http://www.history.org/visit/diningExperience/christianaCampbells/
I remember how wonderful this tasted while dining at the Tavern one night. It was hot and bubbly and they spooned it right out of the little cast iron skillet onto our plates. I had to have the recipe. When looking for it though, I found the online recipe had changed from the one they gave in the 2nd edition of "The Williamsburg Cookbook" printed in 1975. Here's the older version from their cookbook.
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups corn meal
1 1/3 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
5 eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large, shallow baking dish. Combine water and milk and heat to simmer. Add corn meal, salt, sugar, and butter, and stir over medium heat until the mixture is thickiened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Beat eggs with baking powder until very light and fluffy, then add to corn meal mixture. Mix well.
Pour into prepared sih and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Serve hot.
Old-Fashioned Apple Cider Butter
The "secret recipe" for the apple butter shown here (at right) remains secret. Our local history museum always looked forward to having some on hand for the gift shop, but the main chefs have since retired. I have to admit it was some of the best I ever tasted.
As far as I know there were two types of apples used from one of the local apple orchards. I was also told how important it was for the butter to show no sign of runny liquid oozing from the sauce when placed on a plate. If it runs, it's not done. In lieu of the NWVFR apple butter, I've decided to include an "old-fashioned" recipe I found in Carla Emery's book titled "The Encyclopedia of Country Living".
"This is the traditional apple butter made of pared apples boiled down with cider. Boil 5 c. apple cider in an enamel or stainless steel pan. (Optional: For extra redness start with 12 c. cider and boil it down to 6 c.) While the cider is boiling down, core and quarter about 10 lb. of apples. Add apples when the cider is ready and continue cooking slowly until they're tender. Put it through your colander. Put your butter back into the pan and add 1 1/2 c. brown sugar (or more to taste - it depends some on the sweetness of your apple variety).
Optional: add 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/4 t. allspice, 1/4 tsp. cloves, and a pinch of salt. Continue cooking over very low heat, stirring a lot, until the cider and sauce do not separate when a spoonful is placed on a plate. Then pour into containers for canning or freezing."
APPLE DUMPLINGS
from the Belle Grove Plantation Cookbook, Middletown, VA
Pastry for a double 8 or 9-inch pie
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter
4 Golden Delicious apples
1 cup boiling water
Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
FOR THE SAUCE:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
Core and peel apples and set aside. Divide pastry into 4 portions, roll each into an 8-inch circle, and place an apple in the middle of each. Fill centers with a mixture of 1/4 cup brown sugar with 1 tablespoon butter. Gather the pastry circle up and around each apple, pressing to close tightly. Place a little apart in an 8-inch square baking dish. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and surround with a syrup made by stirring the remaining brown sugar and butter with boiling water. Season to taste with cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, basting once or twice.
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