In the Victorian Era, like today, ladies magazines were popular and by far the most avidly read was Godey's Lady's Book.   In it, you would find the latest fashions, etiquette and, as you might expect...recipes.  Now mind you, things were a bit...err...different? back then. Everything was practical and relatively simple. For instance - most foods were kept by smoking, pickling, or kept in cool basements or suspended in the well.  It was not unusual in rural houses to see the rafters hung with legs of beef, mutton, and hams.  The meats were hung inside the chimneys to perserve them by smoking.

And, like today, sugar and sweets were also popular...however!   While Treachle (molasses) was popular, so was coloring the frosting. Unfortunately though, the 'art' of food coloring hadn't been invented yet, so 'other' things were used in its place.  Like what?? you ask?  Well...for instance...gold and silver were achieved by the addition of copper and zinc.  For blue, iron was used, and red was achieved by the addition of lead. Occasionally arsenic was added to provide a green color.  Can we say it was NOT a good time in history for colored deserts?!

Anyway...the recipes below all came from the 1800's. Where possible, the book it appeared in, is listed with each recipe.


Apple Snow Balls - Godey's Lady's Book 1863

Take a half a dozen fresh apples, cut them into quarters and carefully remove the cores from them: then put them together, having introduced into the cavity caused by the removal of the cores, two cloves and a thin slice of lemon-rind into each apple. Have at hand half a dozen damp cloths, upon each dispose of a liberal layer of clean, picked rice; place each apple in an upright position in the middle of the grain, and draw the sides of the cloths containing the rice over the same, tying them at the top only sufficiently tight to admit of its swelling whilst under the operation of boiling-three quarters of an hour will suffice. When released from the cloths they will resemble snow-balls. Open, add sugar, butter, and nutmeg to the fruit, and serve them up to table. The above will be found very wholesome and satisfactory food for children.


Coffee Cream - Godey's Lady's Book 1864

Dissolve one ounce and a quarter of plain gelatin in half a pint of water. Boil for two hours a teacupful of whole coffee beans (not ground) in about half a pint of water; add a teacup ful of the melted gelatin. Put them into a saucepan with half a pint of milk and let the whole boil up; sweeten with loaf-sugar, and let stand for 10 minutes to cool, then add a pint of good cream; stir it well up, and pour it into a mould, and put it into a cool place to fix (set to chill). Turn out on a glass dish before serving up.


Kisses - Young Housekeepers Friend, 1864

Beat the whites of fine fresh eggs to a stiff froth, then mix with it fifteen spoonfuls of fine white sugar, and five or six drops of essence of lemon. Drop them on paper with a teaspoon, sift sugar over them and bake them in a slow oven.


Ice Cream - Godey's Lady's Book 1862

Commercial ice cream was available in the United States since around 1780, but the ice cream freezer was not invented until 1846. It then became very popular for home use.

One quart of rich milk, two fresh eggs, six ounces of white sugar, three teaspoons arrowroot (rubbed smooth in a little cold milk) Beat eggs and sugar together, bring the milk to the point of boiling, but don't let it boil, stir in the arrowroot. Remove from fire, adding eggs and sugar, stirr briskly to prevent eggs from cooking, set aside to cool. If flavored with extracts, it should be done just before it is put in the freezer.


Christmas Cake - Godey's Lady's Book 1862

Sometimes recipes were in written as verses.

To two pounds of flour, well sifted, unite
Of loaf-sugar, ounces sixteen;
Two pounds of fresh butter, with eighteen fine eggs,
And four pounds of currants washed and clean;
Eight ounces of almonds well blanched and cut small,
The same weight of citron sliced;
Of orange and lemon-peal candied one pound,
And a gill of pale brandy uniced;
A large nutmeg grated: exact half an ounce
Of allspice, but only a quarter
Of mace, coriander, and ginger well ground,
Or pounded to dust in a mortar,
An important addition is cinnamon, which
Is better increased than diminished;
The fourth of an ounce is sufficient. Now this
May be baked for good hours till finished.
Makes about 24 lbs.


Little Quinomie Cakes - The Kentucky Housewife, 1839

1/2 lb. butter
1/2 lb. sugar
2 tbs. nutmeg
1/2 c. wine
yolks of 15 eggs
1/2 lb. flour

Beat to a cream half a pound of butter and half a pound of sugar, add two powdered nutmegs and a glass of wine; then stir in the beaten yolks of fifteen eggs, with half a pound f flour, beat it very well, put it into small scolloped pans, that are well buttered, and bake them in a moderate oven.


Cider Cake - The American Frugal Housewife 1833

1 1/2 lb flour
1/2 lb. sugar
1/4 lb. butter
1/2 pint cider
1 tsp. baking powder
Spices as desired

Cider cake is very good, to be baked in small loaves. One pound and a half of flour, half a pound of sugar, quarter of a pound of butter, half a pint of cider, one teaspoon of pearlash; spice to your taste. Bake till it turns easily in the pans. I should think about half an hour.


