Christmas 1910: Holiday Sweets

Since we live in a 1910 house, once in awhile I treat myself to something that was made in 1910. I have collected a series of magazines, Ladies World, all published in 1910. I put them out according to the month or holiday,and so this month is the Christmas Issue. Now, people lived very differently in 1910 but it was such a fascinating time period to me…The foods and the recipes, the way they were written and presented all intrigue me. Following is an excerpt from an article called Sweets for the Christmas Table .

“In the near approach of the Christmas festivities I have thought it seasonable to offer a few reliable recipes for dainty sweets that may be useful to the housewives who take pleasure in catering for the folks at home. They are wise to do so, for the creature comforts form no mean part of the enjoyment of family reunions.

Sweet dishes are always fascinating to prepare, and they certainly repay for the trouble taken in making them, perhaps more than do ordinary dishes. In this department of cooking there is great scope for taste and decoration.”

I couldn’t agree more with the author who wrote this so many years ago. While it is often savory foods that bring us comfort it is the sweets that most often make us feel special.

Here is one of the recipes, copied as written, from this article

Banana Trifle – Six bananas, one small sponge cake weighing half a pound, one cupful of custard, one cupful of whipping cream, one orange, half a lemon, some strawberry jam, and some small pieces of angelica (a candied herb). Peel and quarter the banana lengthwise.Slice the cake thinly, spread each slice with strawberry jam.Peel and cut the orange into thin slices and then dice. Grate the lemon rind. Put a layer of the cake slices into a glass dish; place on them a spoonful of custard. Next, a layer of bananas, a few pieces of orange and a little of the lemon rind. Continue this until the dish is nearly filled. Then pour over the remainder of the custard. Whip up the cream, sweeten it, and heap it on the top. Decorate with small pieces of angelica. Serve as cold as possible.