Gingerbread Pudding



Gingerbread Pudding with whiskey infused hard sauce
and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Steamed puddings are a dessert that was popular for quite some time but fell out of fashion in the 1900s.  In fact, you can still find misidentified steamer molds in antique and second-hand stores. There is no deep dark mystery to steamed puddings and to avoid making them leaves out a unique type of dessert. If you can bake a cake from scratch or make muffins, you can make steamed puddings.  The molds are available from major kitchen retailers, or you can use any heat proof shoulder bowl that will accommodate an improvised waterproof lid.

 
 Let's make one of Augusta's steamed puddings, in this case, a Gingerbread Pudding. The ingredients needed are:

8 ounces of all purpose flour

1 1/2 gill of syrup
3 large eggs
2 1/2 ounces of sweet milk + 1 Tbs. of milk
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. baking soda
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup raisins

First, I need to explain some of the measurements.  Measure the flour amount by ounces.  A gill is equivalent to four ounces; you will need 6 ounces of light corn syrup. Sweet milk is whole milk. Now, let's get all steamed up.

 

Begin by setting the raisins to soak in warm water and set them aside.  In a bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt and set aside. In another bowl beat the three eggs and then incorporate the corn syrup and milk. Put the tablespoon of milk in a small bowl and mix in the baking soda.  At this point, you combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix until smooth, then add the baking soda mixture. Strain the raisins, add them to the batter and gently fold them in. The raw pudding can now be poured into a greased steamer mold, covered and placed inside a steaming pan.

 

 I have found aluminum dutch ovens work well for steaming. Set up your Dutch oven with a trivet on the bottom to keep the mold from sitting on direct heat.  Pour enough water into the oven to cover the bottom 1/4 of the mold and then cover. Let the pudding steam for three hours - remember to check the water level on occasion, you don't want the water to boil away. When the pudding has finished      cooking, set it on a cooling rack and allow it to cool for 20 to 30 minutes.  At this point, it can be tipped out of the mold and allowed to cool completely.  Serve your masterpiece with a good hard sauce.

 



Kitchen Poetry

Graham Cake from Mrs. Owens cookbook - 1884

I was exploring the 1884 Mrs. Owens cookbook while contemporizing an Augusta cake recipe and ran across one for Graham Cake written as a poem. I have seen other recipes written as poems while doing my research and gave it a whirl. As you would expect, the cake tastes like graham crackers. You will notice the recipe calls for teacup measures, the solution to that little dilemma is within an earlier article.  Here's the poem.

Any reader of this book would like a graham cake,
I give you here a recipe which I quite often make.
First take one cup of sugar white, and butter one half cup,
Together mix, then add an egg, and lightly beat it up.
Then take one cup of pure sweet milk, and well dissolve therein
A teaspoon full of soda so its trace cannot be seen.
Then scatter in a little salt, and flavor it with spice,
A little nutmeg, if you please, or lemon peel is nice.
And then of flour you may put in three even teacups full,
And when you’ve stirred it well around, then quickly pour the whole.
Into your buttered pan, my dear, which ready stands the while,
Then, if you give it a good bake, ‘twill be so nice you’ll smile.

A Matter of Measure

If you work with Victorian recipes long enough, you will run across some units of measure we no longer use.  The most common head-scratcher deals with oven temperature and terms like a slow, moderate or quick oven. The last thing you want to do is take your newest culinary masterpiece and incinerate the poor thing.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, let’s cure the oven temperature dilemma.

Very slow (very low) oven: 300-325° F.
Slow (low) oven: 325-350° F.
Moderate (medium) oven: 350-375° F.
Fast/quick (high) oven: 375-400° F.
Very fast/very quick (very high) oven: 400-425° F

Old recipe books also abound with recipes calling for tea cup and coffee cup amounts of ingredients.  I use a beautiful old glass measuring pitcher that has these measures embossed on its side.  One tea cup equals four ounces, also known as a gill, a coffee cup is eight ounces. 

Augusta Kohrs

Augusta Kohrs

Augusta Kohrs was not the typical pioneer. After a quick courtship, Augusta married Conrad Kohrs at the age 19. Augusta left a comfortable life in Iowa to create a new home in Montana. The trip to Deer Lodge must have been daunting for the new bride and encompassed a six-week trip floating up the Missouri River on a steamboat.  The river trip was followed by an overland excursion in a horse-drawn wagon that lasted five days.  Augusta had to have been glad to reach her new home in spite of the rough condition of the headquarters.
Augusta was accustomed to the finer things in life and quickly took on the task of turning the ranch house into a home.  She was well versed in Victorian style and was able to apply that style to her home in Deer Lodge.  Her 1800s sensibilities were also reflected in her culinary pursuits as is evident in her collection of recipes.  Those recipes, so carefully handwritten into her cookbook, are now my journey.  You are welcome to ride along.

Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site

The Grant-Kohrs ranch is an example of the pioneer spirit.  The cattle business was being established in Montanna's Deer Lodge valley as early as 1857 by John Grant and has continued to this day. The original location of the ranch headquarters varied with the current location being established in 1862 when Grant built a spacious ranch house. Conrad Kohrs purchased the ranch in 1866 and continued to use it as headquarters until well into the 1900's. The ranch was designated as a National Parks Service - National Historic Site in 1972.

The Beginning

 

I've always been fascinated in the old west, especially in the food.  I even had a chuck wagon I used to tote around and gave presentations about cooking in the old west.  I collect Victorian cookbooks, recipes and even collect and use utensils from the period. When in comes down to it, I guess it's everything about the old west that I find fascinating.  I've spent a lot of time in the west - it's part of me. 

 

I'm involved in a project now.  I've been signed on by the National Park Service - Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historical Site to contemporize the recipe collection of Augusta Kohrs. The collection is hand written, in some cases in old German, and only the ingredients are listed.  No nice instructions on how to put it all together and make it edible.  That's where I come in, I get to figure it all out and bring these wonderful recipes back to life. 

 

Papa's Cookies is the name of the recipe that started this journey, it's the first recipe in Augusta Kohrs hand written book.  It seems fitting that it should be the name of my blog.  They are pictured below.