Sweet Supper
Pynte and Pye - Sweet Supper
Still hungry? Seven gentlewomen are hosting a Sweet Supper tonight. Why don't you come along?(
A VIRGINIA SWEET SUPPER
Come in, come in! Do come in! It is a
pleasure to have you here, Epicurious
Traveler. What a perfect Night you have
picked. There is plenty to eat and drink.
We don't get many visitors from your
parts. Here, let me show you around the
house.
about sweet suppers...
In colonial times, Virginians indulged
their collective Sweet Tooth and used all
of the special Ingredients saved in their
Larders for special Occasions called Sweet
Suppers. These Suppers usually took
place around the
Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays
and took the place of a balanced Supper
Meal. Fancy homemade Wines and all
measure of sugar-laden Confections were
presented. This was usually a Buffet Meal
that lasted Hours. People were invited
from Miles around, some bringing
samples of their finest Recipes. The Tables
were set with the best Silver, Linens and
festooned with native Greenery, Nuts and
Fruits. All of the Plantations' Children
were also invited, making this a joyous
Time for Everyone. Every Table in the
main Rooms was covered with Food.
Even now in some parts of Virginia,
Sweet Suppers are still an integral part of
Family Holiday Traditions. The following
Recipes are a Sampling of what the Lady
of the House might prepare for her special
Sweet Supper.
Shrub
Mrs. E. Smith's COMPLEAT
HOUSEWIFE, WILLIAMSBURG, 1742
Take two Quarts of Brandy, and put it in a
large Bottle, and put into it the Juice of
five Lemons and Peels of two,half a
Nutmeg, stop it up, and let it stand three
Days, and add to it three Pints of White-
Wine, a Pound
and a half of Sugar; mix it, and strain it
twice thro'a Flannel, and bottle it up; tis a
pretty Wine and a Cordial
**I use a chinois instead of a flannel bag.
This is lethal in any century.
Morello Cherry Bounce
Manuscript Cook Book, Charlottesville,
1836. Owned by Mrs. Virginia Grafty
Griffin
Gather and pick your Cherries when
perectly ripe, put them into a Tub and
mash them with a Rolling-pin,Stones and
all, and to every five Pints of Cherries put
a Quart of Rum, let it stand a Week; strain
it through a
Flannel Bag, to every Gallon of Bounce
put three fourths of a Pound of brown
Sugar. Cheap Rum at 75 Cents or 50 Cents
a Gallon answers equally well as the best
spirit for bounce.
Syllabub
Ardelle Orvik, Minnesota, 1864
Dissolve half a pound of cut sugar in 1
teacupful of wine; heat 3 pints of cream
lukewarm. Pour the wine in, holding
several feet above and pouring very
slowly, so as to cause the cream to froth.
Orange Wine Cake
Old Williamsburg Recipe, the
Williamsburg Art of Cookery
Chop very fine or grind, one medium-
sized, tender Orange-rind and one Cup of
Raisins. Add one half Cup of coarsely-
chopped English Walnuts. Cream one
half Cup of Butter with one Cup of Sugar,
add two beaten Eggs, one Teaspoon of
Vanilla and chopped Mixture. Sift two
Cups of Flour with one Teaspoon of Soda,
one half Teaspoon of Salt and add
alternately with one Cup of sour Milk.
Pour into well-greased square Cake-pan
and bake in a moderate Oven about thirty
or forty Minutes. While hot this Cake
may be glazed by spreading over one Cup
of Sugar mixed with one third of a Cup of
Orange-juice and returning it to the
Oven. Others prefer this Cake served
warm with a Syllabub of frothed Cream.
Queen Cakes
Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made
Plain and Easy, 1760
Take a pound of loaf-sugar, beat and sift it,
a pound of flour well dried, a pound of
butter, eight eggs, half a pound of currants
washed and picked, grate a nutmeg, the
same quantity of mace and cinnamon,
work your butter to a cream, then put in
your sugar, beat the whited of your eggs
near half an hour, mix them with your
sugar and butter, then beat your yolks
near half an hour, and put them to your
butter, beat them exceedingly well
together, then put in your flour, spices,
and the currants; when it is ready for the
oven, bake them in tins, and dust a little
sugar over them.
