Herself's Recipes

Molasses Crinkles

This is a recipe from my grandmother’s recipe box. The Victorians loved molasses and cloves and you find them in many of the older recipes.

3/4 c shortening
1 c brown sugar
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cloves

Cream shortening and sugar.
Add egg and molasses, beat well.
Add sifted dry ingredients, mix well.

Chill to make the dough easier to work.

Shape in balls about the size of walnuts.
Place on a cookie sheet about three inches apart.
Flatten with glass dipped in sugar.
Bake at 350′ about 15 minutes.
(yield ~ 3 dozen)

In Boston on January 15, 1919 there was the great molasses flood. A 2.5 million gallon tank on a hill that was holding molasses cracked and the molasses ran down the streets of the city. The wall of molasses running through the streets was about 20 feet high and it moved about 30 MPH. About 20 people were killed. Homes and businesses were destroyed. It took about 6 months to clean it all up. Even as late as the 1960′s when I was a child you could smell molasses in Boston on a rainy day.

The Molasses Disaster of January 15, 1919

Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

This is very easy to make and pretty good for you if you use fresh ingredients. You can make muffins instead of cake with this recipe if you prefer. This is an extremely moist cake and keeps well in the fridge for a few days.

Cake
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup regular white sugar
1 1/3 cups un-sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
3/4 cup oil (I use walnut oil, any cooking oil will do)
3 eggs
2 cups finely grated carrots (1-16 oz bag run through the food processor, or buy them already grated)

Preheat oven to 350′F
Oil 2-9″ round cake pans
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl taking care not to over beat the mix, mix just until everything is broken up and there are no lumps.

Pour into two 9″ cake pans (about half full each) and bake ~ 30 minutes or until a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Frosting
2 -8 oz packages cream cheese
1 stick butter ( 8 oz)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup maple sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Let the cheese and butter warm up to room temperature so they are easy to mix. Do not melt them!

Mix all the ingredients and mix very well. I run this through the electric mixer about 3 minutes at a very high speed to get it smooth.

Tips:
Make sure the cake is cooled before spreading frosting.

Aside:
Some carrots grew up in a carrot patch. Two of the carrots became best friends. The time came for the carrots to be loaded on the truck and taken to the store. On the way to the store, the truck got in a bad traffic accident. Of the two best friends, one of the carrots was hurt badly and had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital.

His best friend rode with him. When the carrots got to the hospital, it was discovered that the injured carrot needed surgery immediately! While the carrot was in surgery, his best friend paced up and down the hallways. After about five hours, the doctor came out and said, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that your friend made it through surgery. The bad news is that he’s going to be a vegetable all of his life!”