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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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Sweets/Treats Apple Pie Without Apples

apple pie without apples
(from Confederate Receipt Book. A Compilation of over One Hundred Receipts, Adapted to the Times, Richmond, 1863)

Ingredients:

bowl of crackers​
tartaric acid​
sweetener (sugar or other)​
butter​
nutmeg​

Instructions:
To one small bowl of crackers, that have been soaked until no hard parts remain, add one teaspoonful of tartaric acid, sweeten to your taste, add some butter, and a very little nutmeg.​


This recipe to me shows how clever people were in trying to replace ingredients they didn't have.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This recipe to me shows how clever people were in trying to replace ingredients they didn't have.

To one small bowl of crackers, that have been soaked until no hard parts remain, add one teaspoonful of tartaric acid, sweeten to your taste, add some butter, and a very little nutmeg.

From: Confederate Receipt Book 1863

Have you tried this yourself donna?
 
In the blackpowder rendezvous meets, apple pie is the euphemism for spiced alcohol that smells like apple pie.
 
In book, "A Taste For War" Mr. William C. Davis has recipe for:

Confederate Apple Pie Without The Apples.

"Bring 1 3/4 cups of water, 2 cups of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar to a boil; then simmer for 15 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and grated zest of one lemon. Allow the mixture to cool, and line a 9-inch pie pan with pastry. Place in the crust 1 3/4 cups of crumbled soda crackers or even crumbled hardtack. Pour the cooled liquid over the crackers, dust the top with a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of butter finely diced, and place a top crust over the pie, crimping the edges and making several holes in it with a fork or knife. Bake at 425 degrees oven for 30 to 45 minutes."

His footnote says this recipe from: "From Hardtack to Home Fries An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals", by Barbara Haber, 2002.
 
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