Boiled Custard
(Old Virginia Recipe)
Scald one Quart of Milk in a Double-
boiler, beat six Eggs slightly and add to the
Milk; add one half Cup of sugar and one-
eighth Teaspoon of Salt, combined. Cook
until Custard thickens. It will form a coat
on a clean silver Spoon when done.
**Never boil boiled custard or it will
curdle. Be sure to cook the custard very
slowly. I add one Tablespoon of
Madagascar vanilla to this, or same
amount of rum. This keeps in sealed jar
in refrigerator for a week or so.
Alas, sweet memories!
I thought I would never run into anyone
who had ever heard of "boiled custard".
This was a tradition in my childhood
household. We would pour it warm over
fruitcake......*sigh*......wonderful,
wonderful memories!
jenny from virginny
Wine Jelly
(The original recipe for this used pig's feet
gelatin. My grandmother refused to put
pig's feet gelatin in her wine jelly, so
substituted Knox. Her wine jelly recipe
was adapted from the 1936 version of THE
JOY OF COOKING.
Soak 2 tablespoons gelatin in 1/4 cup cold
water
Dissolve it in 3/4 cup boiling water. Add
and stir until dissolved 1/2 cup sugar
(approx.). May need more sugar if oranges
are not very sweet. Cool gelatin mixture.
Mix orange juice (fresh,no pulp),about 1
3/4 cups 6 tablespoons of fresh lemon
juice (no pulp) 1 cup sweet red wine Chill
until firm. Serve with Boiled Custard
**I put a little more gelatin in my mixture
and pour it in a 13 x 9 pan. I cut it into
cubes and spoon them into a cut glass
bowl. I serve the custard in a cut glass
pitcher next to the jelly.
Snow Pudding
Half box of gelatine
White of 3 eggs
2 cups sugar
Pint of hot water
Juice 1 lemon
Dissolve gelatine in the water; then add
lemon-juice and sugar; mix well, and
strain through flannel into a large mixing
bowl. When cool enough to begin to
thicken, stir in the whites of the eggs
beaten to a stiff froth with egg beater, and
beat until it is thick and snow-white all
through. It will take a half hour or
longer, and the colder the better. Turn
into molds which have been dipped in
cold water, or pile in pyramid form in the
center of a glass dish, leaving a space all
around. Keep on ice till the next
day.
Serve with boiled custard. The custard
should be very cold, and if the pudding is
in a pyramid, pour the custard around it
(not over it). If in a mold, serve the
custard from a pitcher.
Candied Orange or Lemon Peel
Recipe from WINES AND COOKERY,
c1740, adapted for Blair kitchen,1938
Take large Pieces of Orange-peel or
Lemon peel and cover them well in cold
Water. Bring slowly to a Boil and boil
very gently for a few Minutes until
slightly tender. Drain, and put them in
cold Water. Scrape out the loose pulp
with a silver Spoon and cut the Peel in
long narrow Strips. Return the Peel to
cold Water, bring slowly to a Boil,then
drain and blanch. Repeat four Times.
Make a boiling Syrup of one fourth Cup
Water and one half Cup Sugar for peeling
from two Pieces of Fruit. Add the Peel and
boil it slowly until all the Syrup is gone--
do not burn.Cool the Peel roll it in coarse
Sugar and spread it out
to dry.
**Keep in airtight containers, do not
refrigerate.
Hunny Combe Cakes
From Martha Washington's Booke of
Cookery
Take halfe a pound of beaten sugar & 2
spoonfulls of rose water, 2 spoonfulls or
orring flower water, & 2 or 3 spoonfulls of
faire water. boyle these to a candy height,
& mince a little orring pill & put to it. yn
poure it out into papers, sliked, & made
into ye fashion of dripping pans
turned up at ye syde, and they are made.
you may make them onely with faire
water, but they are not soe good.
