I'm from Middle eastern origin, and we always use rose water or orange blossom water. Rose water is pretty bitter, but orange blossom water is the bomb, my mom adds some to Traditional Arabic rice pudding. Living in western Culture, I think a lot of these flavors are so adaptable with what you want your bread to taste like, Sweet, savory, light, strong, etc. Thank you so much for this recipe!
@@pagansunite4005 so, orange blossom water does not really have a flavor and neither does rose water. It's very aromatic, and smells like orange blossoms. When you bite into the desert you get a strong smell of rose or orange blossom. It gives the impression of tasting a rose.
Austin Stice I feel like this dude puts nutmeg on cheeseburgers, pizza and in his water...it’s good in an apple pie or something but he got a hard on for nutmeg
TheMistLink. I did it. First helping my mom, and then as I got into making bread. It was/is so difficult to mix the dough by hand - it was difficult in my teens and 20's - I wondered how I would do it in my latter years🤔🤗❤
i remember there was a beater that you could manually crank on the side to mix eggs, it was my grandmothers. no reason why you couldn't use it for cake batter too.
Given that you guys are constantly researching and "filling in the blanks" on these recipes, have you ever considered releasing an annotated version of "American Cookery," with modern equivalent measurements, cooking times, and your other observations?
Rosewater is still commonly used in middle eastern, turkish, indian, etc desserts. I find the best place to get rosewater is in a middle eastern market. Also, I live in LA and we have an ice cream shop called "Mashti Malone's" their ice cream's and ices use the traditional middle eastern flavors like rosewater, saffron, cardamon, orange blossom, pistachio, etc. The tastes are pretty interesting.
tessimmg it's not middle eastern, It's Iranian! Mashti malones is Iranian, And rose water was first Introduced by the Persians (roses are a Persian flower)
wow i want to go there so bad! there's rose ice cream (and lavender ice cream) at the Creole Creamery in NOLA; also lavender ice cream at Salt n' Straw in Portland OR. floral flavors in deserts are absolutely delicious and under appreciated by americans just because they associate them with soap and perfume. too bad for them, more for me!
I'm pretty sure I'll probably never make any of these recipes but I still subscribed for the music and the historical information and of course the relaxing format of the series! Thanks for this channel a UA-cam necessity 😊
John: "When Amelia mentions spices she gives us no suggestions, she leaves this up to the cook" Me: "(Oh finally, for once, no nutmeg in this recipe...)" John: "We're going to be using.... NUTMEG!!!!" Me: Sigh....
They didn't back then because of the work they did, and moderation of course. Maybe you could spend a weekend volunteering with something like Habitat for Humanity and take a couple of cakes for the crew. lol
Honestly every time I watch a video it's like its the first time I watched you, still makes me want to go to the kitchen and cook up some good food. Everything looks so delicious when it's hand made.
This is yet another excellent video. I have a few words about leavening here. The leavening is provided by the combination of butter and sugar. The butter is 15% to 20% water. When creamed with sugar to fluffy consistency that water gets absorbed by the sugar. Then, when heated, that water turns to steam to provide some lift. Also, you may find it less laborious to separate the eggs, adding the yolks to the creamed butter and sugar at the point at which you added the spices. You then can whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold them in after adding the flour.
Too much rose water will make these bitter. The deal with the eggs, you can actually separate the egg yolk from the white. and add a just a bit of sugar and whip the whites only. add the yolks to the batter. then folk the egg whites in. This procedure also leavens and lightens the cakes. Like you said don' work these things too much as it makes them tough and they do not rise.
Now this is what i call authentic video making. It vastly beats all those cliche, annoying channels that are based purely on the personality of the youtube "content creator" in question.
Trinimac - 1796 cakes definitely... the 1796lb cake would just have to sit on you or roll in your general direction... all those little cakes on t'other hand, it'd be a massacre as you'd just have to stomp around a bunch...
as someone who doesn't consume food through my feet, like the previous lunatic, I'd choose a 1796lb cake. It would taste better and I could share with alot more people.
Honestly I love watching your videos when I'm having anxiety. It grounds me, interests me, and is informative. Thank you for being you and keeping on doing this!
I am so glad I found this channel!!! It's amazing to see how people cooked, baked and what they ate back then!!! Thank you SO very much for bringing it all to life for us!!!
There's something really nice about how enthusiastic he is about 18th century recipes. Not sure how I got here but this channel gets an instant subscribe
I really like how passionate you are in describing a lost cuisine that many have forgotten. It's all natural without any R number additives or hopefully GM free.
+Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc. Awe thank you! :) I look forward to telling people about this channel! I have always had such a fascination for kitchen/food type things from this period that it is truly a pleasure to see these videos! You explain things so well that it is truly a pleasure to watch, and boy does it make my belly rumble! Lol! Thank you so much, and please keep up the great work!
