Recipes from the Raleigh Tavern Bakery by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

One of my good friends was chatting with me as I read him this hilarious recipe book from Colonial Williamsburg. It was sold in their gift shoppes a few years ago; the book includes baked goods recipes…and that's pretty much it.

From crêpes to plum tarts, this short "cookbook" includes all the baked goods you need to master to have a colonial spread at the dinner or dessert table (apparently).

One of the old recipes I found the most interesting was apple pie. The recipe from 1796 actually has you boil apple peel into a syrup that you put in the pie with apple quarters and seasoning. This reminds me of commercial pie making in that it involves an added gloopy sugary substance, and I find it intriguing that pie making at home nowadays generally does not include mixing up a syrup separate from the apple and sugar baking together.

I was also interested in how often suet popped up in recipes. And what is "a blade of mace?"

I appreciate the inclusion of both old and modern versions of the recipes. It really lends depth to the contemplation of ingredient equivalents and whatnot.

~5/10~