Apple Bread

Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library [1971]

I usually try out more unusual recipes, but while going through my avocado-green recipe card file, I came across... this. It looked delicious. It was under "Recipes Children Can Make." It seems to be a member of the Upside Down Cake family. It involves butter. How could it go wrong? And I had Honey Crisp apples. Have you tried those? They are delicious. New favorite apple, guys. Besides, I made cake out of beets, so there is a sort of symmetry about making bread out of apples.

Anyway.

Apple Bread
Melt in baking pan, 9x9x2 inches . . 2 tablespoons butter
Mix with fork in small bowl . . . . . . 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sprinkle sugar mixture on melted butter in pan.
Cut into thin slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 apple

Arrange apple slices in rows on sugar mixture in pan.
Sprinkle over apples . . . . . . . . . . . a few raisins

Stir together with spoon in large bowl . .
1 pkg active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
(105-115 degrees)

Add . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup Gold Medal flour*

Beat 2 minutes or until batter drops from spoon in sheets.
Add and beat until smooth . . . . . . . . . .1 egg
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups Gold Medal flour

Drop batter by small spoonfuls over apples and raisins in pan. Cover pan and let rise in warm place until double, 50 to 60 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove cake from pan by turning upside down onto serving plate.
*If using self-rising flour, omit salt.


Verdict:

It's.... DELICIOUS. Thank you, Betty Crocker! This is fabulous! It's a dang apple upside down cake! I didn't have any raisins, so I used frozen blueberries. Highly recommended, for it was tasty times indeed. It was also super easy and fast, especially for a yeast-based food, so the awesomeness is compounded.

Husband and I polished it off within about 12 hours, and that was only because we were trying to be responsible. One of those servings had vanilla ice cream. Then we ran out of ice cream. :( It was more than tasty without it, though! It is at its best warm, so take that into consideration when you make it.

Because you will.

You will.

WWII Rationing: Mock Goose, Beetroot Pudding, and Mock Whipped Cream

We'll Eat Again [reprinted recipes from 1940's]

Phew! Sorry about that break, but the kitchen of Time Travel Kitchen is now both larger, and closer to willing victims. HOORAY. I promised you goose, didn't I? I did. And you, poor things, have been waiting with bated breath. Wait no longer!

"Man-about-Kitchen"
Now that thousands of wives and mothers are helping in the factories, or evacuated to the country, many men are having to do their own cooking. No wonder they ask their women-folk for easy recipes! Here are a few suggestions. [Well, one.]

Mock Goose

Cooking time: 1 hour Quantity: 4 helpings

1 1/2 lb. potatoes
2 large cooking apples
4 oz. cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
salt and pepper
3/4 pint vegetable stock
1 tablespoon flour

Method: Scrub and slice potatoes thinly, slice apples, grate cheese. Grease a fireproof dish, place a layer of potatoes in it, cover with apple and a little sage, season lightly and sprinkle with cheese, repeat layers leaving potatoes and cheese to cover. Pour in 1/2 pint of the stock, cook in a moderate oven for 3/4 of an hour. Blend flour with remainder of stock, pour into dish and cook for another 1/4 of an hour. Serve as a main dish with a green vegetable.

Dig for your dinner
When salvage is all that remains of the joint
And there isn't a tin and you haven't a 'point'
Instead of creating a dance and a ballad
Just raid the allotment and dig up a salad!

Beetroot Pudding
Here is a new notion for using the sweetness of beetroot to make a nice sweet pudding with very little sugar.

First mix 6 oz wheatmeal flour with 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. Rub in 1/2 oz fat and add 1 oz sugar and 4 oz cooked or raw beetroot very finely grated.

Now mix all the ingredients to a soft cake consistency with 3 or 4 tablespoons of milk. Add a few drops of flavouring essence if you have it. Turn the mixture into a greased pie dish or square tin and bake immediately in a moderate oven for 35-40 minutes. This pudding tastes equally good hot or cold. Enough for 4.

Reflect, whenever you indulge
It is not beautiful to bulge
A large, untidy corporation
Is far from helpful to the Nation.

Mock Whipped Cream
1/2 oz cornflour [cornstarch]
1/4 pint milk
1 1/2 oz margarine
3 teaspoons sugar
few drops vanilla essence

Method: Mix cornflour to a paste with a little milk, heat remainder and when boiling add to the blended cornflour, stirring well. Return to saucepan bring to boil and cook 3 minutes. Cream the margarine and sugar. Whisk in the cornflour mixture gradually. Add vanilla essence.