Mackroons
From Martha Washington's Booke of
Cookery
Take a pound & halfe of almonds, blanch
& beat them very small in a stone morter
with rosewater. put to them a pound of
sugar, & ye whites of 4 eggs, & beat ym
together. & put in 2 grayns of muske
ground with a spoonfull or 2 of rose
water. beat ym together till yr oven is as
hot as for manchet, then put them on
wafers & set them in on a plate. afetr a
while, take them out. yn when yr oven is
cool, set ym in againe & dry ym, & keep
them for your use.
Molasses Pie
the Williamsburg Art of Cookery, recipe
c.- 1800
Beat six Eggs very light with two cus of
Sugar, add one fourth of a Cup of
Molasses, three Tablespoons of melted
Butter, one Teaspoon of Cinnamon, one
of Allspice and mix well. Add one Pint of
Milk. Pour into large Pie-tin lined with
rich Pastry and bake slowly.
Lemon Cheesecakes
the Williamsburg Art of Cookery, recipe
reprinted from the Compleat Housewife,
1742
Take two large Lemons, grate off the Peel
of both and squeeze out the Juice of one;
add to it half a Pound of fine Sugar;
twelve Yolks of Eggs, eight Whites well
beaten; then melt half a pound of Butter
in four or five Spoonfuls of Cream; then
stir it all together, and set it over the Fire,
stirring it Ôtill it begins to be pretty thick;
then take it off, and when Ôtis cold, fill
your Patty-pans little more than half full;
put a fine Paste very thin at the Bottom of
the Patty-pans; half an Hour, with a quick
Oven, will bake them.
spending the night...
To the Traveler, a Tavern was also a Place
to Sleep and many Travelers--especially
Ladies--carried their own Sheets since Bed
Linen was rarely changed and thus could
be Interesting. Vermin in the Beds were,
naturally a Matter of Course causing some
People to Sleep wrapped up in their Coats.
The Necessaries were naturally Outside at
most Taverns although Chamber Pots
would be available for cold Winter
Nights. In many Taverns it was also
commonplace for Men and Women
Travelers to share communal Sleeping
Quarters (this was before the Victorians,
remember). Until the later Part of the
18th Century, however, Women
Travelers were rare. The Tavern would
also have Accommodations for your
Horse, or--if you were walking on your
Journey--you could often rent-a-Horse for
a Day's Ride (provided you paid a Boy to
take it back for you).
Depending on your Pocketbook (or your
social Ranking), Tavern
Accommodations could range from a
private Room to a Spot on the Floor of a
communal sleeping Area with a Nail on
the Wall for your Jacket (if you were
lucky, you might not have to share a
Blanket). There is a Story told about a
Traveler in 1776 in a crowded Tavern,
who, after removing his Jacket, shared a
Blanket and sleeping Area on the floor
with another Man in his Skivvies. They
got to talking and, finding many Areas of
common Interest, had a friendly and
jovial Conversation that lasted through
the Night. By Morning they were fast
Friends until they rose and reached for
their respective Jackets--only to find that
one was a Major in the British Army (a
POW on Parole) and the other a General
in the American Army. Needless to say,
it was a short Friendship.
In all, the Taverns of the late 18th
Century sound like a lot of Fun--at least
for the Gentlemen for it is not likely that
Respectable Women, largely responsible
for running a large Household, spent
much Time there. The English Pub must
be the closest Descendent we have Today
to the English and Colonial Taverns, with
perhaps a Neighborhood bar in Boston as
a Runner-Up. Unfortunately, most
Americans today know no Counterpart to
the communal Gathering Place that once
flourished in its Culture, partly due to a
lack of Time for Socializing, a growing
Desire of our Society for Privacy and the
prevalence of other forms of structured
Communication (such as Television). It
is a Part of Life that has evolved away
from us that must be taken--somewhat at
least--as a Loss.
the Seven Gentlewomen:
Susan Board
Jennifer Davis
Judy Nevius
MaryR
Angelique-Sacto
Pat in Tokyo
PatÕs sister Circian
Cathy Zadel
(Note: Yes, there are 8 of us. No, I canÕt
count - Jennifer)
Explanations of 18th Century tavern life
written by Circian
Sweet Supper introduction by Susan
Pynte and Pye - Sweet Supper
Still hungry? Seven gentlewomen are hosting a Sweet Supper tonight. Why don't you come along?(
A VIRGINIA SWEET SUPPER
Come in, come in! Do come in! It is a
pleasure to have you here, Epicurious
Traveler. What a perfect Night you have
picked. There is plenty to eat and drink.