Fruit Cake - Godey's Lady's Book 1864

Two and a half cups dried apples, stewed until soft; add one cup of sugar, stew a while longer, and chop the mixture, to which add onehalf cup of cold coffee, one of sugar, two eggs, a half cup of butter, one nutmeg, one teaspoonful of soda, and cinnamon and spices to taste. Sift in 2 cups flour to hold it together.


Almond Cakes (cookies) - Godey's Lady's Book 1863

One pound of flour, half a pound of loaf sugar, quarter pound of butter, two ounces bitter almonds (substitute sliced natural almonds) pounded in a small quantity of brandy, and two eggs. Cakes are not to be rolled, but made as rough as possible with a fork.

(on cookie sheet and baked in moderate oven)


Shrewsbury Cakes - The Virginia Housewife, 1824

1 lb. sugar
2 lb. flour
1 tbs. ground coriander
3/4 lb. butter
6 eggs
1/2 c. brandy

Mix a pound of sugar, with two pounds of flour, and a large spoonful of pounded coriander seeds; sift them, add three quarters of a pound of melted butter, six eggs, and a gill of brandy; knead it well, roll it thin, cut it in shapes, and bake without discoloring [browning] it.


Rout Drops - Godey's Lady's Book 1862

(A rout was a fashionable gathering or large evening party popular in the late 18th and early nineteenth centuries.)

Mix two pounds of flour, one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, one pound of currants, clean and dry. Then wet into a stiff paste, with two eggs, a large spoonful of orang flower water, the same each of rose water, sweet wine, and brandy. Drop on a tin plate floured. A very short time bakes them.


Yule Pastry - Source unknown

Chop one cup of raisins, one-fourth cup of citron, one slice of candied pineapple, six large figs; add half a cup of sugar, juice of a lemon and orange, and a pinch of cinnamon; cook 5 minutes; cut rounds from short pastry; spread with fruit; double; pinch edges securely; prick and bake.


Plum Pudding - Deleniator, 1901

In Victorian times raisins and many berries were refered to as plums. Some recipies were made with damsons, but plum pudding was made of raisins.

Mix 4 cups stale bread-crumbs, 1 cup chopped suet, 1 cup molasses, 2 eggs, 2 cups raisins, 2 cups milk, 1 level teaspoon soda, 1 teaspoon powdered cloves, 2 cinnamon, half each mace, allspice and salt, 1 cup chopped almonds, half cup currants; boil unceasingly in buttered mould for three and half hours; when sending to table garnish with holly; pour brandy over and ignite; serve hard-sauce.


Forcemeat - Godey's Lady's Book 1867

Half a pound of bread crumbs, a tablespoon of finely chopped parsley, a tsp. of sweet herbs (equal amounts of fresh parsley, tarragon, chives d chervil, minced), a little grated nutmeg and lemon peel, seasoned with salt, pepper, and Cayenne, two ounces beef suet, finely chopped, and two eggs a little beaten. Mix well. The flavor of a little chopped lean ham is relished by some persons.


Pork Chops With Fried Apples - Fannie Farmer Cook Book 1896

Wipe chops, sprinkle with salt and pepper, place in a hot frying-pan, and cook slowly until tender and well browned on each side. Arrange pork chops on a platter, and surround with slices of apples cut one half inch thick, fried in the fat remaining in pan.


Pickled Fish - Godey's Lady's Book 1865

Before refrigeration fish was often pickled. In English and American cookbooks there appear many recipies for "caveaching" fish in oil, spices, and vinegar.

Take any freshly caught fish, clean and scale them, wash and wipe dry. Cut into slices a few inches thick, put them in a jar with some salt, allspice, and a little horseradish. When filled cover it well with a good cover, let it stand in the oven a few hours, don't let the oven get too hot. This will keep six months. Put it immediately in the cellar and in a few months they will be fit for use, no bones will be found.


Eel Soup - Civil War Cooking: The Housekeepers Encyclopedia, 1861

3 lb. whole eels
2 oz. butter
2 onions, halved
3 qt. boiling water
1/4 ounce fresh savory
1/4 ounce lemon
1/4 ounce thyme
1/2 ounce parsley
1/8 ounce allspice
1/8 ounce black pepper
3 ounces butter
Flour

Put two ounces of butter in a saucepan, a couple of onions cut once, and stew them until lightly browned. Remove the onions and put into the pan, cut in pieces, three pounds of unskinned eels, shake them over the fire a few minutes, then add three quarts of boiling water. When boils [again], remove the scum; add a quarter of an ounce of green, not dried, summer-savory, the same of lemon, thyme, twice as much parsley, two drachms each of allspice and black pepper; cover close, and boil gently for two hours, then strain it through a fine sieve; put in a stew-pan three ounces of butter, melt it, and stir in flour, until it thickens considerably, and add the soup gradually to it, stirring constantly. If the spices are not relished, omit them; cooks should always be governed by the tastes of the family. Put the soup in a stew-pan and add nice bits of eel, fried brown in butter, ten minutes before pouring it in the tureen.


