Baking History

A Taste For The Past

Disclaimer

Always check your ingredients and ask professional advice from your doctor before making any of the recipes published here,  if you have allergies or any other ailment.

4 Responses to “Disclaimer”

  1. Fabian said

    July 7, 2008 at 8:27 pm

    Greetings from Sweden! Great Blog! I am involved in a project to bake and republish a Jewish-Bohemian cookbook from the turn of the century (originally written in German). As I attempt to bake the old recipes, I often find myself struggling with obscure directions, vague terms, archaic weights and measures as well as what to today’s palate appears as an unreasonable love affair with eggs and butter in common cake recipes. Your recipes, while old fashioned, do not appear at all “unreasonable” to todays tastes. How typical is this of the recipes you experiment with? My experience is that I occasionally am unsure as to the resemblance of my product and the original. Thanks for doing such great Work!!

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  2. bakinghistory said

    July 8, 2008 at 2:32 am

    Hello Fabian,

    thanks! Your project of baking from and republishing a vintage Jewish-Bohemian cookbook sounds wonderful! I would love to know more about it.

    It is true that very often old cookbooks give very short instructions and leave out details that perhaps were considered redundant.
    I never alter the recipes that I post here, but I often add details that were left out in the original text, and always add information concerning oven temperatures or pan sizes.

    It is not unusual to find that cake recipes call for large amounts of butter and eggs (sometimes 10 or 12 eggs at a time!). The ones I have published so far came from cookbooks for small families or meant for families relatively less well off, that could not afford to lavish on ingredients.

    It is also true that cakes were seldom made and eaten, being expensive and labor-intensive, and for most they were not part of everyday fare but rather an exception. Thus cakes, being eaten sparingly, could be made with extravagant amounts of ingredients since they were made only for special occasions.

    As for resemblance between the results we get from our modern experiments with old recipes and the originals, I think it varies. If and when the information is given concerning specific pan shapes for instance, I think we can have a very good resemblance. In other cases it might be a little more difficult, considering also that we have variations in the quality of our ingredients and the ovens we use today or the electric mixers vs. hand beating.

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  3. Fabian said

    July 9, 2008 at 5:37 am

    Helo again!

    I appreciate your prompt and detailed reply. Very good point regarding my comment on “common cake recipes” as cakes were certainly not a common everyday fare.

    As to my project, the interest I have in this cookbook is as much about the author as the recipes per se (the author was a Jewish widow entrepeneur who opened a Jewish home economics institute).

    As a cookbook project, initially at least, I am focusing only (or rather mostly)on her baking/dessert recipes.
    Best regards,

    Fabian

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  4. bakinghistory said

    July 9, 2008 at 7:53 pm

    Hi Fabian,

    your project sounds fascinating not just from a culinary point of view but also because it focuses on the author of the book and her entrepreneurial work.
    Personally I also have a preference for the old recipes for baked goods and desserts. I am sure there are treasures in the book you are working on that will be great to rediscover.

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