I'm not sure what it is, but I get a really strong sense of satisfaction when I watch these videos. As I watch, it almost feels as if I lived during those times. It's kind of hard to describe. I am also reminded of some things I think we have lost in our modern age. Back then, you really had to put effort into things, and because of that, you appreciated everything more. Everything had to be made and built by hand. Craftsmanship was important. Individuals in a community meant more, because people depended on each other to survive. And I could go on. I guess I just feel like our modern life is so easy and convenient, and because people don't need to depend on each other, there's no real sense of community anywhere anymore.
Another great video, as always! You mentioned that Rose water and Orange Blossom water both seemed to fall out of favor with these sorts of recipes by the late 18th century, were they replaced by vanilla extract by this time, or was vanilla extract contemporary with them by that time as well? Thanks for all the great work you guys do, I always enjoy watching you reconstruct these recipes.
Yes, vanilla is such a standard ingredient now in baking, it's hard to imagine how relatively recent it must be. I assume that vanilla beans were used before extract became available, but how long before I couldn't begin to guess. Sounds like a perfect detective job for Townsend and Sons!
Vanilla production outside Central America and Mexico didn't occur till the almost the mid 19th century. Being prohibitively expensive even today, most 18th century Europeans probaby never knew what vanilla tasted like, and so never had a reason to include it in a ricepe.
What I like about these recipes is that they come from a time when there were few or no additives or preservatives used. This makes them valuable to anyone who wants food that is free from theses nasties. It’s time we returned to good wholesome food. Thanks For the videos John.
Thanks this one brought back a lot of memories. My Grandmother used to make pound cakes for Christmas. She had one that she flavored with lemon. I still love lemon pound cake today. The great thing about pound cakes is that is is like a blank canvas for flavoring you can cover the cake slices with frosting or glaze with fresh fruit. My grandmother also told me the reason you use a hollow cake pan or a bundt pan is because the cake is more dense than regular cakes and it helps cook them through without drying them out or burning the edges. I would like to see you do a series of videos of Christmas traditions from the 18th century. My reenactment group celebrates old Christmas at Fort Watauga in Elizabethton, Tennessee. We demonstrate the Christmas traditions of the nationalities of the people who settled in our region. Thanks for all you do for living history.
Just started this video and already know I'm going to just love it. Pound cake! Love and appreciate the problem solving you go though to figure out and revive all these great recipes for us.
What Brianna said. Although it’s set in the mid 1800s, I remember an extensive section in the book “What Katy Did Next” where they are going to great lengths to procure beef tea for the little girl with Scarlet Fever, and it was under doctor’s orders. I think the practice is much older than that, though.
James, your videos are a delight to watch. I am a big fan of yours. Seriously, if anyone would have told me that I would be watching an 18th century American cooking show after a long day of work, I would have laughed. Yet, here I am... Thanks a lot for all the good work. This must take days of research and preparation every time. Amazing stuff.
My family loves this channel and look forward to getting the catalog. We also signed up for the getting started course. This is a lot of fun, and I love the history of the recipes and lifestyle of the 18th century. Thank you.
Since this video is all about making that dough.Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours. Mrs. Buttersworth delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flakey at times, he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions. Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, three children: John Dough, Jane Dough and Dosey Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.
I love stuff like this. I love learning about the lives of people who lived in different ways and how they did it. I want to be a chef when I grow up and this is really interesting.
Nice video Jon, I love this stuff. Reminds me of how my grandparents would do some traditional baking. My one Grandmother would use 13 eggs in a sponge cake. It was my favorite.
hi! I would love to hear/learn about soap in the 18th century. I know it's not food, but all housewives and soldiers must have had to make it? Thanks so much for the time and care you put into these videos.
soap would have been made by running rain water thru hardwood ash to make the caustic/lye part. that would have been mixed with whatever fat on hand. they had ways of measuring the strength of the lye, but i don't recall what it was. because there were no stable ways of measuring ingredients, the soap was probably frequently "lye heavy" meaning it would burn and dry the skin. it would have also been a softer soap as the ashes would have made potassium hydroxide as opposed to sodium hydroxide needed for a good hard bar of soap. thankfully, today we have digital scales and lab created sodium hydroxide to make soap with which why handmade soap is soooo much better for your skin that the old detergents that pass for soap at the grocery store. (soapmaker)
Really love your channel. Glad to see there are many more people out there who appreciate these simpler dishes (and by that I mean with ingredients you can actually pronounce) I for one love to cook in this fashion, if not a more modern version, but with similar results. Nothing beats a nice simple pastry made with what's at hand. (Still make hard tack to get me through rough months)
I thought the rose water (or orange blossom water) was really interesting! I personally don't like the flavor of either, however I think the real problem may have been the amount. Half a gill of rosewater seems like an unbelievable amount! Usually, Mediterranean recipes call for like a half teaspoon as the stuff is super, super strong.
