World War 2 Era Butterscotch Pecan Rolls

 

Wait, there's not even butterscotch in this recipe! Oh yeah, forgot you can make that yourself. I made these for an event some time ago and the plate barely hit the table before they all disappeared. The beauty of this recipe is that it uses baking powder instead of yeast, which reduces the rise time. The recipe is also versatile. Lard, shortening or butter can be used as the fat and nuts can be omitted or substituted with raisins or dried fruit pieces. 

Biscuit Dough

- 2 Cups sifted Flour

- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder

- 1/2 teaspoon Salt

- 4 Tablespoons Butter or Shortening

- 3/4 Cups Milk

Filling:

- 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed

- 3 Tablespoons Butter 

- 1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans + Extra for garnish 

Preheat the oven to 375 ° F.  Mix flour, salt and baking powder and sift. Cut in the butter or shortening and add milk slowly until a dough is formed. Flour your hands and knead for 30 seconds or until all is combined. Roll out on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet until the dough is a rectangle about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Cream together  the filling butter, sugar and pecans and spread in an even layer over the top. Leave a little empty at the end so there is room for the filling to move around. Starting at one end, roll the dough into a loaf and cut the loaf into 1 inch slices. Lay the slices on a clean piece of parchment on a baking sheet, leaving space between each roll. Bake for 22-26 minutes or until the edges are brown. Remove from the oven and top with the extra pecans.   

This recipe is from 10 Steps to Perfect Baking (1937.)  

Apple Sauce Candy Recipe | World War 2 Era

 

The weather outside is frightful. No really, we just got that pandemic blizzard. I tried to find something fun to do inside and stumbled upon this candy recipe in the December 1941 issue of Woman's Day Magazine. I liked that it's candy made from real fruit instead of the flavorings we're used to. 

These ended up being the consistency of fruit snacks and had a similar taste. I was hoping they'd be a bit spicy, but it's a very tasty but mild flavor.  

 

World War 2 Era Apple Sauce Candy

Ingredients:

- 3 Cups Apple Sauce, Unsweetened
- 2 Cups Sugar
- Powdered Sugar. 

- 1/4 Pound Red Cinnamon Imperials (4 ounces)

Instructions:

Cook apple sauce, sugar, and cinnamon candies in a heavy saucepan on medium heat, until thick, about an hour. Let cool about 15 minutes. Prepare a cookie sheet with wax paper. Pour the candy onto the cookie sheet, let it cool and use a spoon to flatten it to 1/4 and inch thick. Let stand overnight to dry. Once dry, cut into shapes and dip in powdered sugar. Let dry one more night on powdered sugar. Keep stored in a tin.  

Tips: Mine wasn't fully dry after one night, but I couldn't stop due to time constraints. If I was to make this again, I would plan it out to have at least 2 days of drying before cutting. I would also use more candies. These would be very fun as holiday cake decorations.  

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Chewable Eggnog? World War II Era Eggnog Pie Recipe, Old Fashioned Taste

I'm not a fan of eggnog but it is mostly the texture that I don't like. This piqued my interest. Would I like the flavor with a different texture? By chance, I had everything at home to make this so I did, even though I had no event to serve it at. This recipe is from Good Housekeeping Magazine Party Cook Book (1941) and is quite tasty.

I would highly recommend topping this with candied or maraschino cherries. I only had some of these leftover cranberries in the house but boy, are they sour! If I was to make this again, I would add about 1/3 a cup of sugar to the whipped cream and cover the whole pie with it, then top with some cinnamon and nutmeg. The custard was a little less sweet than I prefer but a second opinion said that they appreciated it was not sweet. It ended up having a flan like consistency that's actually quite nice and light. Even this vintage santa came down the chimney to steal a slice.

Ingredients:

Crust:

-1 1/4 Cup Graham Crackers, finely rolled
- 1/4 Cup Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Butter
- 1 Tablespoon Water

Combine graham crackers crumbs and sugar. gradually add to soften butter and stir in water. Press into a 9 inch pie plate and bake in a preheated oven at 325 °F for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Filling:

- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Gelatin
- 2 Cups Milk
- 2 Eggs
- 1/8 teaspoon Salt
- 3 Tablespoons Brandy or Brandy Flavoring (I used Rum)
- 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg, ground

Soak the gelatin in 1/4 cup of the milk and set aside. In a double boiler on medium heat, scald the rest of the milk.

Warm your eggs in a bowl of warm water. Separate the whites from the yolks into two bowls. Beat the yolks slightly and mix in 1/3 cup sugar and salt. Pour the scaled milk over the yolk mixture while stirring. Return the mixture to the double boiler and stir constantly until the custard coats the spoon. Remove from heat and stir in the the soaked gelatin until dissolved.

Beat the egg whites stiff and stir into the custard. Fold them into the custard and add the brandy/rum and the nutmeg. Chill until the mixture begins to stiffen. Pour into the baked crust and chill in the refrigerator until set.   

Topping:

- 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1-2 Tablespoons Brandy (Rum) if desired.

Mix the cream with the flavoring and whip until whipped cream. Coat the top of the pie with it. Serve chilled.


**To simplified this recipe you can buy a premade graham cracker pie shell and premade whipped cream. I won't judge. If you have never made a custard before, it's helpful to read this guide.**