When I was growing up, my mother made puddings and other desserts from box mixes. In the 1800s, fresh cream and milk was used and had to be mixed by hand, or later in the century, with a rotary beater. Although it would have taken longer to prepare, the ingredients and tastes of these desserts are certainly superior.

INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

WHIPPED CREAM
To the whites of three eggs beaten to a stiff froth, add a pint of thick sweet cream (previously set where it is very cold) and four tablespoons of sweet wine. Then add three tablespoons fine white sugar and a teaspoon of the extract of lemon or vanilla. Mix all the ingredients together on a board platter or pan and whip it to a standing froth. As the froth rises, take it off lightly with a spoon and lay it on an inverted sieve with a dish under it to catch what will drain through. What drains through can be beaten over again. This should be whipped in a cool place and set in the icebox.* Serve in a glass dish with jelly or jam and sliced sponge cake.

*icebox – wooden boxes lined with tin or zinc and insulated with various materials were called “refrigerators” until the modern electric refrigerator was developed. Then they were referred to as “iceboxes.”

SPANISH CREAM
Take one quart of milk and soak half a box of gelatin in it for an hour. Then place it on the fire and stir often. Beat the yolks of three eggs very light with a cup of sugar. Stir into the scalding milk and heat until it begins to thicken (it should not boil or it will curdle). Remove from the fire and strain through thin muslin or tarlatan and when nearly cold, flavor with vanilla or lemon. Then wet a dish or mold in cold water, pour in the mixture, and set aside to stiffen.

STRAWBERRY BAVARIAN CREAM
Pick off the hulls of a box of strawberries and bruise them in a basin with a cup of powered sugar. Rub this through a sieve and mix with it a pint of whipped cream and one and one-half ounce of clarified isinglass* or gelatin. Pour the cream into a mold previously oiled. Let it sit in rough ice and when it has become firm, turn out on a dish. Raspberries or currants may be substituted for strawberries.

*isinglass – a kind of gelatin obtained from the swimming-bladders of fishes, used in making jellies and as an ingredient in food and medicine.

GOLDEN CREAM
Boil a quart of milk and when boiling, stir into it the well-beaten yolks of six eggs. Add six tablespoons of sugar and one tablespoon of sifted flour, which have been well beaten together. When boiled, turn it into a dish and pour over it the whites beaten to a stiff froth, mixing with them six tablespoons of powdered sugar. Flavor the top with vanilla and the bottom with lemon. Set all in the oven, brown slightly, and serve cold.

CHOCOLATE CREAM
Take three ounces of grated chocolate, one-fourth pound of sugar, one and one-half pints of cream, one and one-half ounces of clarified isinglass or gelatin, and the yolks of six eggs.

Beat the egg yolks well. Put them into a basin with the grated chocolate, sugar, and one pint of the cream. Stir these ingredients well together, pour them into a basin and set this basin in a saucepan of boiling water. Stir it one way until the mixture thickens, but do not allow it to boil. Strain the cream through a sieve into a basin, stir in the isinglass or gelatin and the other half pint of cream, which should be well whipped. Mix all well together and pour it into a mold which has been previously oiled with the purest salad oil. If at hand, set it in ice until wanted for table.

LEMON CREAM
Pare into one quart of boiling water the peels of four large lemons, the yellow outside only. Let it stand for four hours, then take them out and add to the water the juice of the four lemons and one cup of fine white sugar. Beat the yolks of ten eggs and mix all together. Strain it through a piece of lawn or lace into a porcelain lined stew-pan. Set it over a slow fire and stir it one way until it is as thick as good cream, but do not let it boil. Then take it from the fire and when cool, serve in custard cups.

SOLID CREAM
Take four tablespoons pounded sugar,* one quart cream, two tablespoons brandy, and the juice of one large lemon. Strain the lemon juice over the sugar and add the brandy, then stir in the cream. Put the mixture into a pitcher and continue pouring from one pitcher to another until it is quite thick; or it may be whisked until the desired consistency is obtained. It should be served in jelly glasses.

*pounded sugar – sugar used to be sold in cones or loaves. You would cut some off and pound it to a specific amount for a recipe.

TAPIOCA CREAM CUSTARD
Soak three heaping tablespoons of tapioca in a teacup* of water over night. Place over the fire a quart of milk and let it come to a boil. Then stir in the tapioca, a good pinch of salt, and stir until it thickens. Add a cup of sugar and the beaten yolks of three eggs. Stir it quickly, then pour it into a dish. Stir gently into the mixture the egg whites beaten stiff, some flavoring, and set it on ice or in an ice chest.

*teacup – same as a jill or gill; four ounces in the U.S. and five ounces in the U.K.

PEACH CREAM
Pare and stone a quart of fine peaches and cut in quarters. Beat the whites of three eggs with a half cup of powdered sugar until it is stiff enough to cut with a knife. Take the yolks and mix with half a cup of granulated sugar and a pint of milk. Put the peaches into the mixture, place in a pudding-dish and bake until almost firm. Then put in the whites, mixing all thoroughly again, and bake a light brown. Eat ice cold.

SNOW CREAM
Heat a quart of thick, sweet cream. When ready to boil, stir into it quickly three tablespoons of cornstarch flour blended with some cold cream. Sweeten to taste and allow it to boil gently, stirring for two or three minutes. Add quickly the whites of six eggs, beaten to a stiff froth. Do not allow it to boil up more than once after adding the eggs. Flavor with lemon, vanilla, bitter almond or grated lemon peel. Lay the snow thus formed quickly in rocky heaps on silver or glass dishes, or in shapes. Iced, it will turn out well.

If the recipe is closely followed, any family may enjoy it at a trifling expense, and it is really worthy the table of an epicure. It can be made the day before it is to be eaten if kept cold.

Image from Deposit Photos