It's possible, but rose water was undoubtedly made the same way as it is today. The only way it wouldn't be as strong is if they watered it down, which I suppose is possible but then I'm not sure it would still be called rose water. It would be like if lemon juice in the 18th century meant equal parts juice from lemons and water.
Someone may have already mentioned this, but Whole Foods carries both Rose Water and Orange Blossom Water. Love your videos and your always upbeat demeanor! Thank you for your wonderful channel.
Thanks for the video. As a first generation american (Parents are from Mexico), I find it interesting to see american history . even if it is the food they used to eat.
My grandmother spoke lovingly of a neighbor down the street who mixed the butter and sugar by hand for her pound cakes and used a wood-fire oven. She has been trying to capture that flavor and texture ever since.
Due to the time period that Jas. Townsend and Son,Inc is portraying Grammar was not standardized until the mid 1800's this can be seen in the journals of Lewis and Clark and many other writings of the day Ipso facto if he is in character then "Your " is 100 % correct
My mother and gandmothers always made pound cakes in a rectangular loaf pan, not a round, bunt cake pan. They told me the name "pound cake" referred to the fact that old recipes included a pound of flour, a pound of eggs, and a pound of sugar (and in some cases, a pound of butter as well). But by the time I was born, most pound cake recipes did not stick to the "a pound of each ingredient" formula.
Gary Cooper - I do love recipes that follow a simple 1:1:1:1 type formula... pie crust has a recipe like that, not that I can remember it at the moment, I do remember tho that substituting some of the water with vodka let's you make a more manageable dough (more liquid) that still comes out nice and flaky...
You are a man after my own heart, Mr. Townsend! That pancake recipe looks so good and I want to try it soon. It is so cool that the choice of spaces are left up to the cook. I happen to have some cinnamon and not Meg in powder form lying around, but I also happen to have cardamom, clothes, and star anise The last time I checked. With those work? Also, thank you so much for talking about rosewater. I had no idea it was a thing in America’s past because not a whole lot of Americans use it today. Orange Blossom water also looks like a welcome addition although I’ve never tried it before but would love to do so. Despite the fact that people had very limited resources back then, I think that diets still had quite a bit of variety. Thanks for showing us minimally processed foods with simple ingredients! I discovered the channel couple of days ago and I’m hooked.
I'm not sure how I found you, but I'm loving your channel! I actually made a Cheshire pie yesterday (not quite the same recipe as yours, but I never would have tried to make one if I hadn't found your channel)!
you're right! you can actually grow the marsh mallow in your garden. today's marshmallows are obviously not made using the root, and I think even then it was probably used medicinally, rather than a sweet treat. seems I remember seeing an 1800s recipe somewhere. the roots produce a really thick mucilege when put into water, really cool stuff! :)
Great, great recipe! Many thanks!!!!! Your recipe is very nice for urban guys, but it's a rustic peasant recipe, simple as written in the 1796 book. The pound cake is the good ole "quatre quarts" in France. The cake you learn to make with grandma when you're 7 or 8 years old. The simplest original recipe is ; you take the eggs, weight it, measure the same weight in flour, sugar and butter. A bit of vanilla, or orange peel or rhum if wanted but if the eggs are very fresh and the butter tasty, no real need. Spices very very optional, that is for the city people, for a rustic guy that spoils the flavor of the eggs and butter. Beat the eggs with the sugar until white and twice the volume, add the melted butter, after the flour and the levener if you want. Put in a oven and cook. No thrills, not complications, it's a fast made recipe for a hard pressed mom before the six children are back from school, and she has to feed the little noisy monsters. That is a recipe from Brittany, but I saw a similar in in the Welsh countryside. Maybe the Scotts and Irish have a similar one. I would not be surprised. In Brittany quatre quart are made with a twist: 1.5 to 2 % salted butter. Try it, it's even better, I swear. You could buy it by pieces of 1 kg (2.2 pounds) and 2 kg (4.4 pounds) at the bakery. In same time you buy a 2.2 pounds bread for eating some shrimps, sea snails, and smoked sardines with well buttered bread. In Brittany you buy the salted butter by pound... Following these entries, slurp fifty fresh wild small oysters (sold by the hundred) if you like oysters, 2 pints of dry cider or buttermilk and you will feel the need of half a pound of quatre quarts with a good coffee. You're ready now for going to fish on the boat, you won't have any hypoglycemia. You can eat the pound cake with grated black chocolate on the slice, it's a favorite of the children. Take care this cake is very buttery and its butter gets everywhere.
