Recipe's Of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Always ask permission from an adult before you begin cooking. Never cook by yourself.
Laura's Snow Candy
You will need:
Laura's Gingerbread
1 cup molasses
1 cup brown sugar
Fresh, clean snow (or crushed ice)
Measuring cup
Large pot
Wooden spoon
Candy thermometer, or cup filled with cold water
Shallow pan, such as a cake pan
Clean towel
Boil the molasses and sugar together in the large pot until the mixture
reaches the "hard crack" stage on a candy thermometer, or until a spoonful
dropped into cold water forms a hard ball and cracks. Remove the syrup
from the heat.
BE VERY CAREFUL. THE SYRUP IS EXTREMELY HOT AT THIS
STAGE.
Scoop fresh, clean snow (or crushed ice) into the shallow pan. Dip up a
spoonful of syrup and dribble it onto the snow in "circles, and curlicues,
and squiggledy things" as Laura and Mary did. It will harden and become
candy. Lift the candy off the snow and onto a clean towel to dry.
1 cup brown sugar blended with
1/2 cup lard or other shortening.
1 cup molasses mixed well with this.
2 teaspoons baking soda in 1 cup boiling water
(Be sure cup is full of water after foam is run off into cake mixture).
Mix all well.
To 3 cups of flour have added one teaspoon each of the following spices:
ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Sift all into cake mixture and mix well.
Add lastly 2 well-beaten eggs.
The mixture should be quite thin.
Bake in a moderate oven for thirty minutes.
Raisins and, or, candied fruit may be added and a chocolate frosting adds
to the goodness.
Laura's Town Party Lemonade
You will need:
Laura's County Fair Custard Pie
You will need:
Laura's Hailstone Ice Cream
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 large lemons
3 cups cold water
Ice
2-cup measuring cup
Long-handled spoon
Sharp knife
Juicer (and, if juicer is slotted, a bowl to set it on)
Pitcher
6 glasses
Add the water to the sugar in the measuring cup; stir to dissolve. Set
aside.
Roll the lemons on the counter with your palm a few times to make them
juicier. Cut the lemons in half. Set the juicer over the bowl and squeeze
as much of the juice out of the lemons as you can. If you have the kind of
juicer with its own catch basin, be sure to remove any seeds. Pour the
juice into the pitcher.
Stir the sugar water into the lemon juice, then add the cold water and
stir. Taste the lemonade to see if it is sweet enough. Pour the lemonade
over ice in six tall glasses to serve.
4 eggs
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons vanilla
2½ cups milk, scalded (heated almost to boiling)
Measuring cup and spoons
Medium-sized bowl
Eggbeater or whisk
Wire rack
I unbaked 9" pie shell in a pie tin
Nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 475º.
Break the eggs into the bowl and beat them lightly. Mix in the sugar,
salt, and vanilla. Slowly stir in the scalded milk. Pour the mixture into
the unbaked pie shell. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
Put the pie into the oven and bake it for 5 minutes at 475º. Turn the heat
down to 425º and continue baking for about 12 more minutes, or until a
knife stuck into the center comes out clean.
Take the pie out of the oven and cool it on the wire rack. If you are not
going to eat the pie right away, put it in the refrigerator to chill.
Store any leftover pieces in the refrigerator. (But if you like this pie
as much as Almanzo did, you may not have any left!)
You will need:
1 quart heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon
vanilla
1 gallon ice cubes
Rock salt
Measuring cup and spoons
Mixing bowl
Eggbeater or whisk
Large jar with a lid
Large pot or bowl (this must be deeper than the jar, and at least 6"
larger in diameter)
Whip the heavy cream until it forms soft peaks. Add sugar and vanilla.
Pour mixture into the jar, leaving at least 2-3" of air space for
expansion after the mixture freezes. Put the lid on the jar and make sure
it is tightly closed. Set the container into the pot or bowl and place ice
cubes around it about halfway up. Sprinkle a layer of rock salt on top of
the ice. Add more ice to within an inch of the top of the container.
Sprinkle another layer of salt on top.
Twist the inner container back and forth, keeping the mixture moving as it
freezes. You can rest for a few minutes at a time and then twist some
more. Pour off the water as the ice melts, and add more ice to keep it
high. Check the mixture after half an hour to see if it is thick enough to
be ice cream. Spoon into dishes and serve.
If you enjoy these recipes we recommend you purchase the Little House cookbook for more Ingalls family recipes. Who would have imagined Pioneer food would be so good in the 21st century!
