Pecan Mysteries: Delightful 1934 Pecan Bars | Old Cookbook Show
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- Pecan Mysteries: Delightful 1934 Pecan Bars | Glen And Friends Old Cookbook Show
Welcome back to Sunday morning and the old cookbook show, friends! Over the past year, I've immersed myself in researching pecans, from their evolution to historic recipes, and it led to a complete overhaul of how I organize my cookbooks.
In today's episode, we're diving into a gem from 1934 - a recipe for Pecan Bars from "As You Like It: Old Philadelphia Recipes," compiled by the Four Counties Garden Club of Philadelphia. I've reworked the recipe to fit modern measurements and equipment, and I can't wait to share it with you.
PECAN BARS.
Mrs. Walter S. Thomson.
One package of old-fashioned brown sugar
One and three-quarter cups flour
Two teaspoons baking powder
Four eggs
Two cups of pecan meats
One teaspoon vanilla
Half teaspoon salt.
Mix brown sugar and eggs well and cook in double boiler until thick like boiled custard. (It will not take very long.) Sift in four and baking powder into the mixture. Then pecan meats, salt and vanilla. Bake slowly for forty minutes.
As we explore this recipe, you'll witness the process of making a delightful pecan mixture, infusing the kitchen with the rich aroma of pecans and vanilla. We've encountered some surprises along the way, like the discovery of similar recipes in other cookbooks, like the Butterscotch Bars from 1941.
As the pecan bars slowly bake in the preheated oven at 325°F, I stumble upon fascinating revelations about the mythology surrounding pecan pie. Spoiler alert: it's a lot of marketing speak and misinformation.
As the bars bake, I can't help but reflect on the journey of uncovering the truth behind pecan pie recipes, realizing that some books in my collection are complete frauds. It's a reminder of how easily misinformation can spread, even in the world of cooking and baking.
Finally, the moment of truth arrives as we pull the pecan bars out of the oven, their golden brown surface inviting us to indulge. Join me as I take a bite and we share our thoughts on the texture, flavour, and overall experience of these pecan bars.
In the end, this episode isn't just about baking pecan bars; it's a journey through the history, myths, and surprises that come with exploring the world of old cookbooks. So, grab a cup of your favorite beverage, sit back, and enjoy this laid-back Sunday morning in the old cookbook show. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share if you enjoy our culinary adventures together. Cheers to good food and good company!
0:01 Welcome to the old cookbook show
7:23 Tasting Pecan Pie Bars
9:20 You've been led astray
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“Stop talking and shove it in!” Always the sign of a good recipe!
I want that saying embroidered on an apron!!! 😂
@@dianaarmitage512 or a t-shirt!
This channel is far to wholesome for my comment... but it is also the sign of a good relationship. I'm sorry Glen and Julie, ill see myself out.
I was laughing for a full five minutes when I heard this!
this isn't that kind of channel
I admit I would watch an hour long video of you just talking your way through your cookbook collection. Fraudulent cookbooks! Wheee!
I wish he would read favorite children's books and poems for audio. That would be fantastic.
When he licked the spoon, he gave away his opinion. Notice he didn't even wait for Julie to get into the studio to start eating.
When Glen tasted that batter, I could see that 40 minutes was going to be a very long 40 minutes.
Cooking, aeronautics, filmmaking and... forestry. Glen is a bona fide polymath.
I can't say enough how much Glen is my favorite cooking creator on TH-cam. Talks about history, makes mistakes and rolls with the punches. Talks like your family member who is just super into cooking but doesnt sound like a snob.
Absolute favorite.
I know every episode doesn’t have the opportunity to add details like the fraud cookbook info, but I wish they did. SO fascinating 12/10
The more history the better, in my opinion.
Agreed!
Thank you. Before retiring, my work place made a cook book for a charity. The lady in charge said "I know you cook, how about a hundred recipes?" As a joke, I gave her a hundred and one. Not a page in that book that doesn't have one of my recipes, how embarrassing. God Bless and stay safe!
How nice to be able to share your favorite beloved recipes. Your cooking/baking lives on 😊
You should definitely do a full episode on fraudulent histories of food and recipes!
Hello, Glen. I have been a staunch fan for quite a few years, and I am hoping that you might be able to help me re-locate what once was a family favourite recipe in our household. About forty years ago, every fall, I used to make something called French Apple Pie Cake. I don't know why I stopped -- maybe because I started canning apple pie filling, instead. Anyway, this recipe was in an old cookbook (early 1900's, I think), and produced a really dark, moist, sweet kind of cake. I remember that it used quite a bit of brown sugar, I think four eggs, chopped apples, and oil and / or butter -- plus flour, etc., as well. A few years ago, life changed, and I moved. Unfortunately, a lot of my belongings never made it to the new place, and that loss included most of my collection of old cookbooks. I have looked for the recipe now and then online, but although there are some with similar names, none has struck me as being that same French Apple Pie Cake. Thanks for anything you can do, and please don't ever stop making your videos. In fact, daily would be that much better!
