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Civil War Recipes
Baked Goods

CRACKLIN’ BREAD

3/4 lb salt pork, rind removed, diced
2 c. cornmeal, yellow
1 tsp. salt
1 c. boiling water
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. buttermilk

Heat oven until very hot (450 degrees F). While this is heating put salt pork
in heavy skillet and cook at medium until fat is rendered and meat bits are
crispy. Pour fat through clean cloth into container for other use. Put cloth,
which has caught the cracklin’ meat bits, aside to cool a bit. Mix cornmeal,
salt, and 3 tbs. of the rendered fat in bowl. Pour in boiling water all at
once and stir to moisten ingredients. Mix baking soda with buttermilk and add
to bowl, stirring well.
Finally, stir in cracklinís. Pour batter into greased skillet and pat down
level. Bake until brown and done, about 25 minutes.

CORN CORNBREAD
3/4 c. flour
1 tbs. baking powder
1 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. black pepper1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. cornmeal (yellow is better)
1 c. fresh corn (cut from 2 or 3 ears)
3 eggs beaten hard
2/3 c. cream or half and half
Grease for pan

Heat oven good and hot (400 degrees). Mix thoroughly (sift if sifter is
available) flour, rising agent, sugar, pepper and salt. Add cornmeal and stir
with fork to blend. Add corn, eggs and cream and stir just to blend; don’t
worry about getting it too smooth. Pour into greased 13 x 9 or so baking pan
until nicely browned, about 25 minutes.

CAST-IRON CORN BREAD

1 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder (to be more authentic use 2 tsp. baking soda and 2 tsp.
cream of tartar: baking powder was not invented until after the War)
3 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 c. cornmeal (white is better)
2 eggs beaten hard
1/4 c. bacon drippings
1 c milk or buttermilk

Heat oven REAL hot (425 degrees). Rub some bacon grease over bottom and sides
of cast-iron skillet and put in oven. Mix flour, rising agents, sugar and
salt; add cornmeal and stir with fork to blend. Add eggs, bacon drippings and
milk and stir just to moisten batter and break up most lumps. Remove VERY hot
skillet from oven, pour in batter, and put back in to bake until nicely
browned, about 20-25 minutes.

HOE CAKE

2 c. cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
1 c. boiling water
1/4 c. bacon drippings

Mix cornmeal and salt. Slowly pour boiling water into meal, stirring
constantly. Mix till thick and let cool; divide into 8 equal parts. Pat each
piece into a flat cake about 3 inches across. They will keep like this for
some time. When ready to cook, heat up fry pan and add bacon drippings; add
cakes and cook about 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Despite the
name, it is not required that they be cooked on the flat side of a hoe, which
is good considering how few soldiers probably carried hoes around with them.

NEW ENGLAND CORN CAKE
1 quart milk
1 pt. corn meal
1 teacup wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. melted butter
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 tsp. soda, dissolved in spoonful of water
1/2 c. yeast

Scald milk and gradually pour it on the meal. When cool add butter and salt
and yeast. Do this at night. In the morning beat the eggs and mix with soda
water. Pour batter into cooking vessel and bake from 20-30 minutes.

BOSTON BROWN BREAD

One cup of sweet milk,
One cup of sour,
One cup of corn meal,
One cup of flour,
Teaspoon of soda,
Molasses one cup;

Steam for three hours, Then eat it all up.

HOMEMADE YEAST

2 teaspoons pressed hops (available from beer making stores)
3 pints boiling water
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 potatoes, medium sized (4 if small), boiled
1/2 teacup flour
1 teacup old yeast

Mix hops, tied in a small bag, in boiling water to make a tea. Add sugar and
salt to tea. Cream potatoes with the flour. Gradually add hop tea to potato
mixture, return to fire and cook a few moments. Cool and add old yeast (note,
if making homemade yeast for the first time, commercial cake or dry yeast will
have to be used).
Set in a cool place to “work” for 12 hours or overnight. Bottle in 2 glass
jars. When supply runs low repeat above recipe, saving a bit of this batch to
make the next.

BOILED MILK ROLLS

1 qt new (fresh from cow, not skimmed or homogenized.
In lieu of cow, use half-and-half, or whole milk with cream added.)

1 qt flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tablespoons lard
1/3-1/2 c. homemade yeast
Butter or lard

Boil milk, then cool. Stir in half the flour, all the yeast and salt, the 2
tbs.. lard, and mix. when dough is too stiff to stir, turn out on floured
table or breadboard and knead in additional flour until soft dough is formed.
Grease bowl, turn dough to grease top, and let rise in warm place for 2 hours
or until about doubled in size. Return to breadboard, beat down and work in
remaining flour until smooth. Mold into rolls and place in greased baking pan
for second rise, again until doubled in size. Grease tops again. Bake 15-20
minutes as close to 325 degrees as can be managed.

SALLY LUNN

1/4 c (1/2 stick) butter, plus some for greasing pans
4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 c. whole milk or half-and-half
3 eggs
2 tbs.. homemade yeast

Warm milk and melt butter in it. Add salt. Cool to lukewarm. Add yeast and
beaten eggs. Stir in flour; batter will be thin, like pancake batter. Let rise
2 hours or until doubled. Bake in greased pan, preferably angel food pan, in
preheated 350 degree oven, 30-40 minutes. Eat while hot!

TEA CAKES

3 1/2 to 4 cups flour (sifted. 1 c. may be cake flour)
1/2 t . salt
1 1/2 t. baking powder (to be more authentic use 1 t. cream of tartar and 1/2 t. soda)
1 tbs.. mace or nutmeg , or a combination of the 2
1/4 c. lard
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
Up to 1/4 cup milk (optional)

Sift or mix together baking powder, spices, salt and flour. Cream together
butter and lard, then cream sugar slowly into the fats until light.. Beat eggs
until light and fold into butter/sugar bowl, then add flour to all. Add milk
if batter is too thick. Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake 15-20 minutes in preheated 350 degree oven.

Hardtack

Two cups water
One tablespoon salt
Add Flour until dough is not “sticky”

Roll out to the Army standard - one-half inch. Cut into 3 and a quarter by 3
inch pieces. Use the end of a wooden spoon or some other round object to put
in the 16 holes - four rows of four - in each piece. Bake at 400 degrees for
one hour.

DYSPEPSIA BREAD (a Cure for the Heartburn)

3 quarts whole-wheat flour
1 quart soft water (if your water is hard use clean rainwater)
1 gill homemade yeast
1 gill molasses
1 tsp. saleratus (if hard to come by, use baking powder)

Mix together. Bake 1 hour and let cool gradually.

MOLASSES GINGERBREAD

4 lb. flour
8 oz. lard
8 oz. butter
1 pint molasses
1 gill milk
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. saleratus (or can substitute 1/2 tsp. baking soda and 1/2 tsp. cream
of tartar, or 1 tsp. baking powder)

Stir all together. Bake in shallow pan 20 or 30 minutes.

REGULAR GINGERBREAD

1 pc. lard the size of an egg
Pinch of salt
2-3 tsp. ginger
1 c. molasses
1 1/2 c. apple cider
1 tbs.. saleratus or baking powder

Cut lard into flour (use pastry cutter or 2 knives to cut lard in half, then
each piece in half, continuing until lard and flour, with salt, are mixed
fine.) Mix saleratus and cider together in a cup until it starts to foam, then
beat into flour. Add as much as necessary to make batter pourable. Pour into
pan and put into medium oven (around 325-350) for 20-30 minutes.

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Confederate Cooking recipes
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