Pioneer Poundcake Gingerbread
This will make three large loaf pans.
Servings: 24 servings
Ingredients
- 6 beaten eggs
- 1 lb white sugar (2 cups)
- 1 pt molasses (2 cups)
- 1 teacup peeled, finely grated ginger (just under 3/4)
- 1 lb creamed butter (2 cups)
- 1 tsp pearlash (use baking soda) Potassium carbonate, also known as potash or pearl ash, is a leavening used from about 1740. Baking soda will work as a substitute but has more sodium than pearlash.
- 1 grated nutmeg
- 1 pinch grated mace
- 2 lbs flour (6 2/3 cups)
Instructions
- Cream all ingredients except the flour
- Add the flour
- Pour into three (3), well-greased loaf pans
Zupfa and Dubli Swiss Braided Loaf and Christmas Doves
My great-grandmother, Marie Luise Streit, was an immigrant from Switzerland. She made zupfa and dubli and mailed them to her grandchildren at Christmas. Once baked, the baby doves are properly displayed gathered around the braided loaf.
Servings: 20 people
Ingredients
Bread
- 2 packages yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 3 beaten eggs
- 1/2 Cup warm water
- 10 Cups sifted flour
"Paint"
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- dash salt
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 2 Tbsp oil
Instructions
Bread
- Mix yeast, 1 tsp. sugar, and 1 cup of warm water and keep at 80-90 degrees and away from drafts. If the mixture doesn't bubble, throw out the mixture and start again.
- Combine warm milk, shortening, sugar and salt. Mix it to dissolve the sugar and melt the shortening. Allow this mixture to cool so the eggs aren't cooked nor the yeast killed.
- Add yeast mixture.
- Add 3 beaten eggs and the last 1/2 cup of warm water.
- Combine the flour with the liquids.
- Knead until flour is well-mixed with the liquids. If the dough is sticky, "add flour until it's no longer sticky".
- Place the dough in a greased bowl large enough to allow it to rise until doubled--about 1 1/2 hours.
- After dough has doubled in size, punch it down and shape it into zupfa or dubli. Let rise again until double--about 45 minutes.
- Mix all of the ingredients for the "paint" and brush it on the bread.
- Cut the wings and tails for the dubli.
- Preheat oven to 350.Bake dubli for about 20-25 minutes.Bake zupfa for about 45 minutes.Baking time will vary according to size.
Notes
Indiana Sugar Creme Pie
This recipe is quintessential Indiana--simple to make with ingredients found in your pantry. The crust is buttery and flaky filled with a sweet, vanilla custard. In Indiana, we didn't often make this pie but bought Wicks pies frozen. Wicks made the pies year-round. The pie is very hard to find outside of Indiana. This version is from Martha Stewart. Sue Ellen Gibbs Cummins referred Martha's pate brisee crust recipe to me. Now it's my go-to pie crust. Thanks, Sue!
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 80kcal
Ingredients
Pate Brisee Crust
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup (two sticks) COLD unsalted butter cut into small pieces
- 1/4-1/2 cup ice water
Pie Filling
- 1/3 cup 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
- 4 Tbsp 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- light sprinkle of cinnamon top--optional
Instructions
Pate Brisee Crust
- Make the Pate Brisee: Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor (or whisk together by hand in a bowl). Add butter and pulse (or quickly cut in with a pastry blender or your fingertips) until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some larger pieces remaining. Drizzle 1/4 cup water over mixture. Pulse (or mix with a fork) until mixture just begins to hold together. If dough is too dry, add 1/4 cup more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse (or mix with a fork).
- Divide dough in half onto two pieces of plastic wrap. Gather into two balls, wrap loosely in plastic, and press each into a disk using a rolling pin. Refrigerate until firm, well wrapped in plastic, 1 hour or up to 1 day. Dough can be frozen up to 3 months; thaw in refrigerator before using.
- Make the pie: On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 disk pate brisee to a 13-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. (Reserve remaining disk for another use.) Fit dough into a 9-inch pie dish and press into bottom edges and up the sides. Trim edge, leaving a 1-inch overhang; fold edge under and crimp as desired. Freeze 15 minutes.
Pie Filling
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees with the rack located in the lower third. Line crust with parchment paper, gently pressing the parchment into the edges of the crust; weigh down parchment with dried beans or pie weights.
- Bake until the edges of the pastry begin to turn golden, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove pie weights and parchment paper. Continue to bake until crust is golden brown in color, about 15 minutes more. Transfer the crust to a wire rack to cool slightly.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour and cook, whisking, over medium heat for 2 minutes (do not let flour darken). Whisk in milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Strain mixture into cooled crust. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired. Bake until filling is slightly set, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Molassas Stack Cake
Molassesstack cake was a food for special occasions, especially for pioneer weddings.Baking the cake was a concerted effort by family and guests.In thehard pioneer life, this would have been an expensive pioneer food item, Guests broughta layer of cake and layered them with apple butter or slices in between.
Servings: 12 people
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup melted shortening
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 cups flour
- cinnamon for sprinkling
- ground nutmeg for sprinkling
Instructions
- 1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.2. Mix the buttermilk and shortening mixture, egg, molasses, and baking powder in a small bowl.3. Add a lavish sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg.4. Add flour to the mixture, mix well, and then roll the dough thin.5. Form into circles and place on greased cookie sheets or a bakingdish.6. Bake until golden brown.