I absolutely love how Glen politely says stop talking and shove them Jules….😂😂😂
"I'm a fairly impatient person"...says the person who has spent the last year researching the origins pecan pie, has restructured his entire cookbook collection, every week explains to us the origins of what he is making. We should all be as impatient.
Says the guy who spent god knows how long and how much money trying to replicate KFC!
Yay! My favorite Sunday morning show!
I would love to know if the descendants of those with a recipe published in the cookbooks ever contact Glen and relate family stories about the recipe. There may be some fabulous stories that should not be lost to history.
A couple of times that's happened - I've also had cookbooks from the 1800s sent to me by descendants of the author.
@@GlenAndFriendsCooking And I have to admit that I have combined my two hobbies (genealogy and baking) by researching the lives of the folks whose recipes you use!
@@susanboon4605I've done that, too. Especially if the names are unusual ... that can make it easier. I once bought an 1800s fairy tale book, and found the little girl it belonged to. Fascinating to make those discoveries.
Ok, I live in pecan country (San Saba Texas) and I have no idea what the big pecan pie myth is.
Please don't tease something like that, and jot even explain wtf it is.
@@GlenAndFriendsCooking That's just awesome :)
Stop talking and shove it in along with if Jules doesn't get here she won't get any made me laugh but also made me want to make them today.
Cookbook fraud, what a wild concept.
The smirk after licking the spatula says volumes about how it tastes!!
Oh wow.... a custard stage! Love the smile when Glen licks the spoon.
The world needs a collab between you and Max Miller (Tasting History). He's done a history of pecan pie and I'll bet you can update his research!
I don’t know about this era in Philadelphia, but in regions of the US South (Tennessee & Kentucky particularly) a boiled custard is a thick and creamy holiday drink akin to egg nog. It has the consistency and flavor of melted vanilla ice cream.
I do think he achieved that there... so probably didn't get impatient. Really I think of my custards as a strong thick more whipped creamed egg, but good to know that it finished up nicely - the time he actually had it on the pot would be nice though just in case we need a reference point.
Oh, Glen (& Friends) THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU! THIS was my favorite recipe as a child. My Mom said she lost the recipe & quit making it before I became an adult. (My siblings loved it too, but not as much as I did). I'm SO grateful you found this & tweaked it & shared it with us. Can't wait to make & share with my brothers & sisters.
I've had the thought that the custardy texture they wanted would have been closer to that of the cooked frostings like the sort that typically goes on German Chocolate Cake. It's thicker and less liquid than the texture Glen used today. Translucent egg custard. I'd bet either one is fine, but now I need to go make a batch and see what happens.
"Unless brand or sherry can be added it is useless to attempt this dish" - From the Lobster A La King recipe listed below the pecan pie recipe in the newspaper that was shown for just a couple seconds.
Wow, interesting...you don't often think of cookbooks and fraud especially when you consider you can't copyright recipes.
The fraud is really in the presentation - trying to make people believe that books / recipes are older than they really are. Most of these were sold in gift shops at historic sites.
I LOVE a good blondie! It’s so hard to find a good recipe!
I’ve been baking at home for a couple of years now. This is by far the best thing I ever baked. I made a half batch using 200 grams of muscovado and 140grams of pecan.
For those trying this recipe, do not skip the boiling stage (eggs and brown sugar). It ensures that sugar fully melts and will create an even crispy skin on top.
This sure has a lot of sugar so I freeze leftovers and enjoy one every Sunday. The texture gets softer after defrosting. Just as good as freshy baked or even better (for those who hate chewyness).
This will be a staple in my house and it also makes a nice gift. Thank you for bringing the old recipe back to the world. You’re giving them a second life!
They look chewy! I might have to make these! It’s been a while since I’ve tuned in but I used to look forward to you every Sunday morning - thanks for being here ♥️
"Total fraud perpetuated in WIKIpedia "died of laughter indeed as they do not check all over thoroughly at times. Publicity is a world in itself where liyng is truth for all and where truth is a lie for few.
Going into the “Save for later” files.
Another good recipe for my pecans. Thanks, Glen. Julie, don't be late! Have a blessed day 💖✝
I watch so many different channels for so many different interests I have, but none bring me as much comfort as Glen and his diligence and passion for cooking.
