Posts Tagged ‘chocolate’
WALTER BAKER and COMPANY – Part 2
“More and more, better and better chocolate recipes,” is a cry which must be answered. So great a favorite among flavors is chocolate, that gifted cooks, famous chefs, and creators of confectionery are continually searching, continually thinking up new ways of presenting it to thousands of eager devotees.
Study the restaurant and tea room menus. Have you ever run across one on which the proverbial chocolate layer cake, or some other delectable chocolate dish was missing?
Question the boy behind the soda fountain in any town in the United States…he will tell you that six out of every ten sodas or sundaes or fountain drinks are chocolate-flavored. and who ever heard of a midnight spread in a girls’ school without a platter of creamy fudge as the most important dish on the menu?
To satisfy this insatiable craving for chocolate, the choicest chocolate recipes have been sought out. In this book you will find jealousy guarded family recipes which have been handed down from mother to daughter in old American households.
Walter Baker’s Chocolate Kitchens
In the Walter Baker Kitchen countless experiments have been made with chocolate and cocoa. The chocolate masterpieces of Continental chefs have been studied. New and fascinating flavor blends have been tried. With the richness of Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate have been combined the refresing coolness of mint…the glistening sweetness of coconut…the tart delicacy of orange…and the mellowness of maple.
Baker’s Chocolate – 1931
For these searchings and kitchen-testing have come priceless chocolate recipes…marvelous dishes which have been praised by the most critical food experts. And best of all, these dishes are not only wonderful to eat, but easy to make…dependable. Just follow the directions carefully and see how delightfully simple it is to turn out a triumph in chocolate!
For best results use the Walter Baker ingredient called for in each recipe. If cocoa is substututed for chocolate, 1/3 cup Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa should be used for every square of Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate. In cake or cookie mixtures, add 1/2 tablespoon additional butter for every 1/3 cup cocoa.
The half-pound cake of Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate is divided into eight squares of one ounce each. The one-quarter pound cake and the 1/5 pound cake are divided into eight sections. When the recipes call for “one square of chocolate” use two sections of these small cakes.
Certainly…with Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate and Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa doing active service on your pantry shelf…you may royally satisfy your family’s flourishing appetitie for chocolate.
A sample recipe from this cool brochure:
Brazilian Chocolate
2/3 cup Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate, cut in pieces
1 cup cold strong coffee
Dash of salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 cups milk
Place chocolate and coffee in upper part of double boiler over direct heat. Stir until chocolate is melted and blended. Add salt and sugar. Boil 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Place over hot water. Add milk gradually, stirring constantly. When hot, beat with rotary egg beater until light and frothy. Cool. Pour over cracked ice in tall glasses. Top with 1 tablespoon sweetened, whipped cream. Serves 6. The delicious blend of coffee and chocolate in this drink makes it an unusual and very popular refreshment beverage.
That’s all for now folks! Please be sure to leave me your name and email so that I can keep you informed of future postings.
Tim Mack
WALTER BAKER and COMPANY (Part 1)
One of the many pleasures that I find in collecting vintage recipe pamphlets is the archaic language used by the writers of the various companies. In describing their product they often give us a wonderful peak into a simpler time in our history. Today I’m sharing with you a pamphlet from the Walter Baker Company. The pamphlet was created in 1931. It measures 4.75” x 6.75” and contains 60 pages. Approximate value is $15-$20.
WALTER BAKER INTRODUCES CHOCOLATE AND COCOA TO AMERICA
“Since America was very young the name of Walter Baker has stood for the best in chocolate and cocoa. The first chocolate mill in America was built on the banks of the Neponset River in Dorchester, Massachusetts. In 1780 it became the establishment of Walter Baker and company. Since that time, this chocolate business has grown steadily until today Walter Baker chocolate products are famous the world around.
“Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate is a choice blend of the world’s finest cocoa beans. In its manufacture, nothing is added or taken away. For generations this chocolate has been prized for its rich natural flavor and velvety smoothness. Truly an unexcelled ingredient for myriad chocolate dishes. And what product ever offered a more amazing range of wonderful food delights than chocolate!
“Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa is likewise made from the most carefully selected cocoa beans. This rare blend produces the ruddy brown color and the marvelous chocolate flavor you know and like so well. Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa is chocolate in its less concentrated and pulverized form and as such is most convenient for making beverages. Cocoa is also preferable to chocolate in recipes such as angel food and spongecakes which should not have any extra fat added.
“The nutritive value of Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa exceeds the standard set by the Government.”
THE ROMANCE OF “LA BELLE CHOCOLATIERE
“Her story is just another delightful version of Cinderella and Prince charming…He is Prince Ditrichstein, brilliant young Austrian nobleman…she is a waitress in a new Viennese chocolate shop – Babette Baldauf, daughter of an impoverished knight!
“One frosty afternoon in 1760, the dashing young hero commands his chaise to stop before this quaint chocolate shop, first of its kind in Vienna. He must discover for himself the merits of a rich new beverage…that romantic drink from the tropics which is the topic of conversation among all the young fashionables.
“He enters, seats himself at a table, orders “hot chocolate” and promptly discovers not only the glories of this mellow, fragrant drink but also the prettiest girl in all Vienna.
“Day after day, he returns for more chocolate and more demure glances. The bewildering enchantment grows and grows…until his daily cup of chocolate becomes the most important event in Prince Ditrichstein’s life. He completely forgets that a Prince may not look at a waitress…and the rest you’ve already guessed!
“As a betrothal gift, Ditrichstein engaged a talented Swiss artist, Jean Etienne Liotard, to paint his winsome beloved in the simple costume in which she first bewitched him. This portrait now hangs in the Dresden Museum…and its well-known replica graces every can of Walter Baker’s Breakfast Cocoa.”
There’s more to the Walter Baker Company story and I’ll continue on with it in the next posting.
That’s all for now folks…be sure to add your name and email address to the above subscription form so I can keep you informed of new postings.
Tim Mack
NATIONAL BISCUIT COMPANY
Both vintage cookbooks and recipe brochures found that the usage of children’s pictures and images contributed greatly to their popularity. One of my favorite such brochures is this one from the National Biscuit Company, dated 1921.
From the Introduction on the Brochure...
“The National Biscuit Company in introducing the package idea blazed a trail which thousands have followed. This contribution, in addition to the bringing to bear of scientific ideas to baking, the invention of marvelous machinery and the perfection of a wonderful system of distribution, revolutionized the baking industry and rendered obsolete centuries-old baking customs and methods.
“The products of the National Biscuit Company come to you fresh and crisp from splendid bakeries where they are made from raw material of the finest quality by methods in which care and cleanliness are watch-words. No matter where you buy them you are assured of the best in biscuit.
“National Biscuit Company product lend themselves to many uses, either alone or in combination. The pages that follow contain practical recipes by Lilian Dynevor Rice suggesting many such combinations—delicious, novel, economical. These recipes include but a few of the hundreds of National Biscuit Company products. Ask your grocer about the many varieties he can supply you.”
National Biscuit Company
Copyright, National Biscuit Company, 1921
This is just one of the delightful recipes in the recipe pamphlet featuring one of many National Biscuit products.
105. Barnum’s Animal Birthday Cake
One box of Barnum’s Animals will decorate a large cake for a child’s birthday. Dip half the animals in melted chocolate, laying them on waxed paper to dry. Alternate white an chocolate animals around base of cake while he icing is soft enough to permit them to be pressed into it. Around top make a ring of small sized stick candy, using many colors, and use these as supports to standing animals. The birthday candles can go inside the candy fence, but many mothers use instead of the rather dangerous tapers larger sticks of candy. When the cake is cut an animal and a stick of the smaller candy goes to each child with its piece of cake.
This brochure from National Biscuit Company – 1921 – measures 3.5″ x 6″ and contains approximately 46 pages. Estimated value is $30-$35.
That’s all for now folks.
Until next time,
Tim
