Banana Cream (1916)

 

The Myrtle Reed Cookbook [1916]

BANANA CREAM

Peel five bananas and rub through a sieve with five tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and a tablespoonful of lemon-juice. Add half a package of gelatine which has been soaked and dissolved in a little milk, and when cool, but not set, fold in a cupful of cream whipped solid. Mould, chill, and serve with whipped cream

—————

I used a blender instead of a sieve, and about half a cup of milk total (cold to bloom the gelatin, hot to melt it).  

Verdict: pretty good!  I really thought the banana was going to go all brown and ick, but it stayed a nice, pleasing banana color. I used half a tablespoon of kosher gelatin, but it came out veeeeery soft and mousse-ish. Ideal for chilling and serving in individual dishes, but if I were to mold it again, I would bump it up to a full tablespoon. The banana and powdered sugar and unsweetened whipped cream was just the right amount of sweetness. 

I found a good source of discount red-band bananas, so expect many banana recipes to come!  

Bonus recipe:

COCOA

Directions are given on the package the cocoa comes in. If not, buy another kind.

Update: Donut the cat was a big fan. Yes I know cream isn’t actually good for cats, we shoo’d her off. 

Roast Beef Pie (1917)

 A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband (1917)

A GUEST TO A DINNER OF LEFT-OVERS

"AHA, I've found you out!" Bettina heard a laughing voice shout as she hurried up the steps.

"Why, Jack, when did you come to town?"

"This afternoon. Went to Bob's office the very first thing, and he insisted on bringing me home with him to dinner. I told him it might 'put you out,' but he spent the time it took to come home assuring me that you were always waiting for company—kept a light ever burning in the window for them and all that. He said that I'd see,—that you'd be on the doorstep waiting for us!"

"And after all that—you weren't here!" said Bob reproachfully.

"I'm just as sorry as I can be not to live up to Bob's picture of me," said Bettina. "I generally am waiting for Bob,—almost on the doorstep if not quite. But this afternoon I've been to a shower for Alice,—do you remember Alice, Jack?"

"Very well. The gay dark-eyed one. You don't mean to say that she's found a man who's lively enough to suit her?"

"Well, she seems to be suited, all right. But I must fly into an apron if you boys are to get any dinner within a half-hour. Jack, you'll have to pardon me if after all of Bob's eloquence I give you a meal of left-overs——"

"Don't apologize to a bachelor, Bettina. He probably won't know left-overs from the real thing," said Bob.

"Bachelors are said to be the most critical of all," she answered. "But I'll do my little best to please."

That night Bettina served:

[223]

Roast Beef Pie
Bread                                                                      Butter
Sliced Tomatoes with Salad Dressing
Marble Cake                              Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Roast Beef Pie  (Three portions) 

2 C-chopped cold roast beef 

1 C-gravy 

1 C-cold diced potatoes (cooked)

2 T-chopped onion

1 C-flour

2 t-baking powder

2 t-lard

¹/₈ t-salt

6 T-milk

Mix the beef, gravy, potato and onion. Place in a shallow buttered baking dish. Make a biscuit dough by cutting the lard into the flour, which has been sifted with the baking powder, and salt, and gradually adding the milk. Pat the dough into shape and arrange carefully on top of the meat. Make holes in the top to allow the steam to escape. Bake in a moderate oven twenty minutes.

———-

Yesterday, I threw some stew beef, onions, carrots, and potatoes in the slow cooker with some water and powdered gravy mix. Bettina informed me that this should be a pot pie, so that is what I did!  

I made the biscuit top as Bettina instructed 

Verdict:  All enjoyed!  I heated up the leftover stew first, so the chill wouldn’t make the underside of the topping all soggy and slimy. In full disclosure, I did have to sub butter for the lard, as that is what I had. Bettina would understand. My husband and two kids marveled at my skills, and it did actually take under half an hour to make and bake!  The crust was lovely and biscuity, and dressed up the leftover stew a lot. 

Bride’s Cake (1917)

 A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, 1917

This amusingly titled book is written in the form of a novel about a newly married woman named Bettina, who has recipes for every occasion!  

Bride's Cake (Thirty pieces)

1½ C-sugar

½ C-butter

2½ C-flour

¹/₈ t-salt

²/₃ C-milk

3 t-baking powder

¼ t-cream of tartar

½ t-almond extract

1 t-vanilla

4 egg-whites

Cream the butter, add the sugar and continue creaming the mixture. Mix and sift three times the flour, salt, baking powder and cream of tartar. Add these dry ingredients alternately with the milk to the first mixture. Add the almond and vanilla extracts. Beat two minutes. Cut and fold in the egg-whites which have been stiffly beaten. Pour the cake batter into a large, round loaf cake pan, having a hole in the center. Bake forty-five minutes in a moderate oven. When the cake is removed from the oven, allow it to stand in a warm place for five minutes, then with a spatula and a sharp knife, carefully loosen the cake from the sides, and turn out onto a cake cooler. When cool, cover with White Mountain Cream Icing.

Suggestions for Serving the Bride's Cake

The Bride's Cake may be baked in this form and placed in the center of the table for the central decoration. A tall, slender vase, filled with the flowers used in decorating, may be placed in the hole in the cake. Place the cake upon a pasteboard box four inches high and one inch wider than the cake.[120] This gives space to decorate around the cake. The cake and box may be placed on a reflector, which gives a very pretty effect. If cake boxes containing wedding cakes are distributed among the guests as favors, use the one in the round pan for central decoration and bake others in square pan. Square pieces may then be cut, wrapped in waxed paper, and placed in the boxes.

When Alice cut the bride's cake, the thimble fell to Ruth, which occasioned much merriment, while the dime was discovered by Harry in his own piece. The ring went to Mary, who emphatically denied that the omen spoke truly. But[268] when Mary also caught Alice's bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley, the young people refused to listen to her protests.

"Dear Alice," said Bettina, as she helped the bride into her traveling suit, "may your whole life be as beautiful as your wedding!"

——

Verdict:  I was looking for a way to use up egg whites after my daughter made ice cream, and this used just the right amount!  It’s lovely. Not super light and fluffy, a nice old-fashioned dense cake with a crispy sugary shell. I wouldn’t be ashamed to serve it for a wedding. Based on my Bundt pan though, it serves more like 15 portions rather than 30. Thanks, Bettina!