January 20th, 1875 Cracker Griddle Cakes
Burlington Vermont 1875
January 20th 1875
Cracker Griddle Cakes
One pint of cracker dust; the yolks of two eggs; thin with milk, and when it swells add more milk until of the right consistency; salt, and when ready to bake add the whites of the eggs beaten stiff.
I am assuming these are pancakes, due to the name griddle cakes; I cannot see this being a cake, cake, but maybe it is. It was a common practice for a long time to use old bread grated into crumbs as the flour part in baking. There are all kinds of recipes from the middle ages and on that use bread crumbs as an ingredient. So, it is not out of the question that this could actually be a cake.
The whites of the eggs being beaten stiff, this is a common way to add the air and volume to a cake in this time period; the usual leavening agent did not always give it the volume desired in a cake.
Cracker dust is ground up crackers, I am thinking something like the saltines we know today, but there are all kinds of different crackers. Depending on the crackers you use it could go to a sweet taste or a savory taste.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128155790000015
DAILY RECIPES BY CALENDAR
As an ongoing feature here, I will add to this each day the recipes out of several books I have that are dated or from calendar books
The list of names for the people who contributed recipes for these books are listed here;
https://kitchenrecipetreasures.com/2021/03/04/daily-recipes-by-calendar-family-names/
Visit my ebay store to find some great kitchen utensils and collectables to go along with these vintage and antique recipes.
https://www.ebay.com/str/ozziesattic720?_trksid=p2047675.l2563