Lobster Salad - Godey's Lady's Book 1860

(A gill is a unit of measurement equal to a half cup or around 8-12 oz.)

One large lobster, two dessertspoonfuls of mixed mustard, one gill and a half of vinegar, one gill and a half of sweet oil, the yolks of five hardboiled eggs, salt to taste, the inside leaves of two cabbage lettuces.

Cut the meat and lettuce in small pieces, boil the eggs hard, and mash yolks with a wooden or silver spoon with oil enough to make them a smooth paste. Add the vinegar, mustard, pepper and salt to taste. Mix this dresing thoroughly with the lobster and lettuce and serve it before the salad becomes flabby.


Snitz and Knep - Godey's Lady's Book 1866

Take of sweet dried apples (dried with the skins on, if you can get them) about one quart. Put them in the bottom of a porcelain or tin-lined boiler with a cover. Take a nice piece of smoked ham washed very clean and lay on top; add enough water to cook them nicely. About twinty minutes before dishing up, add the following dumplins:

Mix a cup of warm milk with one egg, a little salt, and a little yeast, and enough flour to make a sponge. When light, work into a loaf. Let stand until about twinty minutes before dinner, then cut off slices or lumps, and lay on the apples and let steam through.


Bubble And Squeak - Godey's Lady's Book 1865

(This English dish is at least two hundred years old and was well known in 19th century United States.)

Take from a round of beef which haws been well boiled and cold, two or three slices, amounting to about one pound to one an a half pound in weight two carrots which have been boiled with the joint, in a cold state, as also the hearts of two boiled greens that are cold. Cut the meat into small dice-formed pieces, and chop up the vegetables together; pepper and salt the latter, and fry them with the meat in a pan with a quarter pound of sweet butter; when fully done, add to the pan in which the ingredients are fried, half a gill of fresh catsup, and serve your dish up to the dinner table with mashed potatoes. The above is an economical and favorite dinner.


Dried Pea Soup - The Virginia Housewife, 1824

1 qt. dried peas
3 qts. water
3 onions, chopped
Salt and pepper
2 tbs. butter
2-3 tbs. flour
1/4 lb. salt pork, sliced
1 tsp. celery seed, crushed
Croutons

(Note: to make hard water soft either add a spoonful of baking soda, or else collect clean rainwater.)

Take one quart of split peas, or Lima beans which are better, put them in three quarts of very soft water with three onions chopped up, pepper and salt; boil them two hours, wash them well and pass them through a sieve, return the liquid into the pot, thicken it with a large piece of butter and flour, put in some slices of nice salt pork, and a large tea-spoonful of celery-seed pounded; boil it till the pork is done, and serve it up; have some toasted bread cut into dice and fried in butter, which must be put in the tureen before you pour in the soup.


Uses of the Dandelion - Godey's Lady's Book 1862

It's uses are endless: the young leaves blanched make an agreeahble and wholesome early salad; and they may be boiled, like cabbages, with salt meat. The French too slice the roots and eat them, as well as the leaves with bread and butter, and tradition says that he inhabitants of Minorca once substituted for weeks on this plant, when their harvest had been entirely destroyed by insects. The leaves are ever a favorite and useful article of food in the Vale of Kashmir, where, in spite of the preconceived prejudices we all have to the contrary, dandelions, and other humbler examples of our northern "weds," do venture to associate themselves with the rose or the jasmine of it's eastern soil. On the bands of the Rhine the plant is cultivated as a substitute for coffee, and Dr. Harrison contends that it possesses the fine flavor and substance of the best Mocha coffee, without it's injurious principle; and that it promotes sleep when taken at night, instead of banishing it, as coffee does. Mrs. Modie gives us her experiences with dandelion roots, which seem of a most satisfactory nature. She first cut the roots into small pieces, and dried them in the oven until they were brown and crisp as coffee, and in this state they appear to have been eaten. But certain it is that she ground a portion of them, and made a most superior coffee. In some parts of Canada they mke an excellent beer of the leaves, in twhich the saccharine matter they afford forms a substitute for malt, and the bitter flavor serves instead of hops. In medicine, too, it is invaluable.