Have you ever thout about combining all of the recipes from the old cookbook show and making a cookbook of your own
That looks like one that my mom did, that she called Butterscotch Squares. The texture on top was really similar.
I would have given the br sugar and eggs another 10 mins or done 2 batches and timed it because I understand the ambiguity and because I love a good experiment Thank you so much for the fun.
You know it's good from that smirk at 7:04 You can bet that I'm giving this a try
You know what topic I'm interested in? The history of butterscotch
Another community favorite growing up. I believe they were made in a 10x15 and probably slightly under cooked was preferred. Less like a blondie and more like a gooey bar. I'm going to try making a small pan with golden monkfruit and walnuts today. Love that there is no butter although I may add butter extract or a splash of evaporated milk. Many of these older recipes are easy on the wallet. Thanks for a trip down memory lane!
I tried making the 1812 version of pecan pie that appeared on Tasting History. We used nutmilk for reasons - but the pie came out beautiful. Custard and pecans, Yummmmm.
I am totally making this for Thanksgiving. I am from the US. But, this looks amazing!! and yeah when you hear Glen just say "Stop talking and shove it it" is all the recommendation I need!!
This is very similar to a sad cake. Would have never thought of a double boiler technique
No shortening in the recipe is interesting. BTW, I had the same "is it thick yet" problem with the chiffon pie recipes in Joy of Cooking (Rombauer and Becker). The pies came out fine.
New favorite phrase , marketing fraud . Along with alternate facts .😊
Another series Glen? "Today on the fraud cookbook show..."
So, funnily enough, this is 100% identical to a recipe from my maternal grandmother’s batter-spattered box of recipe index cards titled “Butterscotch Chewy Cake”. Like, measure-for-measure identical. Although her recipe gives a time for the double-boiler part (“about 5 minutes”) and tells you to use a 13”x9” pan - no idea whether those were her additions or not. I have no idea what her source was, but given where the rest of her repertoire came from, there’s a pretty good chance it came from a Lutheran church community cookbook in the ‘40s or ‘50s. It’s one of the few recipes I still regularly make that comes directly from her kitchen to mine (although I have been known to sprinkle a half cup of chocolate chips over the top).
Glen:
The word is spelled PECAN but it seems to be pronounced in so many ways, “PEA-CAN”, “PA-CON” etc.. From your background in both forestry and food preparation, is there an “official” pronunciation for this tasty nut? Or is it strictly a regional thing? BTW, loved today’s bar recipe regardless of how it’s pronounced. Respectfully, W.S.
I am terrible! I think the best part of pecan pie is the goo in the middle 😂 live your show and info!!!!❤
The goo in the middle *_is_* the best part of pecan pie, though....
This has my wheels turning a bit. I love the idea of this, but I'm trying to consider options on what I'd replace the pecans with in order to make something I could share with a coworker who has a nut allergy. I'm thinking sunflower or pumpkin seeds, but... I dunno. What would you think?
All my recipes are currently packed up, but there's an oatmeal coconut pie, often called mock pecan pie, that absolutely fooled me. There's enough chew to simulate coarsely ground nuts. The recipe I made had corn syrup but no nuts. Rolled oats or steel cut (pinhead) oats plus coconut might work for your needs
Roasting the seeds before baking, so that they would get a nice taste and aroma?
This looks a lot like a blondie. Blondies are delicious on their own, without add-ins. My mother made blondies with chocolate chips. Is your friend a chocolate lover?
love this one... nice job! now I know this would probably be massive overkill .... but I would be tempted to add about 2/3 cups of chocolate chips ... what do you think? I know instant death but you only go around once, eh? :) .... fan from Iowa...
My mom recently passed and I now have easily over 1000 cookbooks. I love the community cookbooks with the phone numbers is the contribution, i guess if you had a question. Of course most of those numbers had the alpha prefix so pretty sure they are safe from stalkers. I do get tempted to contact them when it's the obviously bad combo
7:07 Glen looks off to the side: Yes, I'm licking the spatula. Shut up!
I heard "Mrs. Walter S. Thompson" and my brain went to Hunter S. Thompson. Now THAT would be an interesting blondie/brownie recipe!
I’m from Texas & i can definitely say, one of the biggest things that makes a good pecan pie is harvesting fresh pecans & shelling them yourself. Nothing is quite like the texture & taste of the fresh pecans.
Wow, fraud even occurs in the writing of recipe books. Quite a lot of sugar however brown sugar seems a bit less sweet to me. Usually prefer foods to be less salty & less sweet. I'll bet those bars are tasty & smell great while baking. Good quality pecans are delicious.🍪👨🍳👩❤👨
Roasted pecans are the best. Yummo! Now I have to get back to watching API videos. Maybe find an old recipe with sorghum.
