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    Some receipts from this era attempted to give medicinal advice. Many dangerous, and in some cases, deadly, "cures" were given, reflecting the primitive knowledge of that time period. Don't assume everything you read here is safe to try! Recipes and Receipts posted here are for Historic Research Purposes, enjoy them, learn from them, discuss them!

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Sweet Baked Goods Apple Bread Pudding

apple bread pudding
(from Miss Leslie's Complete Cookery, by Eliza Leslie, 1851)

Also known as Brown Betty, or Pan Dowdy

Ingredients:
12+ juicy apples of pippin or bell-flower variety​
1 large lemon, or substitute a tea-spoonful of essence of lemon​
brown sugar​
fresh butter​
grated bread-crumbs​
Serve with:​
cream-sauce, or with butter, sugar, & nutmeg​
Instructions:
Pare, core, and slice thin, a dozen or more fine juicy pippins, or bell-flowers, strewing among them some bits of the yellow rind of a large lemon that has been pared very thin, and squeezing over them the juice of the lemon. Or substitute a tea-spoonful of essence of lemon. Cover the bottom of a large deep dish with a thick layer of the sliced apples. Strew it thickly with brown sugar, then scatter on a few very small bits of the best fresh butter. Next strew over it a thin layer of grated bread-crumbs. Afterwards another thick layer of apple, followed by sugar, butter, and bread-crumbs as before. Continue this till you get the dish full, finishing with a thin layer of crumbs. Put the dish into a moderate oven, and bake the pudding well, ascertaining that the apples are thoroughly done and as soft as marmalade. Send it to table either hot or cold, and eat it with cream-sauce, or with butter, sugar, and nutmeg, stirred to a cream. This pudding is in some places called by the homely names of Brown Betty, or Pan Dowdy. It will require far less baking, if the apples are previously stewed soft, and afterwards mixed with the sugar and lemon. Then put it into the dish, in layers, interpersed (as above) with bits of butter, and layers of grated crumbs. It will be much improved by the addition of a grated nutmeg, mixed with the apples.​


With today being the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address I thought I would include a recipe that may have been a favorite of Abraham Lincoln's. The original recipe was from Miss Leslie's Complete Cookery circa 1853 which contained the below recipe for Apple Bread Pudding. It's said that Mrs. Lincoln owned a copy of this cookbook which she purchased while still living in Springfield and took it with her to the White House.

However for the modern, recreated version and a great accompanying story about Lincoln's love of apples - good thing they have a profusion of apples in Gettysburg - visit Tori Avey's historic food blog below for how to make the modern version of this yummy apple desert. I may give this a try as I have apples on hand and am home for the rest of the week. Happy baking!

The recipe is towards the very bottom on the post on her blog -

http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2012/02/what-lincoln-ate-apple-bread-pudding-2/
 
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I haven't seen this recipe before Donna! Thanks for bumping it!
How simple and easy! I like the part about serving with a cream sauce or with butter, sugar and nutmeg! Delish!
 
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