French Stew of Peas and Bacon - Godey's Lady's Book 1867

Cut about one quarter of a pound of fresh bacon into thin slices' soak it on the fire in a stewpan until it is almost done; then put about a quart of peas to it, a good bit of butter, a bunch of parsely, and two spoonfuls of catsup, (can substitute Worchestershire sauce) simmer on a slow fire and reduce the sauce; take out the parsley and serve the rest together.


Apple Fritters - Godey's Lady's Book 1862

Peel and cut the apples into small pieces and stir them in with the batter. Fry all together as pancakes would be fried, about one fourth of an inch thick. Be careful to keep them from burning by having a sufficiency of lard in the pan, and by moving them frequently. Each fritter will take about five minutes to fry, and should look a pale brown when done.


Barley Water - Godey's Lady's Book 1860

One ounce of pearl barley, half an ounce of white sugar, and the rind of a lemon; put it into a jug. Pour upon it one quart of boiling water, and let it stand for eight or ten hours; then strain off the liquor, adding a slide of lemon if desirable. This infusion makes a most delicious and nutritious beverage, and will be grateul to persons who cannot drink the horrid decoction usually given. It is an admiral basis for lemonade, negus or weak punch, a glass of rum being the proportion for a quart.


Carbonated Syrup Water - Godey's Lady's Book 1860

Put into a tumbler lemon, raspberry, strawberry, pineapple or any other acid syrup, sufficient in quantity to flavor the beverage very highly. Then pour in very cold ide water till the glass is half full. Add half a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda (to be obtained at the druggist), and stir it up well in with a teaspoon. It will foam up immediately, and must be drank during the effervescence. By keeping the syrup and the carbonate of soda in the house, and mixing them as above with ice water, you can at any time have a glass of this very pleasant drink; precisely similar to that of which you get at the shops. The cost will be infinitely less.


Blackberry Syrup - Godey's Lady's Book 1860

Make a symple syrup of a pound of sugar to each pint of water; boil it until it is rich and thick; then add to it as many pints of the expressed juice of ripe blackberries as there are pounds of sugar; put half a nutmeg grated to each quart of the syrup; let it boil fifteen or twenty minutes, then add to it half a gill of fourth proof brandy for each quart of syrup; set it by to become cold; then bottle it for use. A tablespoonful for a child, or a wineglass for an adult is a dose.


Blackberry and Wine Cordial - Godey's Lady's Book 1860

To half a bushel of blackberries, well mashed, add a quarter of a pound of allspice, two ounces of cinnamon, two ounces of cloves; pulverize well, mix and boil slowly until properly done; then strain or squeeze the juice through homespun or flannel, and add to each pint of the juice one pound of loaf sugar; boil again for some time, ake it off, and while cooling add half a gallon of best Cognac brandy. Bottle and cork well. Dose: for an adult half a gill to a gill, for a child, a teaspoonful or more according to age. This is recommendd as a delightful beverage, and an infallible specific for diarrhoea or orninary disease of the bowels.


Cheap Small Beer - Godey's Lady's Book 1861

Two twelve quarts of cold water, add a pint and a half of strong hop tea, and a pint oand a half of molasses. Mix it well together, and bottle it immediately. It will be fit for use the next day, if the weather is warm.


Ginger Beer Quickly Made - Godey's Lady's Book 1862

A gallon of boiling water is poured over three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar, one ounce of ginger, and the peel of one lemon; when milk-warm, the juice of the lemon and a spoonful of yeast are added. It should be made in the evening, and bottled the next morning in stone bottles, and the cork tied down with twine. Good brown sugar will answer, and the lemon may be ommited, if cheapness is required.


Spruce Beer - Godey's Lady's Book 1861

Allow an ounce of hops and a spoonful of ginger to a gallon of water. When well boiled, strain it and put in a pint of molasses, and half an ouce or less of the essence of spruce; when cool add a teacup of yeast, and put into a clean tight cask and let it ferment for a day or two, then bottle for use. You can boil the sprigs of spruce-fir in room of the essence.


Stuffing (For Roast Goose) - Godey's Lady's Book 1860

Peel two onions, cut in half, sprinkle with salt, cover with boiling water and leave for a minute or two, drain and chop small. Cook in two tablespoonsful of butter until tender. Add one half teaspoon of salt; four cups of mashd potato; one half cup of bread crumbs; one teaspoon of rubbed sage; one fourth teaspoon pepper and the youl of an egg or two. Should stuff a ten to twelve pound goose.


Toad-in-a-Hole (Baked Beefsteak Pudding) - Godey's Lady's Book 1860

Make a batter of milk, two eggs, and flour; lay a little of it at the bottom of the dish; then put in the steads, which have been cut in strips and rolled with fat in between, and if shred onion is approved, add a very little, season well with pepper and salt; pour the remainder of the batter over them, and bake it.


NOTE: The recipes above were put in as they were printed back in the 1800's which also included many 'typo's'...