Pennsylvania Tea Cake Recipe from 1870

Last weekend I went to a really fun reeactment where I planned to have a little tea party. When I got there; however, there were very few ladies in the regiment we attached to. The gentlemen and ladies present did enjoy the dainties and we had a lot of fun anyway.

The Pennsylvania Tea Cake is a post-war recipe but is very similar to pre-war recipes. It sounded unusual so I was very excited to see what the finished product would taste like.

My grandmother and I baked the night before the event so I would not have to do any baking once I got there I love baking over the fire, but I was making a lot of things so it wouldn't be practical. My grandmother did me the favor of baking this bread while I baked scones. As she was baking, she kept asking "Does it look all right?"

It ended up tasting and looking really good! 

Pennsylvania Tea Cake 1870

Ingredients:

-          4  Egg Yolks

-          2  Whole Eggs

-          1 Tbs Vinegar

-          1 tsp Baking Soda

-          1 ½ cups Sugar

-          ½ pound Butter, creamed

-          Sifted Flour

Modern Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Break eggs into a small bowl and beat. Dissolve Baking Powder in the vinegar; add the vinegar mixture into the beaten eggs.  Put Sugar into a medium-sized bowl; make a divot in the center of the sugar.  Pour the Egg mixture into the sugar and stir with a wooden spoon until well blended. Soften the butter and cream into the batter.  Stir in enough Sifted Flour until it forms a thick batter.  Bake in a buttered 8-inch cake pan for 35- 40 minutes. (Alternatively, you can add enough flour to make dough, roll it out on a floured surface and cut out round biscuits with a cookie cutter to stay closer to the original recipe.) 

Hope you enjoy! The cake really is good. I was afraid to serve something I had never tried baking before but it turned out really moist and yummy.

The Russell Cemetery in Ridley Creek State Park

This is the long awaited post that I've had a lot of requests for ever since this post here: Trip to Ridley Creek State Park. The Russell Cemetery is a small family plot that was used from 1820 to 1861.

The Cemetery is in the state park and talked about frequently, especially around Halloween. 
I have heard a lot of stories of people looking for it but very few find it. It is nestled in a copse of trees at the very top of a grand hill, known as Hunting Hill which is still used by archery hunters today.

There is a lot of local folklore about the cemetery. To quote my previous post on the subject:"...one occupant ... Jesse Russell, a fox hunter, died on the 12th of September in1820 when he was 42 years old. It is said that he was buried standing up so as to better hear his hunting hounds after death."
  

 
The Russell family lived along Gradyville Road which runs through the park and I believe that the house is still standing.

The cemetery is far from the regular paths and is in the hunting area, so I wouldn't recommend going during hunting season, like I did. It's kind of a neat little cemetery and you wouldn't expect a cemetery to be so far removed from everything.

I'm not going to give directions to it, not only because it's a lot of fun to find it yourself and I'd hate to ruin that journey for anyone but also because it is a cemetery and I'd hate for anyone to disrespect or ruin it. It is a very tranquil place.

 A book excerpt about the family buried in this cemetery:

 To see the list of the 6 family members buried in this cemetery click here: Delaware County PA History.

The Evolution of Shortbread: Shortbread Recipes from the 1700s- 1900s.

 Everybody loves shortbread!
Shortbread is a yummy, plain, butter cookie, but it wasn't always so. Many modern recipes only use three ingredients: flour, butter and sugar. But historically, shortbread used to include dried fruits, nuts and even caraway seeds!

Shortbread can be served with tea or coffee and are the basis for a lot of modern-day treats such as Girl Scout Cookies."Petticoat Tails" were a shortbread treat, popularly served with tea in the 1850s. Petticoat tails are made by making a round shortbread in a tin, cutting out a hole in the center, and cutting the remaining shortbread into triangles.

I have made modernized instructions for this recipe at the bottom of this post. It mentions using a "mutchkin" of barm. A mutchkin is 1/4 an English pint. Barm is the froth from the top of beer. It is used in the recipe as a leavening agent. Today shortbread is made without any leavening. I was going to wait until I made some of these recipes before I wrote this post but other people might save me the work and make some of these for me. :D

I tried to find a way to put the modern recipe on here. This isn't very clear but it's the best I could do. If you would like a cleaner copy, I will gladly e-mail it to you in PDF or as a Word Document. It's neat to see how the ingredients were slowly whittled down through the years. I am very excited to make some period shortbread, when I do, I will make sure to include photos and a critique.

Giveaway Extended until October 13th!

I'm going to extend the giveaway due to everyone here being really, really busy so don't miss out! Go here to see the original rules.

Glengarry Cap Crochet Pattern from Godey's Lady's Book

Glengarry caps (or Glengarry Bonnets,) have been thought to have been worn by the Scottish military since 1794. In the mid-1800s, the hat was adopted by men and young boys in England.  By the time of the American Civil War, it was a popular civilian hat for men, children and ladies, copied from the 1850s English fashions.

During the 1860s the fashion caps were commonly made out of velvet or stiff cloth. Checked or contrasting colored solid bands were common. They were sometimes decorated with feathers and cockades. You can learn to make very beautiful cockades at American Duchess. When made correctly, the cap should have a dip in the middle of the top.

This crochet pattern from Godey's Lady's Book (1861) was previously published in London in 1853.

If I ever learn to crochet, this looks like such a cute hat to make. It looks like it might be a good started project after I practice "granny squares." Crochet is still a complete mystery to me, knitting makes perfect sense. Has anyone ever made this hat? I'd love to see what it looks like all finished. I love green, I think this would look so cute in the winter. I love the look of crochet beanies that people wear to school, this is like a quirky twist.

I've been itching to finish knitting my sontag but I can't bring myself to pay the $4.00 shipping on one ball of yarn so I have to put it on hold. The ladies over at The Lady's Guide for Re-enactresses, suggest recycling sweaters for inexpensive yarn. I love that you get cheap yarn and recycle at the same time. Look at this pretty sontag they made out of thrifted yarn! The nice thing is you can read the tags and find 100% wool yarn. How cool. So, all of you crocheters, is this hat easy enough for a beginner?

**Please remember to enter my contest, the drawing will be held on October 5th!**