Hello, darlings!
​
I excitedly present Fannie Merritt Farmer’s good old-fashioned American pumpkin pie!

You see, I discovered this frightfully fabulous and easy recipe in my 1909 edition of The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book – How Spiffing! 

Rather interestingly, the origins of pumpkin pie tumble all the way back to the 1500s, where Medieval cooks served stewed pumpkin, sweetened with sugar, livened up with spice, and enwreathed with pastry.

Also, there are many early recorded recipes of pumpkin pie, one of which has a French connection – Ooh la la! – Tourte of Pompion – created by Francois Pierre La Varenne in 1653. Then as the years zoomed by, during 1796 a recipe for pumpkin pie appeared in the first known American cookbook by Amelia Simmons, which is very similar to Fannie’s version, although it requires scalded milk, eight eggs, and one may add grated lemon-peel instead of spices. 

And I must say, to all my fellow Brits who are a little shy of pumpkin pie, please don’t fret my darlings, as I’m absolutely sure you’ll adore it! The texture is very similar to a cheesecake, and it tastes utterly divine – just one teeny-weeny mouthful and I guarantee you’ll be bouncing around culinary heaven!

​Now, you’re probably aware that pumpkins are a big thing in the US, but sadly the season has passed (September to October), “Aaah, what a shame, Miss Windsor” I hear you squawk!
​
But nevertheless, this classic sweet dish of creamy pumpkin and spices will, of course, be the dessert of choice on every American’s Thanksgiving table! However, I’m afraid to say, many American culinary enthusiasts will succumb to the convenience of a ghastly can of pumpkin puree, as Thanksgiving falls in November.  

But luckily darlings, here in the UK we’re “smack bang” in the middle of pumpkin season (October to December) – so it’s pumpkins galore! And so, one may purchase their round, rippled, orange ball of deliciousness from your local supermarket, farm shop, or maybe you’ve been blessed with “green fingers” and grow your own! 

​​Whatever the case, it’s nice to know that pumpkin pie has become increasingly popular here in the UK. However, I must remark, that it’s just recently come to my attention that many folks pay over the odds for a readymade pumpkin pie from somewhere like Whole Foods Market – around a tenner, I believe – that’s outright daylight robbery, don’t ya think?

Therefore, I invite you to have a jolly good go at recreating Fannie’s version – with a bit of a Miss Windsor twist, of course! as it’s a fairly cheap dish to make and will only cost you £4 or £5 in total. 

​Darlings, and in this in this day and age, the kind of pumpkin pie that one has become accustomed to often includes spices such a nutmeg, cloves, and allspice, however, Fannie’s version only requires cinnamon and ginger.

Now, having recreated Fannie’s old-fashioned pumpkin pie a couple of times, I must admit it tasted rather bland. So, in order to “jazz it up” a little I used a heaped teaspoon of ginger and cinnamon, plus a flat teaspoon of allspice. Oh, and please note that I used sweet cinnamon instead of the plain old boring type.

Nowadays the addition of condensed or evaporated milk often takes precedence over traditional plain old cream and milk– a culinary crime, indeed! So please do take heed my dears, and refrain from falling victim to such nonsense – the old-fashioned way is the best way!  

Darlings, please hop on board and join Miss Windsor for a merry jaunt down “food history” lane, where you’ll learn how to recreate Fannie’s traditional recipe for pumpkin pie.

Here’s Miss Windsor’s recipe for:

HOMEMADE PUMPKIN PUREE

Miss Windsor x

Print

Miss Windsor Presents: Fannie Farmer’s Old-Fashioned American Pumpkin Pie!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Servings 10 delightful guests!

Equipment

• A large pie dish or baking tin – approx. 22cm / 8.5 inches

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/2 cups (400g) pureed pumpkin
• 1 cup (140g) brown sugar
• 1 heaped teaspoon of sweet cinnamon
• 1 heaped teaspoon of ginger
• 1 flat teaspoon of allspice
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 2 eggs
• 12 US fl oz (350 ml) milk
• 4 US fl oz (125 ml) double 0r heavy whipping cream
• short-crust pastry

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 200*C / 180*C Fan / 390*F / gas mark 6.
• First off, line your lightly greased pie dish or baking tin with short-crust pastry, then fill with baking beans and bake blind for approximately 20 minutes. Or if you don't have any baking beans to hand, brush with whisked egg instead – but make sure the pastry is pushed firmly into every crevice of your tin!
• Then immediately reduce oven temperature to 180*C / 160*C Fan / 350*F / gas mark 4.
• Darlings, as per Fannie’s instruction above, simply mix all the ingredients together in the order given.
• However, before you transfer the prepared mixture to the pastry case, take a thin strip of foil and wrap around the pastry crust (outer edge) in order to prevent it from over browning and going hard.
• Now, with a steady hand pour the mixture into the pastry case, then place the tin on the middle shelf of your oven. Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until the filling has set in the middle.
• Voila! You’ve successfully made Fannie Farmer's Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Pie from scratch – absolutely, bloomin’ marvellous!
• Darlings, best serve when cool, with a dollop of whipped cream.