Yes, we have three different episodes that use vermicelli which is one of the pastas most referenced in 18th century English cookery. Here is the first one: ua-cam.com/video/PtZw9-uhG58/v-deo.html
Rose water is also really easy to make if you can grow or access some rose bushes. Lots of recipes for it online, and information on which roses would lend the best taste.
You do realize, your personal taste doesn't alter what people enjoyed hundreds of years ago? If you don't like those flavors, use those you do, no one has a gun to your head.
BugPope it's obvious you don't know anything about nutmeg, it's a spice used for flavouring. Grenada in the Caribbean is a producer of nutmeg, it's used in small amounts. You crack the shell to release the nut, you then grate the nut, a teaspoon or half that amount is all that is needed. Good for cakes, bread and drinks.
The roses used for rose water are discussed in "Tales from the Green Valley" episode 11, starting at minute 8:13. How to distill them is shown in "Tales from the Green Valley" episode 5, starting at minute 10:57. I find commercial rose water strong, and use it as I would vanilla. I've used a gill cup for test weight of small seed samples in agricultural research (gill cups are hard to find, as the standard volume now is 0.5 L). It's interesting to see gill and jack measures used in cooking. Thank you.
No, unfortunately. The name Jason actually predates the English language. The oldest reference to the name I know of is the Ancient Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts searching for the Golden Fleece, but the name is likely even older.
It gave me quite a laugh when the background music paused as he gave the cake a taste, only to pick back up for Jon to give his verbal seal of approval. Little editing details like that are wonderful.
Let's see, one pound butter, one pound sugar, one pound flour, one pound nutmeg... wait, I think I messed something up.
lol
Go ask Bill. He might only have one eye but he gets around.
You forgot your pound of mace and cumin.
lol, guys :)
LOL that would be a great way to kill someone
I'm from Middle eastern origin, and we always use rose water or orange blossom water.
Rose water is pretty bitter, but orange blossom water is the bomb, my mom adds some to Traditional Arabic rice pudding.
Living in western Culture, I think a lot of these flavors are so adaptable with what you want your bread to taste like, Sweet, savory, light, strong, etc.
Thank you so much for this recipe!
Would orange blossom water be excellent in clementine cake or would it just get lost in the rest of all the orange flavors?
@@pagansunite4005 so, orange blossom water does not really have a flavor and neither does rose water. It's very aromatic, and smells like orange blossoms. When you bite into the desert you get a strong smell of rose or orange blossom. It gives the impression of tasting a rose.
Sam Thani that’s pretty cool
eddiesadat I’m American but use it all the time... I know you just have to be careful how much you use! It’s so good!
Agreed!
"Really nice... soft..."
Translation: I won't break my teeth on these like I did with the ship's biscuits!
Actually, my grandfather used to bake a dessert with cherries using the exact same mechanical method of leavening, and it IS nice and soft.
This is almost the same method to make the sponge cake, a popular cake known for it's softness and fluffiness, like a chiffon cake
HARDTACK WAS SHIPS BISCUITS
When John says season to taste, we all know what seasoning he plans to use. Lol
No, not true.l do you mean nutmeg and cinnamon
John, what is this love affair with nutmeg?!
the nutmeg(mad)man
Nutty Nutmeg ayyyyy
😄I thought this exact same thing!
" She gives no spices, leaving it completely up to the cook "
Me: Bet he puts in nutmeg...
And he says that he can taste the nutmeg after baking it. I think he is a nutmeg dealer.
It's getting irritating. Always the nutmeg! lol
Austin Stice I feel like this dude puts nutmeg on cheeseburgers, pizza and in his water...it’s good in an apple pie or something but he got a hard on for nutmeg
he's being historically accurate.
@@Maarten258 hey! I love nutmeg! -sandy-
1,796 lb cakes?! Good Lord, man!
I know, the dough seems a bit dense...
Damn you beating everyone to the joke.
Gadzooks! Well, aren't you quite the yohannes factotum... The speed of that quip was impressive and as they say brevity is the soul of wit...
At least it's not £1796 cakes.
+Jwend392 No, no. Jon has 1795 more pound cakes to go. Keep baking!
I don't know how I ended up here but I'm hungry now
I fell down a similar rabbit hole to wind up here and I'm *_really_* wanting those pound cake cookies... 🤤🤤🤤
95TurboSol well I got here from Bushcraft to Vikings food to ships biscuits
Same here
nobody knows how we get here, but it is an interesting channel
that is the beauty of youtube
damn, I'm glad we have electric mixers nowadays! A whole hour of whisking by hand seems like an impossible feat
It nearly is!
Aurora Borealis no arm flab in the 18th century! Lol
Doesn't take that long if you keep your eggs out of the fridge, I know you in the US can't do that.
TheMistLink. I did it. First helping my mom, and then as I got into making bread. It was/is so difficult to mix the dough by hand - it was difficult in my teens and 20's - I wondered how I would do it in my latter years🤔🤗❤
Maz H. Let them get room temperature
'whisk for an hour' no
Either you use an electric mixer, or you bribe/blackmail people around you to help.