***

Verdict:

Mock Goose: In... in what manner is this a goose? The duck, the duck I could see. It looks sort of ducky, and there's meat. This? This is a DANG POTATO CASSEROLE. It wasn't cooked for long enough, so it was still kind of crunchy, and the vegetable broth did not thicken in any way. It was more like wet potato discs with oddly flavored apples and surprising tiny globlets of soggy cheese. Were it cooked for longer, the vegetable broth thickened, and more herbs added, this would probably be fine. Troll your vegetarian friends. Invite them over for dinner. When they arrive, tell them you made goose. Hilarity cannot fail to ensue.

Beetroot Pudding: Gahhh. I am undecided on this one. A list must happen.

Good:
*Beets are pretty sweet, so this actually sort of worked as far as sweetness goes.
*It's pink!
*It's really good for you

Bad:
*It was gritty. Like sand. And I like whole wheat.
*A shred of beet got stuck in my teeth.
*It's density is similar to that of brick.
*It's really good for you.

I will have to revisit this one, and see if it can be improved on. What made it quite palatable was the-

Mock Whipped Cream: Mmmmm. If you think about it, this recipe actually makes mathematical sense.

Given that:
Cream = Milk + Butterfat
Butter ≈ Margarine

Therefore:
Margarine + Milk ≈ Cream

Ta da! With the addition of some cornstarch, sugar, and vanilla, a reasonable approximation of whipped cream can be made. It's more like a pastry cream than whipped cream, but let us not quibble. A sweet, creamy topping can be made. Let he who is without Kool Whip among you cast the first stone. Besides, it helps the sandy pink beet grit slide down much easier.

***

Bonus propaganda! Have you wondered how much soy flour is needed to make a loaf big enough to fill Red Square? Wonder no longer.

Please Hold

The kitchen of Time Travel Kitchen is being moved to a new house. Please hold. If you wish, you may play the relaxing music of your choice in the interim.

WWII Rationing: Golden Barley Soup and Mock Duck

We'll Eat Again [1990, reprinted recipes from WWII]

Darn rationing. Darn war! Oh well. Onwards to victory!

It is once again my patriotic duty to try and make my family think they are eating tasty food, when they really aren't!

Can you give me a new soup recipe?
Here's a delicious one: Golden Barley Soup. Grate or mince 2 lb. of carrots, put with 1 small teacup of barley into 1 quart of water and simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Roll a piece of margarine the size of a walnut in 1 tablespoonful of flour and stir it into the soup. Cook fast for 8 minutes, season. Serves 4 or 5 helpings.

"I made duck for dinner, sweetie!"

"Neat! Where did you find duck??"

"No no, it is WWII duck."

"Wait. Wait, no! WHAT IS IT REALLY."

"...meat."

"WHAT IS IT MADE OF"

"Shhhhhh."

Mock Duck

Cooking time: 45 minutes Quantity: 4 helpings

1 lb. sausagemeat
8 oz cooking apples, peeled and grated
8 oz onions, grated
1 teaspoon chopped sage or 1/2 teaspoon dried sage

Method: Spread half the sausagemeat into a flat layer in a well greased baking tin or shallow casserole. Top with the apples, onions, and sage. Add the rest of the sausagemeat and shape this top layer to look as much like a duck as possible. Cover with well greased paper and bake in the center of a moderately hot oven.


Verdict:

Golden Barley Soup: Have you noticed that this is made of massive amounts of carrot, with water and barley? Guess what it tastes like? Massive amounts of carrot. With a little bit of water and some chewy bits of barley. Just... a great big pile o' carrot. Now, I like carrot, but really. Really?

I crammed down a few bites, then dumped a duck head in the middle of it to help it go down easier. It did not help. Even the tastiness of sausage did nothing. Besides the attractive goldeny color, this is a very depressing soup.

Mock Duck: Ha HA! You thought it was a real duck when you looked at the picture, did you not? Of course you did, no doubt due in no small part to my cunning carrot duck bill. Well it isn't! What it is, though, is... really really good.

WHAT.

Yes. A "mock" whatever from WWII is delicious. I could hardly believe it my own self. The oniony appley interior sounds a little strange (although not, of course, to fans of apples n' onions), but it is great! All parties in attendance agreed that this was so. I will even, contrary to all expectations, recommend this. It's about time those living under WWII rationing restrictions had a bit of cheer.

Tune in next week for the results of this conversation:

"I'm making goose for dinner!"

"Cool! Where'd you find a g... WAIT. IS THE GOOSE MADE OF GOOSE."

"Nope!"

"Well, at least it's made of meat."

"Nope!"

"..."

"...Chuck Testa?"