I don't know how close they are, but this reminds me of a recipe called "Butter Nut Chewy's" back in the '1970"s or so. I think Loretta Lynn had something to do with them but I don't remember what or why.
I remember the 1# box of brown sugar in the mid 50's when I started baking. I believe it had a waxed paper lining to help keep it soft. 😊
We really enjoyed this, and it would have been even better if my oven wasn’t in the process of going kaputt. 😊 The crust on top ended up a little thick, but it was still delicious.
This looks so good, Glen! I usually get a big box of pecans for my birthday to cook with at solstice. I can hardly wait for it to show up!
You know recipes are good when Glenn tells her to be quiet and keep stuffing her mouth 🤣🤣🤣
You had me at cookbook fraud! We need a video on that!
I love recipes from community cookbooks. I'm 77 years old and I have a cookbook from 1952 that I rebound for my mother. The American Family Cook Book, By Lily Wallace. Do you have it in your collection?
I saw a long happy dance
I make butterscotch brownies which are pretty much the same thing except you melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the brown sugar and then the rest of the ingredients. Nuts are optional but I almost always add walnuts or pecans because they cut the sweetness of the bars which can be a bit much.
Reminds me of Alex's mother sauces videos. And a passion of mine is Finnish sauna. The marketing people would have you believe that "infrared" is a "new type of sauna" (which it's not).
They look delicious. I look forward to your thoughts on pecan pies and their history.
Edit: I can't spell.
Wow looks great! I love your channel!
Greetings from Corvallis Oregon! We love your channel. Thank you very much for the intelligence, skill, and thoughtfulness that goes into each episode. Thanks for demonstrating the usefulness of rice cookers. We had no idea it could be so versatile. One of our particular favorites is your Hamburger Sandwich, which has been made multiple times. Thank you. In these fraught times globally, and American politics specifically, we retreat to the refuge you have so nicely provided. Glen and Friends Cooking for mental health!
Delicious, but sooo sweet! Thanks for another interesting recipe.
I’m thinking of trying these for Thanksgiving this year.
When I lived in north Florida I was sometimes able to buy pecans from a specific variety of tree. There’s not a huge difference between varieties but size, flavor, oiliness and so on do vary a bit.
I always assume a 9x13. Families were large. A small pan wouldn’t go around.
Love the extra bit at the end. I've seen some of that stuff too and wondered how reliable my sources could be. Thanks for the deep dive. I'm also super intrigued at how you've reorganized your cookbooks. My setup keeps fluctuating because I'm disorganized, but I keep thinking I'll eventually find a useful framework that can maintain its usefulness without a lot of bother. For now, I'll just dream on.
ZOMG NOM NOM NOM! The brown sugar custard step is BRILLIANT! 🤤
The way Glen smiled when he licked the batter, I knew he'd have trouble waiting for Jules...
In High Fidelity they got as far as organising records autobiographically. Nobody went as far as doing by pecan based recipe. That's crazy talk!😅🤣
Oh, Glen does his happy dance! Always a good sign!
Glen! Luv how you waxed poetic in the description😎👍👍🙏🙏🍻
I really loved the ending!
That story was great, a good reminder of both source verification and historical revision.
Thank you for yet another great video!
I have to try this recipe! I know how much you like pecans, and your reaction this time was off the rails!
The happy dance when you try the spatula before putting these in the oven says it all
As a lover of pecans like Glen, I'm definitely going to have to make this recipe. That many pecans, brown sugar (which I love in everything baked) and Glen's face when he took the first bite mean it's a must!
A few questions. How did you deduce that the cookbook was a fraud? How and why, do you think, would a fake old cookbook get made? I can easily imagine printing or publicizing an individual recipe with a made-up date, but a whole cookbook, printed in quantity, is harder to conceive, at least in the 20th century. And finally, what is your new system for organizing your cookbooks and what inspired it?
The cookbook in question has 'Copyright 1900' printed on the cover - but the publisher / printer didn't exist before 1959, the binding is a plastic sort not used before mid-1950s, and the line drawings inside are from other cookbooks published in the 1950s. Most of the recipes are filled with language and convenience ingredients, not used until well after 1950.
The 'fake' book pulls its title and cover drawings from a 'real' cookbook published in New Orleans in 1930 - I have copies of both. The real book only has a handful of recipes, none of which are in the 'fake' book, nor does the original contain pecan pie... There is no clear lineage between the books; what I mean by that is the 'fake' printings aren't updated or later printings of the 1930 publication. It looks like the original publisher went out of business, and a new upstart bought the IP and found a way to make a quick buck by re-using the cover art and title.
