old recipes

Bourbon and Black Walnut Cake

Bourbon and Black Walnut Cake
-- from Come Into the Kitchen, by Mary and Vincent Price

2 cups white sugar
2 1/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 cups butter
6 eggs
5 1/2 cups flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 pint 100-proof bourbon whiskey
1 pound black walnut meats

Mix the white and brown sugar until free from lumps. Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl and add half the sugar mixture. Cream thoroughly. Then cream some more. This will govern the texture of your cake. In a separate bowl beat the eggs until light and fluffy, and add the remaining sugar. Stir into the butter mixture. Sift the flour, salts, and nutmeg and add to the batter, alternating with the whiskey, beginning and ending with the flour. Add the walnut meats, but do not bother to fold; a little extra beating will tend to bruise the walnuts, releasing oil and flavor into he cake. Pour into a well-greased and floured 10 inch tube pan, or if you prefer smaller cakes, into a4 small loaf pans. Bake in 300 degree F oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours for the large cake or 1 1/4 hours for the smaller ones, or until the cake shrinks slightly from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and allow to stand  for 15 minutes, then turn out on a cake rack. When completely cool, wrap in foil and store in the refrigerator. Do not freeze. The crust of this cake will be rather hard and dry, the inside should have a moist texture.

Nippy Tomato Dunk (Hot Appetizer)

Nippy Tomato Dunk
-- from "THE SECOND CHAFING DISH COOK BOOK", 1970

3/4 cup chili sauce
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 6-ounce roll smoke flavored cheese
1 tablespoon butter
assorted crisp fresh vegetables for dipping

Beforehand: Mix chili sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and curry powder. Let stand several hours to blend and mellow the flavors. Break cheese into small pieces. Prepare bite-size pieces of vegetables such as zucchini, cauliflower, turnips, carrots, cucumbers and so forth for dipping. Chill until serving time.

Prep the tray: Chili sauce mixture, pieces of cheese, butter and vegetables arranged on platter for serving.

On stage: Melt butter in blazer pan of chafing dish until it sizzles. add cheese and stir until just melted. Gradually stir in chili sauce mixture, mixing until well blended.

[buy The Second Chafing Dish Cook Book at OldCookbooks.com]

Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet-Potato Pie
-- from Time-Life Foods of the World Recipe Booklet, American Cooking: Southern Style

Makes 1 9-inch pie.

4 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
A 9-inch short crust pastry pie shell, fully baked and cooled (page 122)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Drop the quartered sweet potatoes into enough boiling water to immerse them completely and boil briskly, uncovered, until they are tender and show no resistance when they are pierced with the point of a small skewer or knife. Drain off the water, return the pan to low heat and slide it back and forth for a minute or so to dry the potatoes completely.

Rub the sweet potatoes through a fine sieve with the back of a spoon or puree them through a food mill. Set the pureed potatoes aside to cool to room temperature.

In a deep bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar together by beating and mashing them against the sides of the bowl with the back  of a wooden spoon until they are light and fluffy. Beat in the cooled pureed sweet potatoes and, when they are  completely incorporated, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the light corn syrup, milk, grated lemon peel, vanilla, grated nutmeg and salt and continue to beat until the filling is smooth.

Pour the sweet-potato filling into the fully baked pie shell, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and bake the pie for 35 minutes longer, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve the sweet-potato pie warm or at room temperature.

[more about the Time-Life "Foods of the World" series]