Tag: Strawberry

Calumet Muffins

Calumet Muffins

by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from The Calumet Book of Oven Triumphs! (1934)

About the Recipe

There’s nothing like a basic muffin recipe with loads of variations to have in one’s back pocket. This one is fabulous to have at the ready for whatever fun fillings you’d like to put inside. It’s more on the savory side than sweet, making it a perfect base recipe to play with.

A few quick notes about my variation:

  • Strawberries were on sale this week, so I used a cup of 1/4″ diced strawberries as the flavor profile. A quick toss in a little bit (less than a teaspoon) of flour kept them floating rather than sinking during baking.
  • If you’re going to use butter, make sure to let your milk and egg come to room temperature. This wouldn’t have been an issue in 1934, but certainly was in 2025. Oops. I ended up using vegetable oil, which worked just fine.
  • For the future, I’ll probably add a little bit of spice here. It’s a very plain muffin, which is great as a base, but not so exciting overall.

In the end, Maxx gave these a very enthusiastic thumbs up. Fresh out of the oven with a little bit of butter, they were absolutely divine.

About the book

I’ve had this little booklet lurking in my collection for awhile. The Calumet Baking Powder company put out this little booklet a few times over the 1930’s and the recipes are great. They’re easy to follow, and designed to be delicious. After all, the better the recipe, the more times you’ll make it. And the more times you make it, the more baking powder you’ll use. *wink!*

I love the tips and tricks to help make sure that the home baker is successful. It brings everything down to earth and makes it all so simple. Enjoy Calumet’s art deco design and tips for success:

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 cups sifted flour
2 t baking powder
2 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1 egg, well beaten
1 cup milk
4 T melted butter or other shortening
1 cup 1/4″diced strawberries (optional)

Directions:

Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder, sugar, and salt, and sift again (or combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine). Combine egg, milk, and shortening. Add to flour, beating only enough to dampen all flour. Fold in fruit if using. Bake in greased muffin pans in hot oven (425*F) 25 minutes, or until done. Makes 12 muffins.

Berry Pie

Berry Pie

by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Praise for the Cook (1959)

About the Recipe

Okay, so technically this is berry pie and not specifically strawberry pie. The good news is, that means I have plenty of opportunity to make it again this summer as different berries come into season. The better news is that – oh my goodness, this pie is amazing. I’ve included the recipe for the fail-proof Crisco Crust below as well so that you can make the whole thing from scratch. It’s well worth the extra effort.

This recipe is part of the Strawberry Season collection.

About the Book

Praise for the Cook was released in 1959 by the Proctor and Gamble company specifically to promote the use of Crisco. I found this little gem hiding on a shelf in my favorite antiques barn, and it’s been in regular rotation.

Keep the recipe for this crust and use it liberally. It’s so easy to make and spot on when it comes to the bake… just like most other things in this handy booklet.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

3 cups drained canned berries OR 4 cups fresh fruit
2/3 cup berry juice or water
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 t salt
4 T flour OR 3 T minute tapioca

Crisco Pastry for 9″ double crust:
2 cups sifted enriched flour
1 t salt
3/4 c Crisco
4 T water

Directions:

Combine berries and juice in saucepan and bring to boil. Stir in sugar, salt, and flour. Cook over low heat until thickened. Cool while making pastry. Line 9″ pie plate with bottom crust and pour in filling. Place top crust over filling, trim and seal. Prick to allow for escape of steam. Bake in hot oven, 400*, about 30 minutes or until crust is nicely browned.

Crisco Pastry for 9″ double crust:
Combine flour and salt in mixing bowl. Cut in Crisco with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is uniform. Sprinkle water over the mixture, a tablespoon at a time, tossing lightly with a fork. When all water has been added and mixed, work dough into a firm ball with the hands.

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from How to get the most out of your new Deluxe Sunbeam Mixmaster (1957)

About the Recipe

Confession time – I’ve never made strawberry shortcake from scratch before. Growing up, we used to get strawberries, whipped cream from a can, and those little yellow mini sponges that tasted just a little bit like actual yellow sponges. I don’t mean any offense to my parents, because as a kid it was great – but oh my goodness is this cake delicious.

It’s really a very savory cake until you decide how much sugar you really want in it. The shortcake itself is very crumbly and savory, and I used minimal sugar to coat the berries and even less in my whipped cream. The result is a light, fluffy cake that had the whole table going back for seconds.

This recipe is part of the Strawberry Season collection.

About the Book

Brand name booklets are my favorite. That said, this one is so so specific to this particular Sunbeam mixer. There’s a certain amount of know-how that you have to bring to the table for these recipes… unless of course you have the actual mixer. That said, it’s a great little booklet so far, and the photographs and illustrations are so fun. Can’t wait to dip into it again!

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 c sifted all-purpose flour
3 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c shortening
1 egg
1/3 c plus 1 T milk
2 pts. strawberries, crushed and sweetened
1/2 pt. heavy cream, chilled

Directions:

Clean strawberries, mash lightly, sweeten. Save a few pretty ones for garnish. Set oven at 450*F to preheat. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into large Mixmaster bowl. Add shortening. Put egg into small Mixmaster bowl. Beat on No. 12 speed 1/4 min. Add milk. Remove from Mixer. Blend shortening and flour on No. 1 speed until like cornmeal, then add milk mixture. Beat only until blended. Pat dough into greased 9″ layer pan. Bake about 15 min. or until browned. Split shortcake, brush with melted butter. Put strawberries between and on top. Pile on the whipped cream or pass the cream pitcher. Garnish with whole berries.

Can also be baked as individual – pat dough out on floured surface, cut with 3″ cutter, put on cookie sheet. Bake 12 min.

Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Jam

by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook (1950)

About the Recipe

This is a delightfully simple strawberry jam recipe. It’s a little bit on the sweet side for me, but other than that, sheer perfection. Put it on a little bit of fresh or crusty bread and you’ve got a breakfast fit for a king!

This recipe is part of the Strawberry Season collection.

About the Book

This was actually the first vintage cookbook in my collection. It’s still my go-to and favorite. I am the third person to own it, having met the second person at the yard sale from which I bought it. I love this book so much. There are several editions, this one is from 1950.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

3 cups large firm berries
3 cups sugar

Directions:

Wash strawberries carefully, hull and measure. Crush berries in large kettle. Heat slowly to boiling, stirring constantly. Add sugar and continue cooking rapidly until mixture gives sheeting test for jelly or spoon leaves a mark across the center of pan. Pour into sterile glasses and seal. Makes about 3 (6-ounce) glasses.