Lissie Smith Your arms will be solid, you'll be the envy of everyone in town
Cmon, don’t be lazy
i remember there was a beater that you could manually crank on the side to mix eggs, it was my grandmothers. no reason why you couldn't use it for cake batter too.
No u
Given that you guys are constantly researching and "filling in the blanks" on these recipes, have you ever considered releasing an annotated version of "American Cookery," with modern equivalent measurements, cooking times, and your other observations?
That sounds like a great project, Karen Hess did a version that is similar to this idea.
Rosewater is still commonly used in middle eastern, turkish, indian, etc desserts. I find the best place to get rosewater is in a middle eastern market.
Also, I live in LA and we have an ice cream shop called "Mashti Malone's" their ice cream's and ices use the traditional middle eastern flavors like rosewater, saffron, cardamon, orange blossom, pistachio, etc. The tastes are pretty interesting.
tessimmg it's not middle eastern, It's Iranian! Mashti malones is Iranian, And rose water was first Introduced by the Persians (roses are a Persian flower)
wow, that sounds really good!
wow i want to go there so bad! there's rose ice cream (and lavender ice cream) at the Creole Creamery in NOLA; also lavender ice cream at Salt n' Straw in Portland OR. floral flavors in deserts are absolutely delicious and under appreciated by americans just because they associate them with soap and perfume. too bad for them, more for me!
tessimmg i live in dubai and rose water is EVERY where
I'd really like to try cardamom ice cream... saffron would be interesting too !!
This reminds me of my grandmother's tea cakes, with nutmeg and vanilla that she prepared for us when we came in from school or play
I'm pretty sure I'll probably never make any of these recipes but I still subscribed for the music and the historical information and of course the relaxing format of the series! Thanks for this channel a UA-cam necessity 😊
John: "When Amelia mentions spices she gives us no suggestions, she leaves this up to the cook"
Me: "(Oh finally, for once, no nutmeg in this recipe...)"
John: "We're going to be using.... NUTMEG!!!!"
Me: Sigh....
Hehe. Thanks you made my day.
"Meg, you are a nut!!!"
well nutmeg's such a good spice for desserts
...
I like nutmeg on my porkchops....
well nutmeg's such a good spice for porkchops
I'd probably use cinnamon or.....oregano?
I'm still kinda new to culinary recipes
1796 Pound Cakes? I don't think I could handle gaining that much weight..
worth a try
I had originally read it as "176 Poundcakes." I thought he was going to be testing different recipes. 😂
They didn't back then because of the work they did, and moderation of course. Maybe you could spend a weekend volunteering with something like Habitat for Humanity and take a couple of cakes for the crew. lol
ＮｅｏＶｅｓｕｖｉａｎ 😆 funny sir
"I could eat them all day. I'm not going to." 8:40
Honestly every time I watch a video it's like its the first time I watched you, still makes me want to go to the kitchen and cook up some good food. Everything looks so delicious when it's hand made.
Thanks for the great comment!
this man is the most approachable and humble guys i think i’ve ever seen what an absolutely legend just a real kind of dude
I love this guy forreal just how he found something he truly loves to do and I just am so happy for him.
This is yet another excellent video. I have a few words about leavening here. The leavening is provided by the combination of butter and sugar. The butter is 15% to 20% water. When creamed with sugar to fluffy consistency that water gets absorbed by the sugar. Then, when heated, that water turns to steam to provide some lift. Also, you may find it less laborious to separate the eggs, adding the yolks to the creamed butter and sugar at the point at which you added the spices. You then can whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold them in after adding the flour.
Exactly!
‘I could eat these all day. I’m not going to.’
Me: stand aside
Too much rose water will make these bitter. The deal with the eggs, you can actually separate the egg yolk from the white. and add a just a bit of sugar and whip the whites only. add the yolks to the batter. then folk the egg whites in. This procedure also leavens and lightens the cakes. Like you said don' work these things too much as it makes them tough and they do not rise.
I was thinking along these lines. Why not mix the flour into the creamed butter/sugar (and yolks) and fold in whipped egg whites last?
@@kingdavidapple BECAUSE WE MEN! WE DO NOT FOLLOW THE COOKING RULES!... then we make monstrous food that sometimes tastes okay.. lol
A little cream of tartar so it doesn't go down as well.
You are truly doing a service keeping these old cookbooks alive! Your channel is fascinating, never stop.
Your videos are so much fun!
He's just a damn good host. He sounds excited and passionate.
Right!? You can tell he's really passionate about this stuff and you can't help but let some of that enthusiasm rub off on you
He IS excited and passionate.
this is the purest youtube channel.
