Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2005.1.215.18 |
Object Name |
Recipe |
Title |
Luncheon Cake & Curly Peters |
Date |
c. 1910 |
Description |
A series of recipes written on scraps of paper belonging to the Greeniaus family. (.18) contains two recipes, "Luncheon Cake" on the recto and "Curly Peters" on the verso. The recipe is written as follows: Recto: "Luncheon Cake 2 eggs 1 1/4 cups white sugar 2/3 " butter 2/3 " sweet milk 2 " flour 2 small teaspoon baking powder When mixed take 1/3 of the batter + add chocolate or cocoa to taste that has been moistened with a little hot water. Bake the two plain layers while preparing the dark one. Lemon jelly of filling. 1 small cup white sugar Juice + rind of 1 lemon 2 table spoons flour stirred with 1 beaten egg. Mix all together then add 1 cup boiling water. Cook till it theckens when cool put between layers." Verso: "Curly Peters 2 eggs 1 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 " butter 1/2 " lard 1/4 " buttermilk 1 " raisins 1 " currants 4 " flour 1/2 teaspoon cinammon 1/2 " allspice 1/2 " cloves 1 " soda" |
History |
This recipe card belonged to the Greeniaus family who lived in the historic Village of Sheridan, in historic Mississauga. The term "luncheon", as seen in the "luncheon cake" recipe, surfaced in the English language during the late 1500s, initially used in expressions such as "a luncheon of bread and cheese." Originally, it referred to a substantial portion, akin to a large slice of bread accompanied by cheese. By the early 19th century, "luncheon" evolved to denote a more formal midday meal, which was likely the idea behind a "luncheon cake", being a cake eaten during a formal "luncheon". Over time, "lunch" emerged to denote a casual midday meal, as it does today, leading to a decline in popularity of formal luncheons and their associated courses. Likewise, Curly Peters are another historic dessert rarely seen today. Similar Curly Peter recipes are seen in the Cow Brand Baking Soda Cookbook published in Montreal in 1913, and the Wimodausis Club Cook Book published in Toronto in 1922. In the 2002 publication of "America's Heartland Remembers", there is a short story written by Sharon Swenson Schmeling called "Stirring Up" that follows a mother and daughter making the by-gone Curly Peters together. Schmeling describes Curly Peters as small doughnuts, writing: "As it hits the hot grease, it plunges, lengthens itself, then bobs and twists into a final shape before rising to the top, where it turns belly up, a golden puff with a tail. I scoop it out with the old slotted spoon and drop the sputtering piece onto a flattened grocery bag. The hot grease quickly stains the brown paper. I think what a funny little pinch of a doughnut this is. My mother regards it and laughs gaily. "We used to call these ‘Curly Peters,’" she confides. She pops the Curly Peter into a small lunch bag of sugar and gives it a shake." |
References |
"America's Heartland Remembers", Edited by David Marcou & Barbara Pauls, The Writers’ Collective, 2002. "Cow Brand Soda Cookbook and Facts Worth Knowing", Church & Dwight Ltd., Montreal, 1913. "The Heritage Cooking Challenge: Luncheon Cake", Our Warwickshire. Retrieved from: https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/article/heritage-cooking-challenge-luncheon-cake "The Wimodausis Club Cook Book (1922)", Kitchen Historic. Retrieved from: http://kitchenhistoric.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-wimodausis-club-cook-book-1922.html |
Search Terms |
Sheridan |