The post Fannie Farmer’s Old-Fashioned American Pumpkin Pie! appeared first on Miss Windsor's Delectables.

Hello, darlings!

I excitedly present Miss Windsor’s Blackberry & Elderberry Breakfast Muffins – based on an original Fannie Merritt Farmer recipe.

These simple, subtlety sweet, rather healthful bundles of fruitiness are created with very little sugar; and naturally sweetened by British foraged fruits.

​And, funnily enough, one mustn’t forget to add that these rather toothsome muffins feel remarkably soft and fluffy – just like a stroke of an alpaca’s furry mane – a slight exaggeration, but I’m sure you catch my drift!

I must divulge that the bountiful hedgerows of South-East and West London have been very generous this year – aren’t I a lucky girl!

You see, in order to pick the “crème of the crop”, my delicate mitts spent every conceivable moment buried deep within the brambles, whilst I tried to avoid a nip or two by those cheeky little thorns. Of course, that didn’t deter Miss Windsor from doing her best – thus hours later, three huge bags of blackberries were assigned a new home in her prickly cold freezer.

Moving swiftly on, this year I felt compelled to recreate an American muffin recipe from bygone days using the very best of British fayre. So, I called upon America’s very own culinary goddess – the illustrious Fannie Merritt Farmer!

I say, within “two shakes of a lamb’s tail”, and whilst scouring through the pages of my 1909 edition of The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, I discovered an ideal recipe for my foraged fruits – Fannie’s Berry Muffins! Darlings, I must admit, I get quite a thrill every time I utter Fannie’s name………….!

First off, I was staggered to read that Fannie’s recipe only requires approximately 68 grams (1/3 cup) of sugar (How spiffing!). Yet interestingly, I came across this recipe under the category of Biscuits, Breakfast Cakes, & Shortcakes – maybe this recipe is connected to the Deep South of America? Nevertheless, one naturally presumes that breakfast, the most important meal of the day should not be a sugar-laden affair.

Nowadays, more commonly, recipes for muffins, whether made for breakfast or a sweet treat, contain 200 grams (1 cup) of sugar or more. In fact, my research revealed that the good folks of America were more health-conscious back in the day and would’ve rather avoided that terrifying beast of obesity – Hear, hear!

Another noteworthy snippet of information: Fannie’s recipe contains very little butter (although they say butter is good for you, albeit in moderation) nevertheless, in this case, it was outweighed by the addition of whole milk, which I believe makes Fannie’s muffins extremely light and creamy.

​Therefore, in addition to Fannie’s recommended measurement of milk, I added 1/2 cup more, as I found Fannie’s recipe a little too dry for my liking.

Okey dokey, Miss Windsor must pop off now for a well-deserved cup of tea! So, until our next meeting, I bid you farewell, but in the mean-time, I do hope you’ve enjoy Fannie’s, well Miss Windsor’s glorious muffins (Oh, I say!).

These little darlings are best scoffed at breakfast time – just cut in half and spread with slightly salted butter or blackcurrant jam – or one may enjoy a muffin or two during any time of the day!

Darlings, if you fancy having another jolly good go at a Fannie Merritt Farmer recipe, then why not try:

​Fannie Merritt Farmer’s GENUINE Sponge Cake – Strawberries & Cream! 

Miss Windsor x

ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY MISS WINDSOR – EXCEPT FOR PHOTO OF MRS SIMKINS. 

Print

Miss Windsor’s Blackberry & ​Elderberry Breakfast Muffins!

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 14 delightful guests!

Equipment

• 1 large muffin tray

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (60g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1/3 cup (70 g) caster sugar (double the amount, if you have a sweet tooth!)
• 1 egg – well beaten
• 2 & 2/3 cups (340g) all-purpose flour / plain flour
• 4 heaped teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 & 1/2 cups (approx.375ml) whole milk
• 2 cups (approx.280g) – mixed blackberries and elderberries (please note: you can use any berries you like!)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

For decoration

• Extra berries, and a sprinkling of porridge oats

Instructions

• Darlings, before you proceed, wash those greasy little ‘mitts’ of yours – Ta very muchly!
• Pre-heat your oven to: 200*C / 180*C Fan / 400 *F / gas mark 6.
• In a large mixing bowl, with a wooden spoon beat the room temperature butter until light and creamy.
• Now, gradually add the sugar, then the beaten egg and vanilla essence – mix well!
• Using a separate mixing bowl, sift the flour about 2 or 3 times – this will help to make the muffins nice and light.
• Add the baking powder and mix together until thoroughly distributed. Reserve 1/4 cup (approx.40g) of flour to coat the blackberries and elderberries with.
• Darlings, using yet another mixing bowl, coat your blackberries and elderberries with the reserved flour – this will prevent the berries from bleeding during cooking. Set the berries to one side.
• To the butter/sugar/egg mixture – add 2 heaped dessertspoons of flour, followed by 2 or 3 glugs of whole milk. Repeat until the flour and milk are finished, then mix well with a wooden spoon.
• Carefully add the flour coated blackberries and elderberries, then with your delicate hand and dessertspoon please mix with caution to avoid any damage to the berries – Much obliged!
• Now, dollop the mixture evenly between the muffin cases. Top with blackberries, elderberries and a sprinkling of porridge oats.
• Place on the middle shelf of oven. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn down the temperature to 180*C / 160*C Fan / 360 *F / gas mark 4.
• Bake for a further 15 minutes or so, until muffins have risen and are slightly sun-kissed – How pleasant!
• Darlings, enjoy with a generous slather of slightly salted West-Country butter, or any jam of choice!

The post Miss Windsor’s Blackberry & Elderberry Breakfast Muffins! appeared first on Miss Windsor's Delectables.

Hello, darlings!
​
Miss Windsor presents Fannie Farmer’s GENUINE Sponge Cake – a flavour of the “old school”, well, in this case, The Boston Cooking-School, Massachusetts, USA! ​

​Miss Fannie Merritt Farmer is an American culinary goddess from a bygone era, known as an advocate of “scientific” cookery and household management. Thus, following her graduation in 1889 from The Boston Cooking-School, she served as assistant director and teacher; becoming school principal during the 1890s.

Around such time, Fannie re-wrote Mary J. Lincoln’s book, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, and luckily Miss Windsor just so happens to own a 1909 copy of her incredible masterpiece, where she stumbled upon this rather spiffing recipe.

Fannie’s cake is prepared with many eggs, little flour, sugar, lemon juice, and without the aid of a raising agent, “But, what makes a sponge cake rise?” you utter! Well, according to Fannie’s easy to comprehend, scientific explanation, “Is made light by the quantity of air beaten into both yolks and whites of eggs, and the expansion of that air in baking!” – thank you, dear Fannie. ​

Baked in a slow oven using two vintage sandwich tins, although Fannie suggests baking her genuine sponge cake in an angel cake pan or a deep narrow pan. Nevertheless, the sponge turned out just perfect – light, fluffy and pillowy soft.

Sandwiched together with a glossy slather of Tiptree Strawberry Conserve (by Wilkin & Sons Ltd), sliced fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and crowned with more sliced strawberries, then a light dusting of icing sugar – voila!

I must divulge, Fannie’s original recipe required some kind of sweet lubrication (Oh, I say!) You see, darlings, one found it exceedingly spongey, a bit too light, to be frank, that made one choke a little – so naturally, Miss Windsor sought to find a remedy!  

Luckily, one stumbled upon Fannie’s recipe for Washington Pie, and so immediately followed suit and added a layer of strawberry conserve to Fannie’s sponge cake.

Darlings, I do hope you’ve noticed my arty recipe collaboration with the frightfully talented Cathy’s Art Palace (Twitter: @CathysArtPalace) who joined creative forces with Miss Windsor and magically turned one of her photographs into a work of art!

If you fancy recreating another Fannie Farmer recipe, then why not try:

​Miss Windsor’s Blackberry & Elderberry American Breakfast Muffins! 

Enjoy!

Miss Windsor x

Print

Fannie Farmer’s GENUINE Sponge Cake!

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Servings 8 delightful guests!

Equipment

• Dover egg-beater / electric hand-whisk
• 2 x sandwich tins (approx. 8.5 inches / 21 cm)

Ingredients

• 6 egg yolks
• 6 egg whites
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice
• 180 g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 120 g (1 cup) plain flour / all-purpose flour (sieved 3 or 4 times)
• strawberry jam or conserve
• sliced fresh strawberries (approx. one punnet)
• whipped cream
• a light dusting of icing sugar!

Instructions

• Before you proceed, ‘squeaky clean’ hands, please!
• Preheat oven: 150 *C / 130*C Fan / 300 F / gas mark 2.
• Grease each sandwich tin with butter and line the bottom with greaseproof paper. Then dust the greased sides with flour and shake off any excess.
• Using a Dover egg-beater, or a similar implement: beat yolks until pale.
• Gradually add the sugar and continue beating.
• Now, add lemon juice and zest, then rest the bowl to one side.
• Darlings, if you fancy a challenge! then grab your Dover egg-beater and whisk ‘like the clappers’ – until egg whites are beaten stiff n’ dry! Or alternatively, please do succumb to the aid of modern technology – namely an electric hand-whisk!
• Partially mix stiffly beaten egg whites with the yolks.
• Then carefully cut and fold the sieved flour into the egg mixture.
• Divide mixture between tins, and place on the middle shelf in oven.
• Bake for approximately 40 minutes – until golden brown, has shrunk from the sides, and a skewer comes out clean.
• When cool slather one sponge cake with strawberry jam or conserve, followed by sliced fresh strawberries, and a thick coat of whipped cream, then carefully sandwich together – voila!
• To finish: decorate the with sliced fresh strawberries and a light dusting of icing sugar.
• Present your culinary masterpiece on a pretty plate of your choice. Miss Windsor opted for a vintage bone china vessel by Aynsley – How spiffing!

Notes

Darlings, please enjoy a jolly good munch on Fannie’s pie – Oh, I say!

The post Fannie Farmer’s GENUINE Sponge Cake – Strawberries & Cream! appeared first on Miss Windsor's Delectables.