Not only that, but the music, the old scenery, camera and video editing is done very well
I find myself coming to your channel when i'm having a bad day. seems to help me a lot. Nice video~! :)
Townsends got mad beef with Emilia Simmons
Now this is what i call authentic video making. It vastly beats all those cliche, annoying channels that are based purely on the personality of the youtube "content creator" in question.
Would you rather fight a 1796lb Cake, or 1796 Pound Cakes?
Trinimac - 1796 cakes definitely... the 1796lb cake would just have to sit on you or roll in your general direction... all those little cakes on t'other hand, it'd be a massacre as you'd just have to stomp around a bunch...
as someone who doesn't consume food through my feet, like the previous lunatic, I'd choose a 1796lb cake.
It would taste better and I could share with alot more people.
@@Edited6 better to share the many cakes with people that way they get their own cake, and you have less work to distribute it.
@@sonniepronounceds-au-ni9287 That's a very fair point. I'd still rather share a better tasting cake though.
Two of my favorite subjects combined into one! 1796 lbs Cake and Swords! Haha! Take that you giant confectionery delight!
Honestly I love watching your videos when I'm having anxiety. It grounds me, interests me, and is informative. Thank you for being you and keeping on doing this!
same, his videos are so happy, calming, always brings a smile on my face
"I could eat them all day. I'm not going to." hahahahahaha so sensible even in humor.
I am so glad I found this channel!!! It's amazing to see how people cooked, baked and what they ate back then!!! Thank you SO very much for bringing it all to life for us!!!
I made a Pound cake with a pound of EVERYTHING except salt and the liquids.
It came out great and very tasty and mouthwatering for more.
There's something really nice about how enthusiastic he is about 18th century recipes. Not sure how I got here but this channel gets an instant subscribe
I thought this was going to be actual cakes from 1796. I guess I have been watching too much steve1989 MRE info.
nice hiss
Let's get this onto a tray.
Nice!
Nice soft texture... I'm really digging the way the cinnamon and nutmeg add a nice bold kick... I can't stop eating these !!
It's a little uh... rancid. Let me get another bite
I really like how passionate you are in describing a lost cuisine that many have forgotten. It's all natural without any R number additives or hopefully GM free.
Just found your channel and I am truly loving you and your content!!
I am so glad you found us, welcome to the channel!
+Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc. Awe thank you! :) I look forward to telling people about this channel! I have always had such a fascination for kitchen/food type things from this period that it is truly a pleasure to see these videos! You explain things so well that it is truly a pleasure to watch, and boy does it make my belly rumble! Lol! Thank you so much, and please keep up the great work!
I'm not sure what it is, but I get a really strong sense of satisfaction when I watch these videos. As I watch, it almost feels as if I lived during those times. It's kind of hard to describe.
I am also reminded of some things I think we have lost in our modern age. Back then, you really had to put effort into things, and because of that, you appreciated everything more. Everything had to be made and built by hand. Craftsmanship was important. Individuals in a community meant more, because people depended on each other to survive. And I could go on.
I guess I just feel like our modern life is so easy and convenient, and because people don't need to depend on each other, there's no real sense of community anywhere anymore.
Another great video, as always! You mentioned that Rose water and Orange Blossom water both seemed to fall out of favor with these sorts of recipes by the late 18th century, were they replaced by vanilla extract by this time, or was vanilla extract contemporary with them by that time as well? Thanks for all the great work you guys do, I always enjoy watching you reconstruct these recipes.
id like to hear about vanilla extract as well
Me too
Yes, vanilla is such a standard ingredient now in baking, it's hard to imagine how relatively recent it must be. I assume that vanilla beans were used before extract became available, but how long before I couldn't begin to guess. Sounds like a perfect detective job for Townsend and Sons!
Vanilla production outside Central America and Mexico didn't occur till the almost the mid 19th century. Being prohibitively expensive even today, most 18th century Europeans probaby never knew what vanilla tasted like, and so never had a reason to include it in a ricepe.
Vanilla wasn't used until after the Civil War. Neither were peanuts. You can substitute with lemon, molasses or coconut.
What I like about these recipes is that they come from a time when there were few or no additives or preservatives used. This makes them valuable to anyone who wants food that is free from theses nasties. It’s time we returned to good wholesome food. Thanks For the videos John.
I came for the Nutmeg, leaving satisfied. :)
Thanks this one brought back a lot of memories. My Grandmother used to make pound cakes for Christmas. She had one that she flavored with lemon. I still love lemon pound cake today. The great thing about pound cakes is that is is like a blank canvas for flavoring you can cover the cake slices with frosting or glaze with fresh fruit.
My grandmother also told me the reason you use a hollow cake pan or a bundt pan is because the cake is more dense than regular cakes and it helps cook them through without drying them out or burning the edges.
