Victorian Jelly: Commercial Gelatin

Victorian Jelly: Commercial Gelatin

Credit goes to a Victorian-era inventor for out-of-a-box gelatin. What an amazing labor-saving invention! Until now, wives and daughters everywhere had been making gelatin out of pigs feet and a good deal of elbow grease.

How did nineteenth century scientists manage to capture the essence of gelatin and put it in a box? And how much did it cost?

Victorian America’s Marble Cakes

Victorian America’s Marble Cakes

German immigrants brought Marmorkuchen–marble cake–to the United States. Vintage cook books and newspapers show spice-and-yellow cake batters swirled together. Late-nineteenth-century bakers began to swap spice cake for chocolate. Delicious vintage baking!

Victorian Jelly: Desserts

Victorian Jelly: Desserts

Victorians (in every English-speaking nation) adored jellied desserts.

Vintage recipes from cookbooks and newspapers (from both sides of the Atlantic) illustrate how cooks made foods gel.

Victorian America’s Brown Betty

Victorian America’s Brown Betty

Victorian America’s BROWN BETTY: a teapot, and an economical dessert.

A smattering of recipes from mid- to late-nineteenth century cook books and newspapers paint an image of “brown Betty.” Victorian-era economy shines in these vintage instructions.

Victorian Homemakers Present Tapioca Pudding

Victorian Homemakers Present Tapioca Pudding

Victorian Americans favored many different kinds of puddings for desserts, during all seasons of the year. One type was tapioca–which hasn’t changed much in the intervening hundred-plus years. See many similar recipes in vintage era cook books and newspapers; plain, apple, peach, (and early in the 20th century, caramel).