Menu

While we do not serve an actual supper at the ball, we will have extensive refreshments in the style of the late 19th century, Our planned menu includes:

Washington Pie
This is a fruit-filled tea cake rather than a pie in the modern sense. The earliest known recipes date back to the 1850s; it was served at a Fourth of July celebration in Nebraska 1856. Our recipe comes from A domestic cook book: containing a careful selection of useful receipts for the kitchen, by Malinda Russell (Paw Paw, Michigan, 1866). Russell was born a “free woman of color” in Tennessee in 1812 before moving to Michigan, and her book is the first known cookbook by a Black American author. This will be our official birthday cake, served with ice cream, regular and lactose-free.

Macaroons
These gluten-free treats are not the colorful French “sandwiches” seen nowadays but more like almond-flavored “donut holes”. The recipe comes from Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats by A Lady of Philadelphia (Boston, 1828).

Gingerbread stars
Gingerbread goes back centuries, but using molasses for flavoring and adding a leavening agent are nineteenth-century innovations found in Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery (Hartford, Connecticut, 1796). “Cookies” are an American term derived from the Dutch “koekje”. Using cookie-cutters to make shaped cookies is also an old practice. A manuscript in the possession of Martha Washington suggested using a beer glass to cut out circles, but a variety of shaped cutters, often made of tin and used as Christmas tree ornaments, were popular in nineteenth-century America.

Cream Puffs
Also dating back centuries, the cream puff (or profiterole) took its current form in the 19th century and appeared on American menus from at least the 1850s.

Cucumber Sandwiches
Ham Sandwiches
Deviled Eggs
Cheese & Crackers
Fresh Fruit
Healthier food and classic nineteenth century treats as a break from all the sweets!

Lemonade
Punch
Water
To quench your thirst between dances!