Send mock venison to table with red currant jelly, brown gravy, and baked potatoes.

Mock tripe and onions: Take 2 mutton flaps, cut into small even squares. Stew for 1½ hours in very little water. Skim off all fat, add 2 large onions (cut into neat squares), 2 cups of milk, a little pepper. Boil gently for 2 hours. Thicken with a tablespoon of cornflour and a small teaspoon salt, blended with milk. When ready to take up, add 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley and a little butter. Serve with fingers of crisp toast.

Mock roast goose: Bone a shoulder of mutton. Make a seasoning with 2 cups breadcrumbs, a small garlic bulb, three leaves of sage cut very finely, a tablespoon of finely chopped parsley, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon cayenne (small), 1tablespoon butter. Stuff the shoulder, roll and tie. Bake in a casserole, browning just before serving. Serve with apple sauce.

A Banquet before Death, 1892.

A rather unusual meal was requested by a prisoner on death row at Boggo Road Gaol in Brisbane in 1892. The request was widely reported in the newspapers, and the following is the account from the Warwick Examiner and Times (Qld, Australia) of November 2, 1892, almost two weeks after the pair were executed on October 24.

A Criminal’s Extraordinary Request.

A BANQUET BEFORE DEATH.

A few days before his execution the condemned man George Gleeson, who was a cook by trade, and had some money of his own, made application to the governor of the gaol to be allowed to have a specially prepared dinner for himself and his fellow-prisoner, Leonardo Moncado. The day fixed was the Thursday before the execution. After the banquet he said he proposed devoting the rest of his time to prayer and meditation. The request was no complied with in the form, though liberal provision consistent with prison rules was made on the day stated. The following was the menu prepared by Gleeson:-

Sucking pig stuffed with pork sausages, stuffing made with breadcrumbs, pepper, salt, thyme, sage, parsley, butter, yolk of two eggs; sauce, brains of calf or sheep, flour, salt, pepper, parsley, butter.

Entrée:- Rump steak 2 lb. to be cooked as a bread steak, with walnut and poached eggs.

Vegetables:- Green peas, 1 ½ lb., carrism 1 lb., turnips, 1 lb., beans, 1 lb., cauliflower

Salad:- Cucumber, with boiled eggs.

Boiled Cabinet Pudding:- 12 eggs, 1 lb. of sultanas, 1 lb. raisins, 1 lb. currants, candied lemon peel, essence lemons.

Plum Pudding:- 1 lb. suet, ½ dozen eggs, bottle rum, flour, 2 lb. loaf bread, small packet baking powder.

Fruit:- Bananas, oranges, pineapples, American apples.

Lemonade, 6 bottles; 6 lb. white loaf sugar, 1 ½ pound cake, 3 packets cigarettes, quill cigars, 2 dozen.

Cabinet Pudding was a classic Victorian pudding without which no formal dinner was considered complete. I have given a recipe for this pudding previously, but as with so many classic dishes, there are many interpretations of the concept  – here is a rather frugal version:-

Muffin or Cabinet Pudding.

Slice three stale muffins, pour on them a pint of boiling milk, and let it get cold; simmer half a pint of cream, the peel of a lemon, half a nutmeg grated, and 4 oz. of loaf sugar. When cold, stir in eight yolks and four whites of eggs, well beaten, and a wineglassful of brandy. Then butter a mould, lay outward the crusty side of the muffin, upon which place dried cherries and the crumb of the muffins in alternate layers, pour in the custard, and bake half an hour, or boil in a stewpan an hour and a half. Serve with sauce.

The Australasian (Melbourne) 25 July 1874

Toast for Dessert.

I think that we under-appreciate and therefore under-use toast in this day and age. - at least, I know I do. “Dutch Toast”, and toast has appeared, and occasionally starred, in too many previous posts to link to at this point. I am forced to admit that toast in my own household is most likely to function as the vehicle for Vegemite or Marmalade or Avocado or Toasted Cheese. Toast is, of course, capable of much more. For dessert, even.

German Toast, for Dessert.

Cut in thick slices a loaf of stale bread – baker’s is best; lay it in a deep dish. Beat four eggs, and add to a quart of milk; pour the liquid over the bread; let it stand until it is all absorbed; then lay the slices on a buttered griddle, and fry them to a delicate brown. Serve hot, with rich sauce. Bread prepared in the same way and baked, is very good.

Ballou's Monthly Magazine, Volume 17 (American) 1863

Cherry Toast.

Stone and stew a quart of ripe cherries, sweeten them, place some slices of buttered toast in a deep dish, and put the stewed cherries over them. A little powdered cinnamon or grated nutmeg may be put on the toast.

Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers,

by Elizabeth E. Lea (Baltimore, 1859)

Lemon Toast.

Take yolks of six eggs, beat well, add three cups sweet milk. Take baker's bread, not too stale, and cut in slices; dip them into the milk and eggs and lay into a frying pan with sufficient melted butter to fry a delicate brown. Take the whites of six eggs, beat to a stiff froth, adding large cupful white sugar; add juice two lemons, heating well and adding two cupfuls boiling water. Serve over the toast as a sauce, and you will find it a delicious dish.

How we cook in Tennessee ... Comp. by The Silver Thimble Society of the

First Baptist Church, Jackson, Tenn. (1906)

Custard Toast.

Dip slices of stale bread in plain custard and fry brown in hot fat. Sift powdered sugar

The Railway Agent and Station Agent: A Monthly Magazine (1898)

Banana Toast.

Prepare narrow slices of bread, two for each person. Butter them and spread half of them in a baking pan. Then cover them with thin slices of banana neatly arranged and cover with the other slices. Put in the oven until the bread is brown. Then lift each little sandwich carefully to a plate and serve with lemon sauce, well sweetened.

The Daily News (Perth, WA) Monday 12 October 1936

Toasted Chocolate Sandwiches.

Mix together ½ cupful each of sugar and grated chocolate. Cream ½ cupful of buttcr and with it spread 14 slices of bread. Sprinkle each slice with 2 tablespoonfuls of the chocolate mixture and toast them. Match the pairs and toast the outsides of the sandwiches. Cut each sandwich in thirds after it is on the plate and garnish it with a tiny paper cup of salted almonds, allowing ½ of an ounce of nuts for each portion.

Advocate (Burnie, Tas.) 4 August 1928

Apricot Marsh Mallow Toast

This is another recipe that can be used as a dessert toast. Soak 6oz. of dried apricots overnights and stew in the same water until tender. Drain, press through a sieve and place in a small saucepan. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar and stir over the fire till steaming hot. Pour on to hot buttered toast and place a marshmallow in the centre of each slice. Put in the oven for n few moments until the marshmallows are slightly brown.

Narandera Argus and Riverina Advertiser (NSW) 18 August 1939