Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #16 - Foods Named After People

Challenge 16.  Foods Named After People (July 29 - August 11)  Beef Wellington?  Charlotte Russe?  Choose a dish named after a person (either fictional or real) to create.  Bonus points if you tell us about the link between the person and the dish!

Fisher Velvet Cake

For all the Historical Food Fortnightly Challenges for 2016 I have been using the book Twenty Lessons in Domestic Science.  Copyrighted in 1916 this was a condensed home study course.  It was compiled and printed for the Calumet Baking Powder Company and presented with its compliments.  The author is Marian Cole Fisher formerly of the St. Paul Institute of Arts and Science, Chautauqua Lecturer.

Although the book itself is still available, no amount of internet research has led me to discover anything about the author.  I'm still looking.

Lesson Number Three is entitled Carbohydrates.  It includes a recipe for Fisher Velvet Cake.

Thinking that this a favorite recipe of Marian Cole Fisher, I am baking the cake today in the author's honor.

Love working with these simple ingredients!

 

Sifted flour and baking powder combined and sifted 3 times.

Butter and sugar...

...creamed until frothy.

Eggs separated.  Yokes beat until thick and lemon colored.

Beaten yolks added to creamed butter and sugar.

Yokes beaten into butter/sugar mixture.

2 egg whites...

....beaten until stiff.  Well, not exactly.  I don't know if it was the heat of the kitchen, the high humidity, or if my eggs were at the wrong temperature, but the stiffness was refusing to happen.  They are thick, but not stiff.

The "thick not stiff" egg whites whipped into the mixture.

Milk and water ready.

Milk and water added.  Flour sifted in, extracts added, and all beat until smooth.

Prepared loaf pan.

 All these pretty pictures of everything just so.  Thought you might enjoy this picture of what it really looks like in the kitchen right now.........it's a mess!!

The mess!

Ready for a 350 degree oven.

After 41 minutes the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Smells heavenly!  I want to dress this up with an icing recipe the author might have used and find this one just a page turn away in the book.

Orange icing.  Sounds wonderful!  And possibly even more wonderful as a lemon flavor on this lemon/vanilla flavored cake.

Simple.

Grated lemon rind and juice of half a lemon.

One separated egg.

Sugar added.

Grated lemon rind and juice added.

Beaten until ready to spread.  Well....not really.  Again the heat of the kitchen.  But it's wonderful to taste and a nice consistency to drip over the cake.

A simple decoration.

Ready to serve.  Look at that beautiful consistency!

Oh yum!

Patrick is home, so that's cake for two!

We both take our first forkful, look into each other's eyes, and say  "Wow!".  This cake is incredible!  We have put the recipe into our files to save.  This is a keeper!

Come for a visit!

We're serving Fisher Velvet Cake!

 

Jeanette

Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #15 - Smell, Sight, Sound, Touch

Challenge #15 - Smell, Sight, Sound, Touch (July 15 - July 28)  For this challenge, create a feast for the senses.  Cook a dish that is a treat for more than just the tastebuds, whether it is a scent, texture, visual appeal, or sound.

It's the grip of heat in North Carolina and a time when I can only be outdoors for brief periods of time.  Although in the 90s, the actual feel due to the humidity which can reach 100% is today around 105 degrees F.  So my time outdoors begins evening until dawn and that is perfect for this time of year as it is the Perseid Meteor Showers!

Yes, I know, this is a food blog you say.  I'm getting to that part.  *smile*  If you are a stargazer like me you will enjoy these cool facts....

and this link.

http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/perseid.html

The dates for the Perseids this year is July 17 through August 24 with peak around August 12 where you might see 60 meteors per hour.  While the days are like an oven, our evening temperatures drop drastically into the 60s and even the 50s and it is almost chilly.  Chilly enough and damp enough to throw a shawl over your shoulders and wrap your hands around a delicious cup of hot chocolate.  (Aren't you glad you were patient?)

Chocolate!!  Even the word melts on your tongue!!  I'm convinced, like Harry Potter, that chocolate has magical and healing powers.  Here is a little history of chocolate from the Smithsonian:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-brief-history-of-chocolate-21860917/?no-ist

So fast forward many thousands of years to our 1916 book Twenty Lessons in Domestic Science by Marian Cole Fisher.

Our recipe in Lesson 19 Beverages:

The ingredients:

While the recipe calls for whipped cream or a marshmallow to be added upon serving, I will use Half and Half (half milk, half cream) in place of the milk.  It reminds me of the flavor of whole milk on the farm and is so wonderfully smooth and rich.

Although there are wonderful chocolates on the market from all over the globe, for baking I am still a fan of Baker's.  Produced since 1780 this is the perfect percentage of cacao for my hot chocolate, melts at body temperature, and is readily available, tasty, and inexpensive.

 

 

The water is heated to boiling and everything is measured and staged as the entire preparation is just minutes.

The grated chocolate is placed in the saucepan, boiling water added stirring all the while.

Over a medium heat, the water and chocolate are brought to boiling and allowed to boil for just a moment.

The Half and Half and sugar are added and heated through.

And yum!!

 Time to grab a shawl, our cups of hot chocolate, and watch the meteor shower!

Hmmmm, clouds and more clouds and the only bright lights are the fireflies.

But all is not lost as we sit on the porch wrapped up in the beautiful night with our hands around the warmth and wonderful aroma of a perfect cup of hot chocolate.

Wishing you many starry nights!

Jeanette