Things Mother Used to Make: A Nostalgic Collection of Traditional Dessert Recipes

Desserts are often the highlight of a meal, bringing a sweet conclusion that leaves everyone satisfied. The traditional desserts our mothers used to make carry a sense of nostalgia, filled with the warmth of home and the simplicity of bygone days. This collection of classic dessert recipes includes Apple Tarts, Cream Puffs, and Strawberry Shortcake, among others. Each recipe is a testament to the love and care that went into homemade treats. Let’s explore these delightful recipes and recreate some sweet memories.

Apple Tarts

Ingredients:

• Rich pie crust
• Apple sauce
• 1 egg white
• 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar

Instructions:

1. Roll the pie crust thin as for pies and cut into rounds.
2. Pinch up the edges to half an inch high and place in muffin rings.
3. Put a tablespoonful of apple sauce in each and bake in a hot oven for twenty minutes.
4. Beat the white of an egg to a stiff froth, add two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and drop a spoonful on top of each tart.
5. Brown quickly in a hot oven.

Baked Apples, No. 1

Ingredients:

• Sour apples (greenings are best)
• Sugar
• Cold water

Instructions:

1. Scoop out the cores of the apples, wash, and place in a baking pan.
2. Fill each core hole with sugar and add a tablespoonful of sugar for each apple.
3. Pour a generous amount of cold water over the apples.
4. Bake in a hot oven until light and fluffy.
5. Serve with cream for a delicious dessert.

Baked Apples, No. 2

Ingredients:

• Sour apples
• Cold water
• Sugar

Instructions:

1. Wash, core, and quarter the apples.
2. Place them in an earthen crock.
3. Cover with cold water and add a cup and a half of sugar for six apples, or sweeten to taste.
4. Bake for three to four hours until they turn a dark amber color.

Baked Sweet Apples

Ingredients:

• Sweet apples
• Cold water
• Molasses

Instructions:

1. Wash the sweet apples and place them in a baking pan with a little cold water.
2. Add half a cup of molasses for four to six apples.
3. Bake slowly until you can stick a fork through them.
4. Serve with crackers and milk.

Baked Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:

• Rich pie crust
• Small apples
• Sugar
• Nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Roll the pie crust thin and cut into rounds as large as a tea plate.
2. Pare and slice one small apple for each dumpling.
3. Place the apple slices on the crust, sprinkle with sugar and nutmeg.
4. Fold the edges of the crust over the apple and press together.
5. Bake in a hot oven for twenty minutes.
6. Serve hot with cold sauce.

Fried Apples

Ingredients:

• Apples
• Sugar
• Fat for frying

Instructions:

1. Pare and slice the apples.
2. Fry in hot fat until golden.
3. Sprinkle with a little sugar before serving.

Bramberries

Crust Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cupfuls of flour
• 1/4 cupful of lard (scant)
• 1/2 teaspoonful of salt
• Enough water to make a smooth dough

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 cupful of raisins
• 1 cracker
• 1 lemon
• 1/3 cupful of sugar
• 1 egg
• A little salt

Instructions:

1. Beat the egg and add sugar, salt, lemon juice, and grated rind.
2. Roll the cracker fine, chop the raisins, and mix all together.
3. Roll the crust thin, cut into rounds.
4. Place a spoonful of filling between two rounds and pinch the edges together.
5. Prick the top crust with a fork and bake in an iron pan for twenty minutes.

Cream Puffs

Ingredients:

• 1 cupful of hot water
• 1/3 cupful of butter
• 1 cupful of flour
• Pinch of salt and baking soda
• 3 eggs

Instructions:

1. Boil the water and butter together.
2. Stir in the dry flour, salt, and soda until smooth and thick.
3. Let cool slightly, then add eggs one at a time.
4. Drop by spoonfuls onto a buttered pan and bake for twenty minutes in a hot oven.
5. Make a slit in the side of each puff and fill with whipped cream or custard.

Custard Filling:

• 1 pint of milk
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cupful of sugar
• 1 tablespoonful of flour
• Pinch of salt
• Lemon flavoring

1. Beat the egg, sugar, flour, and salt together until smooth.
2. Stir into the boiling milk and cook until thickened.
3. Flavor with lemon and cool before filling puffs.

Floating Island

Ingredients:

• 1 quart of milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cupful of sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoonful of cornstarch
• 1 teaspoonful of vanilla

Instructions:

1. Heat the milk to nearly boiling.
2. Whip the egg whites to a stiff froth and drop by spoonfuls into the hot milk.
3. Cook for a few minutes, then remove with a skimmer and set aside.
4. Beat the egg yolks with sugar, salt, and cornstarch.
5. Stir into the milk until it boils and thickens.
6. Flavor with vanilla and cool.
7. Pour into a glass dish and place the “islands” on top. Serve cold.

Huckleberry Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 2 cupfuls of flour
• 2 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoonful of soda
• 1 teaspoonful of lard
• 1/2 teaspoonful of salt
• Water
• 1 quart of huckleberries
• 1/2 pint of water
• 1/2 cupful of sugar

Instructions:

1. Mix flour, cream of tartar, soda, lard, and salt with enough water to form a thick dough.
2. Roll out and cut into rounds an inch thick.
3. Boil huckleberries in water and sugar.
4. Drop the dumplings into the boiling berries and cook for twenty minutes.
5. Serve with cold sauce or cream and sugar.

Coffee Jelly

Ingredients:

• 1 small box of gelatine
• 1 pint of strong coffee
• 1 cupful of sugar
• Scant quart of boiling water
• Vanilla flavoring

Instructions:

1. Soak the gelatine in cold water for fifteen minutes.
2. Stir into the hot coffee, add sugar, salt, and boiling water.
3. Add vanilla and pour into a mould.
4. Set to cool and serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Lemon Jelly

Ingredients:

• 1/2 box of gelatine
• 1/2 cupful of cold water
• 1 1/2 cupfuls of boiling water
• 1 cupful of sugar
• 3 lemons

Instructions:

1. Soak the gelatine in cold water for thirty minutes.
2. Add boiling water, sugar, and lemon juice.
3. Stir well and strain into a mould or small cups.
4. Cool and set before serving.

Strawberry Shortcake, No. 1

Ingredients:

• 1 pint of flour
• 1/2 cupful of lard
• A little salt
• 2 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoonful of soda
• Milk to make a stiff dough
• 1 box of strawberries

Instructions:

1. Mix salt, soda, lard, and cream of tartar with the dry flour.
2. Add enough milk to make a stiff dough.
3. Divide into halves and roll out to fit a Washington pie tin.
4. Spread butter over one half, place the other on top, and bake for twenty minutes.
5. Hull, wash, mash, and sweeten the berries to taste.
6. Separate the two cakes, butter them, and place berries between the layers. Serve hot.

Strawberry Shortcake, No. 2

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoonful of butter
• 2/3 cupful of sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cupful of milk
• 1 cupful of cream
• 1 teaspoonful of cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoonful of soda
• 1 box of strawberries

Instructions:

1. Cream the butter and sugar, add the well-beaten egg and milk.
2. Stir cream of tartar and soda into the dry flour and beat all together.
3. Bake in two Washington pie tins.
4. Hull, wash, mash, and sweeten the strawberries to taste.
5. Place half of the berries between the two layers and the other half on top, covering with whipped cream.

These traditional dessert recipes bring a touch of nostalgia and the warmth of home into your kitchen. Enjoy the sweet flavors and fond memories as you recreate these delightful treats.