Cocoa-nut Cakes (1853)
Serving Size : 20
 
1 cocoanut
sugar
1 egg white

Peel and grate a cocoa-nut and take half its weight in sugar and one white of egg. Mix and form into balls, and bake on a buttered tin sheet.

Source: Mrs Chadwick, Home Cookery, 1853, p. 26

Iced Grapes (1872)
Serving Size : 150
 
4 pounds grapes
3 egg whites
superfine sugar

Choose perfect bunches of grapes; discard any blemished grapes. Trim the bunches to the desired size, then, for convenience in hanging the grapes to dry, tie a string to the stem of each bunch. Be certain the string is tied securely. Dip a paintbrush into the unbeaten egg whites and brush the grapes only enough to lightly moisten then. Dust liberally with superfine sugar. Touch up spots where the sugar misses and then hang the grapes to dry. Tie them to a clothesline or towel rack with the strings you have attached to the stems. When the sugar is dry, remove the strings and use the grapes in constructing the table centerpiece.

Source: Mrs. Winslow's Domestic Receipt Book for 1872 (New York: Jeremiah Curtis & Sons and John I. Brown & Sons, 1871), 31. Redacted by William Woys Weaver, The Christmas Cook, p. 237.

Lemon Biscuits (1861)
Serving Size : 75
 
3 1/2 cups flour (1 1/4 lbs.)
1 1/2 cups sugar (3/4 lb.)
3/4 cup butter (6 oz.)
3 eggs (4)
2 teaspoons lemon peel (2 oz.)
2 desert spoons lemon juice

Mix ingredients, drop on cookie sheets. Bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes. (These are nice with an icing of powdered sugar mixed with lemon juice.-BMP)

Source: Beeton, Isabella. The Beeton's Book of Household Management. London; S.O.Beeton, 1861. Facsimile reprint: London, Chancellor Press 1982. p. 850. Redacted by Barbara Pugliese.

Little Plumcakes (1810)
Serving Size : 50
 
12 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 2/3 cups currants (almost 1 box)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar. Beat the eggs to a thick froth and combine with the sugar mixture. Sift the flour and spices together twice. Fold the currants into the batter, then sift in the flour. Thoroughly work the ingredients together to make a very stiff dough. Break off pieces and roll them into balls the size of walnuts. Set these on baking sheets lined with baking parchment. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Cool on racks or serve immediately.

Source: Maria Rundell. A New System of Domestic Cookery (Philadelphia: Benjamin C. Buzby, 1810), p. 198. Redacted by William Woys Weaver, The Christmas Cook. New York: Harper Collins, 1990. p. 128.

Meringues (1861)
Serving Size : 40
 
6 egg whites
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Beat egg whites, slowly adding sugar and lemon juice, until very stiff. (Mrs. Beeton does not call for lemon juice. - BMP) Drop by tablespoons onto paper or aluminum foil. Bake at 250F for 45 min, then turn off heat and leave in oven to dry. Makes 40 kisses. You can color half the recipe pink with food color -- Mrs. Beeton uses cochineal. The combination of pink and white is very pretty.

Source: Beeton, Isabella. The Beeton's Book of Household Management. London: S.O.Beeton, 1861. Facsimile reprint: London, Chancellor Press, 1982. p. 730-731. Redacted by Barbara Pugliese.

Nice Wafer Cakes (1853)
Serving Size : 100
 
2 cups butter
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar (1 lb.)
4 eggs
6 cups flour

"Work your butter and sugar together and add the eggs. Lastly the flour. Roll very thin, cut with a form, and bake crisp." Bake at 350 for about 5 minutes. This makes a rich and fragile cookie. Store flat between layers of waxed paper.

Source: Mrs. J. Chadwick, Home Cookery. Boston: Crosby, Nichols & Co. 1853. p. 18. Redacted by Barbara Pugliese.

Returning Heroes Punch (1911)
Serving Size : 17
 

4 cups triple strength tea (12 teabags / 4 cups)
1 cup sugar
3 cups orange juice
1 1/3 cups lemon juice
1 two-litre ginger ale
1 two-litre seltzer water

This recipe was redacted by Kay Case from Fannie Farmer, but its ingredients are consistent with the 1860's. The concentrate is made ahead of time and chilled, then mixed with cold seltzer and ginger ale in equal proportions.

We usually use 6 recipes for 100 people for a winter ball, where ice water is being served throughout the ball. You will want more if your ball is in the summer or if this punch is the only liquid you will be serving.

Most punch recipes of the 1860's include alcohol. The ones that do not are usually tea-based or variations on lemonade.