We don't get many visitors from your
parts. Here, let me show you around the
house.
about sweet suppers...
In colonial times, Virginians indulged
their collective Sweet Tooth and used all
of the special Ingredients saved in their
Larders for special Occasions called Sweet
Suppers. These Suppers usually took
place around the
Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays
and took the place of a balanced Supper
Meal. Fancy homemade Wines and all
measure of sugar-laden Confections were
presented. This was usually a Buffet Meal
that lasted Hours. People were invited
from Miles around, some bringing
samples of their finest Recipes. The Tables
were set with the best Silver, Linens and
festooned with native Greenery, Nuts and
Fruits. All of the Plantations' Children
were also invited, making this a joyous
Time for Everyone. Every Table in the
main Rooms was covered with Food.
Even now in some parts of Virginia,
Sweet Suppers are still an integral part of
Family Holiday Traditions. The following
Recipes are a Sampling of what the Lady
of the House might prepare for her special
Sweet Supper.
Shrub
Mrs. E. Smith's COMPLEAT
HOUSEWIFE, WILLIAMSBURG, 1742
Take two Quarts of Brandy, and put it in a
large Bottle, and put into it the Juice of
five Lemons and Peels of two,half a
Nutmeg, stop it up, and let it stand three
Days, and add to it three Pints of White-
Wine, a Pound
and a half of Sugar; mix it, and strain it
twice thro'a Flannel, and bottle it up; tis a
pretty Wine and a Cordial
**I use a chinois instead of a flannel bag.
This is lethal in any century.
Morello Cherry Bounce
Manuscript Cook Book, Charlottesville,
1836. Owned by Mrs. Virginia Grafty
Griffin
Gather and pick your Cherries when
perectly ripe, put them into a Tub and
mash them with a Rolling-pin,Stones and
all, and to every five Pints of Cherries put
a Quart of Rum, let it stand a Week; strain
it through a
Flannel Bag, to every Gallon of Bounce
put three fourths of a Pound of brown
Sugar. Cheap Rum at 75 Cents or 50 Cents
a Gallon answers equally well as the best
spirit for bounce.
Syllabub
Ardelle Orvik, Minnesota, 1864
Dissolve half a pound of cut sugar in 1
teacupful of wine; heat 3 pints of cream
lukewarm. Pour the wine in, holding
several feet above and pouring very
slowly, so as to cause the cream to froth.
Orange Wine Cake
Old Williamsburg Recipe, the
Williamsburg Art of Cookery
Chop very fine or grind, one medium-
sized, tender Orange-rind and one Cup of
Raisins. Add one half Cup of coarsely-
chopped English Walnuts. Cream one
half Cup of Butter with one Cup of Sugar,
add two beaten Eggs, one Teaspoon of
Vanilla and chopped Mixture. Sift two
Cups of Flour with one Teaspoon of Soda,
one half Teaspoon of Salt and add
alternately with one Cup of sour Milk.
Pour into well-greased square Cake-pan
and bake in a moderate Oven about thirty
or forty Minutes. While hot this Cake
may be glazed by spreading over one Cup
of Sugar mixed with one third of a Cup of
Orange-juice and returning it to the
Oven. Others prefer this Cake served
warm with a Syllabub of frothed Cream.
Queen Cakes
Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made
Plain and Easy, 1760
Take a pound of loaf-sugar, beat and sift it,
a pound of flour well dried, a pound of
butter, eight eggs, half a pound of currants
washed and picked, grate a nutmeg, the
same quantity of mace and cinnamon,
work your butter to a cream, then put in
your sugar, beat the whited of your eggs
near half an hour, mix them with your
sugar and butter, then beat your yolks
near half an hour, and put them to your
butter, beat them exceedingly well
together, then put in your flour, spices,
and the currants; when it is ready for the
oven, bake them in tins, and dust a little
sugar over them.
Boiled Custard
(Old Virginia Recipe)
Scald one Quart of Milk in a Double-
boiler, beat six Eggs slightly and add to the
Milk; add one half Cup of sugar and one-
eighth Teaspoon of Salt, combined. Cook
until Custard thickens. It will form a coat
on a clean silver Spoon when done.
**Never boil boiled custard or it will
curdle. Be sure to cook the custard very
slowly. I add one Tablespoon of
Madagascar vanilla to this, or same
amount of rum. This keeps in sealed jar
in refrigerator for a week or so.
Alas, sweet memories!
I thought I would never run into anyone
who had ever heard of "boiled custard".
This was a tradition in my childhood
household. We would pour it warm over
fruitcake......*sigh*......wonderful,
wonderful memories!
jenny from virginny
Wine Jelly
(The original recipe for this used pig's feet
gelatin. My grandmother refused to put
pig's feet gelatin in her wine jelly, so
substituted Knox. Her wine jelly recipe
was adapted from the 1936 version of THE
JOY OF COOKING.
Soak 2 tablespoons gelatin in 1/4 cup cold
water
Dissolve it in 3/4 cup boiling water. Add
and stir until dissolved 1/2 cup sugar
(approx.). May need more sugar if oranges
are not very sweet. Cool gelatin mixture.
Mix orange juice (fresh,no pulp),about 1
3/4 cups 6 tablespoons of fresh lemon
juice (no pulp) 1 cup sweet red wine Chill
until firm. Serve with Boiled Custard
**I put a little more gelatin in my mixture
and pour it in a 13 x 9 pan. I cut it into
cubes and spoon them into a cut glass
bowl. I serve the custard in a cut glass
pitcher next to the jelly.
Snow Pudding
Half box of gelatine
White of 3 eggs
2 cups sugar
Pint of hot water
Juice 1 lemon
Dissolve gelatine in the water; then add
lemon-juice and sugar; mix well, and
strain through flannel into a large mixing
bowl. When cool enough to begin to
thicken, stir in the whites of the eggs
beaten to a stiff froth with egg beater, and
beat until it is thick and snow-white all
through. It will take a half hour or
longer, and the colder the better. Turn
into molds which have been dipped in
cold water, or pile in pyramid form in the
center of a glass dish, leaving a space all
around. Keep on ice till the next
day.
Serve with boiled custard. The custard
should be very cold, and if the pudding is
in a pyramid, pour the custard around it
(not over it). If in a mold, serve the
custard from a pitcher.
Candied Orange or Lemon Peel
Recipe from WINES AND COOKERY,
c1740, adapted for Blair kitchen,1938
Take large Pieces of Orange-peel or
Lemon peel and cover them well in cold
Water. Bring slowly to a Boil and boil
very gently for a few Minutes until
slightly tender. Drain, and put them in
cold Water. Scrape out the loose pulp
with a silver Spoon and cut the Peel in
long narrow Strips. Return the Peel to
cold Water, bring slowly to a Boil,then
drain and blanch. Repeat four Times.
Make a boiling Syrup of one fourth Cup
Water and one half Cup Sugar for peeling
from two Pieces of Fruit. Add the Peel and
boil it slowly until all the Syrup is gone--
do not burn.Cool the Peel roll it in coarse
Sugar and spread it out
to dry.
**Keep in airtight containers, do not
refrigerate.
Hunny Combe Cakes
From Martha Washington's Booke of
Cookery
Take halfe a pound of beaten sugar & 2
spoonfulls of rose water, 2 spoonfulls or
orring flower water, & 2 or 3 spoonfulls of
faire water. boyle these to a candy height,
& mince a little orring pill & put to it. yn
poure it out into papers, sliked, & made
into ye fashion of dripping pans
turned up at ye syde, and they are made.
you may make them onely with faire
water, but they are not soe good.