I would like to see you do a series of videos of Christmas traditions from the 18th century. My reenactment group celebrates old Christmas at Fort Watauga in Elizabethton, Tennessee. We demonstrate the Christmas traditions of the nationalities of the people who settled in our region.
Thanks for all you do for living history.
Nobody:
Townsends: It's a simple recipe, but quite unbreakable.
Just started this video and already know I'm going to just love it. Pound cake! Love and appreciate the problem solving you go though to figure out and revive all these great recipes for us.
Watching while in bed with flu. Cheers me up no end to watch you cook. What kind of foods would they give to the sick and invalid in the 18th century?
What Brianna said. Although it’s set in the mid 1800s, I remember an extensive section in the book “What Katy Did Next” where they are going to great lengths to procure beef tea for the little girl with Scarlet Fever, and it was under doctor’s orders. I think the practice is much older than that, though.
Milk toast and chamomile tea.
Bread soup
Death
How do you make a posset for a sick person?
John, I don’t think I’ll ever really dislike your videos. You are such an incredible spring of positivity and wholesomeness. Keep it going!!! :)
"Buy them online" sounds just so out of place in this setting haha.
Thanks you for making these videos!
I just love this! I always loved researching historic recipes and collecting old cook books....this is such a treat to watch!
Just started watching .... I'm already hooked! Fascinating series. You have a new subscriber :)
Thank you for subscribing and welcome to the channel!
James, your videos are a delight to watch. I am a big fan of yours. Seriously, if anyone would have told me that I would be watching an 18th century American cooking show after a long day of work, I would have laughed. Yet, here I am... Thanks a lot for all the good work. This must take days of research and preparation every time. Amazing stuff.
+weishitai Thank you for the kind words.
Great post. Thank you so much. It looks like I will have to stock up on nutmeg. It seems to be the "go-to" spice of the 18th century.
You may know this, but buy the whole nutmeg, not ground, it makes a huge difference. You will need a special little grater, they're not expensive.
jas-townsend.com/nutmeg-pocket-grater-p-1526.html if you want to support the Proprietor...
Awesome detective work!! I like hearing how your team figures out vague recipes like this.
Rose water and orange blossom water can be gotten at any bartender supply place, or major chain liquor store such as bevmo.
My family loves this channel and look forward to getting the catalog. We also signed up for the getting started course. This is a lot of fun, and I love the history of the recipes and lifestyle of the 18th century. Thank you.
we called them "tea cakes". thank you for the receipt
yea
Yeah I was there too
Oh my I just love "spices to taste", looks like an universal thing among cookbook writers of all cultures. :)
Since this video is all about making that dough.Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment
community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection
and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly.
He was 71.Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of
celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs.
Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the
Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch.
The grave site was piled high with flours.
Mrs. Buttersworth delivered the eulogy and lovingly described
Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose
quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers.
He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough
on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flakey at times, he still
was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for
millions.
Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, three children: John
Dough, Jane Dough and Dosey Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is
also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.
The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.
Good American culture and traditions like this should be celebrated worldwide.
I enjoyed your video very much.
These remind me of southern tea cakes! Looks delicious.
I love stuff like this. I love learning about the lives of people who lived in different ways and how they did it. I want to be a chef when I grow up and this is really interesting.
"Killick, there! My darling Sophie has just discovered the most fabulous accompaniment to my morning coffee!"
Which, iss getting cold while you're scratch away on that violin....
YES.
master and commander for life!
This series of videos make me very happy to be living in this era of time!
Oh man, those whipped eggs look decadent. Curious to try doing that just to see how it'd scramble. Great video, by the way!
Nice video Jon, I love this stuff. Reminds me of how my grandparents would do some traditional baking. My one Grandmother would use 13 eggs in a sponge cake. It was my favorite.
hi! I would love to hear/learn about soap in the 18th century. I know it's not food, but all housewives and soldiers must have had to make it? Thanks so much for the time and care you put into these videos.
soap would have been made by running rain water thru hardwood ash to make the caustic/lye part. that would have been mixed with whatever fat on hand. they had ways of measuring the strength of the lye, but i don't recall what it was. because there were no stable ways of measuring ingredients, the soap was probably frequently "lye heavy" meaning it would burn and dry the skin. it would have also been a softer soap as the ashes would have made potassium hydroxide as opposed to sodium hydroxide needed for a good hard bar of soap. thankfully, today we have digital scales and lab created sodium hydroxide to make soap with which why handmade soap is soooo much better for your skin that the old detergents that pass for soap at the grocery store. (soapmaker)
Really love your channel. Glad to see there are many more people out there who appreciate these simpler dishes (and by that I mean with ingredients you can actually pronounce)
I for one love to cook in this fashion, if not a more modern version, but with similar results. Nothing beats a nice simple pastry made with what's at hand. (Still make hard tack to get me through rough months)
I thought the rose water (or orange blossom water) was really interesting! I personally don't like the flavor of either, however I think the real problem may have been the amount. Half a gill of rosewater seems like an unbelievable amount! Usually, Mediterranean recipes call for like a half teaspoon as the stuff is super, super strong.
yes, was thinking for a modern palate, perhaps just a very small amount would do
Maybe18th century rose water was not as strong as what can be bought today.
