If you’re adventurous, you might include Christmas recipes prepared over 150 years ago by pioneers living in the western frontier.
A special item pioneer women carried with them across the plains was their family recipes. So, frontier Christmas dinners also varied based on the heritages of the different pioneer families.
Here are four recipes I hope you try and enjoy!
Flannel Cakes (Hotcakes or Flapjacks or Griddle Cakes)
1 quart (4 cups) of flour
1 pint (2 cups) milk or water
1 tablespoon butter – melted
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Add melted butter to milk or water. Then stir in the baking soda. Now slowly stir into flour. Take cream of tartar and mix with a small amount of water. Add to flour mixture. Now pour out a spoonful onto hot lightly greased skillet.
Original Recipe
One quart of flour; one pint of milk or water. Put one tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda into the milk or water. Dissolve two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar in a small quantity of water. Add it to the batter immediately before baking it. To be baked in thin cakes, on a griddle. These are favorite breakfast cakes in Virginia.
Molasses Cake
1 cup molasses or cane syrup
1/4 cup butter, cut in pieces
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
2 small eggs, beaten
1 3/4 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon soda dissolved in small amount of warm water
Take molasses or cane syrup and add butter pieces into a saucepan. Stir over very low heat until butter is soft enough to mix together easily. Then add cinnamon, beaten eggs, and sifted flour. Then after you stir that till most of lumps are out, add in the soda which was dissolved in warm water.
Grease baking pan and bake 350 for 45 minutes.
350 for about 45 minutes
note: recipe cut in half from original
Original recipe
Molasses Cake. – Cut up a quarter of a pound of fresh butter unto a pint of West India Molasses. Warm it just sufficiently to soften the butter, and make it mix easily. Stir it well into the molasses and add a tablespoon of powdered cinnamon. Beat three eggs very light and stir them, gradually into the mixture, in turn with barely enough of sifted flour (not more than a pint and a half) to make it about as thick as a pound-cake batter. Add, at the last, a small or level tea-spoonful of pearl ash, or a full one of soda, dissolved in a very little warm water. Butter some small tin cake-pans, or patty-pans, put in the mixture, and set them immediately into the oven, which must not be too hot, as all cakes made with molasses are peculiarly liable to scorch on the outside.
Cream Cheese frosting
1 package cream cheese
1 tablespoon milk
3/4 cup powdered sugar
dash cinnamon
Cream the cream cheese, add the powdered sugar and then mix well. Add the milk and test to make sure its sweet enough, if not you can add more powdered sugar till desired. Then add dash of cinnamon and spread on cooled Molasses cake.
Baked Rice Pudding
1/2 cup uncooked rice
2/3 cup molasses or cane syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
4 cups milk
Stir together all ingredients, except milk. Once thoroughly mixed add in milk. Stir well. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Bake first hour stirring occasionally. Then finish baking until firm, which for me took a total of about 2 hours.
Original Recipe
Baked Rice Pudding. One gill of rice; two thirds of a cup of molasses; one tea-spoonful of cinnamon; one of salt; a small piece of butter. Stir this together, and add a quart of milk. Bake this in a moderate oven. Stir it occasionally for the first hour. Bake three hours.
1859 Sweet Potato Pie (Very close to the original recipe)
1 cup brown sugar
3 cups mashed sweet potato
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup of milk
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream your butter. Then add sweet potato and sugar, mixing well. Next add in eggs. Next stir in the milk. Add your spice and vanilla being sure to mix well.
Pour into 2 unbaked pie shells. Bake at 350 for about 40mins to an hour, or until knife comes out clean.
I’d love to hear your results if you try any of these recipes!
MacLarens of Fire Mountain Historical Boxed Set. Only available for the holidays at a special price!
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