Mackroons
From Martha Washington's Booke of
Cookery
Take a pound & halfe of almonds, blanch
& beat them very small in a stone morter
with rosewater. put to them a pound of
sugar, & ye whites of 4 eggs, & beat ym
together. & put in 2 grayns of muske
ground with a spoonfull or 2 of rose
water. beat ym together till yr oven is as
hot as for manchet, then put them on
wafers & set them in on a plate. afetr a
while, take them out. yn when yr oven is
cool, set ym in againe & dry ym, & keep
them for your use.
Molasses Pie
the Williamsburg Art of Cookery, recipe
c.- 1800
Beat six Eggs very light with two cus of
Sugar, add one fourth of a Cup of
Molasses, three Tablespoons of melted
Butter, one Teaspoon of Cinnamon, one
of Allspice and mix well. Add one Pint of
Milk. Pour into large Pie-tin lined with
rich Pastry and bake slowly.
Lemon Cheesecakes
the Williamsburg Art of Cookery, recipe
reprinted from the Compleat Housewife,
1742
Take two large Lemons, grate off the Peel
of both and squeeze out the Juice of one;
add to it half a Pound of fine Sugar;
twelve Yolks of Eggs, eight Whites well
beaten; then melt half a pound of Butter
in four or five Spoonfuls of Cream; then
stir it all together, and set it over the Fire,
stirring it Ôtill it begins to be pretty thick;
then take it off, and when Ôtis cold, fill
your Patty-pans little more than half full;
put a fine Paste very thin at the Bottom of
the Patty-pans; half an Hour, with a quick
Oven, will bake them.
spending the night...
To the Traveler, a Tavern was also a Place
to Sleep and many Travelers--especially
Ladies--carried their own Sheets since Bed
Linen was rarely changed and thus could
be Interesting. Vermin in the Beds were,
naturally a Matter of Course causing some
People to Sleep wrapped up in their Coats.
The Necessaries were naturally Outside at
most Taverns although Chamber Pots
would be available for cold Winter
Nights. In many Taverns it was also
commonplace for Men and Women
Travelers to share communal Sleeping
Quarters (this was before the Victorians,
remember). Until the later Part of the
18th Century, however, Women
Travelers were rare. The Tavern would
also have Accommodations for your
Horse, or--if you were walking on your
Journey--you could often rent-a-Horse for
a Day's Ride (provided you paid a Boy to
take it back for you).
Depending on your Pocketbook (or your
social Ranking), Tavern
Accommodations could range from a
private Room to a Spot on the Floor of a
communal sleeping Area with a Nail on
the Wall for your Jacket (if you were
lucky, you might not have to share a
Blanket). There is a Story told about a
Traveler in 1776 in a crowded Tavern,
who, after removing his Jacket, shared a
Blanket and sleeping Area on the floor
with another Man in his Skivvies. They
got to talking and, finding many Areas of
common Interest, had a friendly and
jovial Conversation that lasted through
the Night. By Morning they were fast
Friends until they rose and reached for
their respective Jackets--only to find that
one was a Major in the British Army (a
POW on Parole) and the other a General
in the American Army. Needless to say,
it was a short Friendship.
In all, the Taverns of the late 18th
Century sound like a lot of Fun--at least
for the Gentlemen for it is not likely that
Respectable Women, largely responsible
for running a large Household, spent
much Time there. The English Pub must
be the closest Descendent we have Today
to the English and Colonial Taverns, with
perhaps a Neighborhood bar in Boston as
a Runner-Up. Unfortunately, most
Americans today know no Counterpart to
the communal Gathering Place that once
flourished in its Culture, partly due to a
lack of Time for Socializing, a growing
Desire of our Society for Privacy and the
prevalence of other forms of structured
Communication (such as Television). It
is a Part of Life that has evolved away
from us that must be taken--somewhat at
least--as a Loss.
the Seven Gentlewomen:
Susan Board
Jennifer Davis
Judy Nevius
MaryR
Angelique-Sacto
Pat in Tokyo
PatÕs sister Circian
Cathy Zadel
(Note: Yes, there are 8 of us. No, I canÕt
count - Jennifer)
Explanations of 18th Century tavern life
written by Circian
Sweet Supper introduction by Susan