I was reading an article the other day on old fashioned desserts that hardly anyone makes any more. One that I used to like, but not included in the article involved cantaloupe. You would cut a cantaloupe in half, clean out the seeds, and then dump ice cream in the area where the seeds had been. It was very good, but back then cantaloupes and ice cream were quite a bit cheaper. One that was included and brought back some memories is good old tomato juice cake. Many moons ago when I was in college, I had a good friend whose mom made the cake.
He used to rave about how good the cake was. I think I had a small piece once. It was moist, but not necessarily my cup of tea. He was a really nice guy and became a minister. I don’t know if he made his congregation eat any of the cake or not.
Then the article mentioned shoo-fly pie. There was a fairly popular song that went “shoo-fly pie and apple pan dowdy makes your eyes bug out and your tummy go howdy”. I have had shoo-fly pie, and I will have to say that my eyes don’t bug out if someone says that they are going to serve it – which I imagine they still do in Pennsylvania Dutch country. It is better than snitz pie which they also serve. I have never had apple pan dowdy, unless it was by a different name. Sounds good though. Also mentioned was carrot pudding. It involved mixing chopped fruit, including bananas, dates and sugar. All of that was then stuffed inside a hollow carrot. I wonder why they call that a pudding? I don’t believe that I would want to hollow out a carrot.
Sounds like there are some good reasons why it is not a popular dessert anymore.
They claim that there is a lack of interest in mincemeat pie. I can understand that as I have always had a lack of interest in it. I am not certain that it has disappeared though as I think that I have seen jars of mincemeat in the grocery store. I am not certain what kind of meat they use now, but mutton was once the meat of choice. Anyhow my parents liked it, but I always went for the pumpkin pie which thankfully is still around. My mother made a great pumpkin pie as does The Blonde in the House. How about “jumbles”? Jumbles are a candy sugar cookie that is shaped into rounds or knots. They can be stored for months. Should you have a hankering to try them, they are easily found in Martha Washington’s cookbook. With a pedigree like that they might be worth the effort.
Finally, there is the poor maligned fruitcake. In this case, it is my opinion that the article was referring to the fact that very few people make their own fruitcake. There certainly are a bunch of bakeries that do. Like most of us, I have heard the stories of families or friends who send the same cake at Christmas to each other over many years. Still, I think that somebody must eat them. I mean they do, don’t they?
I am going to look and see if any of the stores have cantaloupe on sale! As I am health conscious, I realize that cantaloupes and ice cream have greater benefits than the usual decadent desserts. Remember you read about this amazing dessert right here!
Barry Evans is a columnist for Vilages-News.com