It's possible, but rose water was undoubtedly made the same way as it is today. The only way it wouldn't be as strong is if they watered it down, which I suppose is possible but then I'm not sure it would still be called rose water. It would be like if lemon juice in the 18th century meant equal parts juice from lemons and water.
Many soaps are scented with rose or orange blossom so I always equate the scent/flavor with soap!
You're not adding it to 4 lbs (almost 2 kg!) of ingredients though.
This is one of the coolest cooking channels I've ever seen, good work man!
In the South, we call these tea cakes! They are amazing!
Someone may have already mentioned this, but Whole Foods carries both Rose Water and Orange Blossom Water. Love your videos and your always upbeat demeanor! Thank you for your wonderful channel.
they even have asparagus water
Thanks for the video. As a first generation american (Parents are from Mexico), I find it interesting to see american history . even if it is the food they used to eat.
Thank you for sharing all the different ways to cook it. I'm most excited about the cupcakes.
One thing I’ve learned when subbing to this channel NUTMEG is LIFE
I cant stop watching these, this guy makes all of this look so cool
“In this recipe, we’re going to be using nutmeg”
YOU DON’T SAY. XD
My grandmother spoke lovingly of a neighbor down the street who mixed the butter and sugar by hand for her pound cakes and used a wood-fire oven. She has been trying to capture that flavor and texture ever since.
No choking smoke in this one! Hurray!
Your not the only one cheering!
*you're
theycallthewindmariah じゃ。 Classy
I mean... can't argue with it.
Due to the time period that Jas. Townsend and Son,Inc is portraying Grammar was not standardized until the mid 1800's this can be seen in the journals of Lewis and Clark and many other writings of the day
Ipso facto if he is in character then "Your " is 100 % correct
This is my new favorite thing ever. Combines my favorite things in the world: cooking and history.
My mother and gandmothers always made pound cakes in a rectangular loaf pan, not a round, bunt cake pan.
They told me the name "pound cake" referred to the fact that old recipes included a pound of flour, a pound of eggs, and a pound of sugar (and in some cases, a pound of butter as well). But by the time I was born, most pound cake recipes did not stick to the "a pound of each ingredient" formula.
Gary Cooper - I do love recipes that follow a simple 1:1:1:1 type formula... pie crust has a recipe like that, not that I can remember it at the moment, I do remember tho that substituting some of the water with vodka let's you make a more manageable dough (more liquid) that still comes out nice and flaky...
I always thought it meant the cake was meant to weigh a pound in total.
I love your enthusiasm! Never stop making these videos
I love the smell of 1,796 Pound Cakes in the morning.
Smells like victory.
I love this channel. Is it just me, or has it gained a lot more subscribers in the last year or so? Keep up the good work.
1796 pounds?! that's a heavy cake!
I clicked on this video solely to find this comment. I'm very disappointed about how far I had to scroll :(
I was able to find rose water in Indian grocers. You can mist yourself with it and its very refreshing. Love your passion in these videos.
I think you'd make a great voice actor. You have a lot of personality! Wonderful video, by the by.
Just always so good. Time to go to the website and order more books.
Would rose water be the same flavour as turkish delight? I love that stuff so rose water sounds interesting to me.
Yes, rose is a common flavor of Turkish delights, and the flavoring would be rose water. I've seen it sold in other flavors as well.
You are a man after my own heart, Mr. Townsend!
That pancake recipe looks so good and I want to try it soon.
It is so cool that the choice of spaces are left up to the cook. I happen to have some cinnamon and not Meg in powder form lying around, but I also happen to have cardamom, clothes, and star anise The last time I checked. With those work?
Also, thank you so much for talking about rosewater. I had no idea it was a thing in America’s past because not a whole lot of Americans use it today.
Orange Blossom water also looks like a welcome addition although I’ve never tried it before but would love to do so.
Despite the fact that people had very limited resources back then, I think that diets still had quite a bit of variety.
Thanks for showing us minimally processed foods with simple ingredients! I discovered the channel couple of days ago and I’m hooked.
Sorry boss, I didn't get anything done today. I've spent all my time binge-watching 18th century cooking videos.
I'm not sure how I found you, but I'm loving your channel! I actually made a Cheshire pie yesterday (not quite the same recipe as yours, but I never would have tried to make one if I hadn't found your channel)!
Dear Jas Townsend and Son. