Hannah Glasse

[Becky]

You might have noticed from today's Google Doodle that today would have been Hannah Glasse's 310th birthday

If you haven't heard of Hannah Glasse, she was a pioneering food writer in the 18th century. She published a book in 1747 called 'The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy', which was a bestseller for a century and made her one of the most famous food writers of her time. It was one of the first cookery books aimed at regular people - ie not chefs or other professionals. Quite simply, she started a revolution

Here's one of her recipes:

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Oh, I love this! I saw the doodle the other day. I’m so glad you posted it!!!

I love food history. I’ve taken historic cooking classes through the Getty Museum in Southern California. It’s so fascinating.

For Thanksgiving I try to create at least one historic American recipe. The last couple of years it’s been a sweet potato pie by Mary Randolph.

I’ve never seen the Townsend website before. They do a really nice job.

http://americanheritagecooking.com/2014/02/mary-randolphs-sweet-potato-pie/

 

[Becky]

I love old recipes, although I'm certainly glad that things have changed since then - often they weren't great for describing what they meant! I enjoy the Townsends videos, I think it's great that they pay so much attention to detail. If it were me I'd definitely cheat when it came to whipping egg whites!!

That sweet potato pie looks really interesting, I've never seen a cream cheese pastry before How did it turn out?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I love old recipes, although I'm certainly glad that things have changed since then - often they weren't great for describing what they meant! I enjoy the Townsends videos, I think it's great that they pay so much attention to detail. If it were me I'd definitely cheat when it came to whipping egg whites!!

That sweet potato pie looks really interesting, I've never seen a cream cheese pastry before How did it turn out?

Lol, yes whipping eggs by hand would be exhausting. I think it was Hannah Glasse who said when whipping eggs it’s best to get a man servant to do it

I made the pie with a gluten free crust so I could it eat. It’s delicious. It’s a lighter and less sweet version than the way sweet potato pie is currently made. I certainly prefer it.

It was a coincidence that my gluten-free piecrust contains cream cheese. The cream cheese eliminates the grittiness from rice flour.

 

[Becky]

That sounds great!