The title is 'A Book of Famous Old New Orleans Recipes Used In The South For More Than 200 Years' - only a little bit of hyperbole.
The reason is to make money - The pull of manufactured nostalgia is huge to some people who crave a connection to the past. These books (and now blogs etc) are often filled with nostalgic recipes, that have a greater connection to the mythology of how we want to remember the past, than to any real historical recipes.
These would have been sold in gift and souvenir shops, hotel lobbies, etc to tourists. The publisher adds a handy note inside that if you have trouble finding ingredients when you get home, you can order them from the publisher.
Most collections that have the 'fake' book list it as a 1900 publication, but I've been able to flag it as a much later publication; so hopefully that will change to reflect its actual publication date?
@@GlenAndFriendsCooking Thanks for the expansion on the segment after the tasting. I look forward to a future series of episodes on the history of cooking with Pecans.
Don't be messing with Wikipedia! They will have you on there saying you loathe maple syrup and Julie hates veggies if you're not careful, lol.
Wiki is a good place to start, but it for sure has limitations, especially on stuff that is less popular and older.
I enjoy the taste tests so much. Thank you.
In the years/decades since the cookbooks you love were published, there are variations of that recipe. In the ‘60’s or ‘70’s Kelloggs came out with a recipe booklet. In it was a version called All-Bran Blondies made with - you guessed it - All-Bran cereal. Delicious! There was also a tasty (can’t eat just one bar) recipe for Toffee Bars. Good recipes never die, they just get updated.
Delightful is a good word for these bars. I made them up, reducing the sugar by 1/4 cup. I baked in a large shallow baking dish, 12”x10”. Baked till the sides were pulling away from the parchment, about 23 minutes. The bars have a crisp top and surprising texture. Chewy, dense. Very good. Thanks, Glen!
hello, I live in europe and use metric: 416g brown sugar, 210g flour, 10g baking powder, 4 eggs (about 200g), 250 grams pecan, 4.34g vanilla, 3g salt
unusual huge amount of sugar in this recipe for modern tastes, to find a ratio of 1:1:1 sugar, flour, egg is not unusual, but in this recipe its double the amount of sugar 2:1:1, will not change this in my first trial run, wish me luck
Mrs Walter S. Thompson... was she related, somehow, to Hunter S. Thompson?
Sorry, I just couldn't help it,😆
I know the results were amazing, but do you really think the double boiler thing really added to the recipe or could that be skipped? I am just curious about this process and can the results be obtained with just mixing things all together?
I know, I should just do the experiment myself, but I am diabetic and one cut down batch of this recipe for a 9x9" pan is enough for me! It yielded 16 pieces.
Wow, looks delicious 😋
I'm not surprised about cookbook fraud. Manufacturer's would ruin a perfect recipe in order to shove more of their product onto the public. But after thinking about your history search of pecan pies I now wonder which came first, the pecan pie or some other form of sugar pie. BTW... I think the best tasting nut I have ever had was a Walters variety of Hickory.
Glen provides a plethora of things - apart from always interesting and sometimes surprising recipes, he explains, informs, reassures and really is that friend in the kitchen with whom cooking is a fun thing.
And this particular recipe? Will appear on the menu very soon - and disappear at a rate of knots by the looks of it!😊
Ah, recipe book fraud. Fraudulent date of first publication is a new one on me. But for a long time I've believed there is a special place reserved in Hell for people who "copypasta" untested recipes... complete with missing ingredients, or critical errors in the method that guarantee failure.
good call on the 9x13!
I hear you on the marketing now as for pecans I lived in Oklahoma yrs ago I lived out in the country way out there we used to collect pecan in the fall to cell them out in the wood s and by creeks there would be tree s a minimum 6 ft round or smaller the pecans where maybe as round as your pinky or so maybe 1/2 inch long
Cook to custard thickness: how about a temperature of no more than 180 F? That is about when an egg custard thickens.
Wikipedia is my go-to recipe page, what will I do now that Glen has revealed it as a fraud? Scandalous!
Your shpeal at the end reminds me of a little CGP Grey going down the rabbit hole of misinformation and poor citations.
Anyone try that ELIXIR brand vanilla ? If so what are your thoughts ? Thanks 🙏
If it has pecans, Glen will eat it.
Please feel free to eat all the pecans. They must be an 'acquired taste' and I have not acquired it yet.
You know, I think that recipe would’ve been much better with walnuts. 😂😮😂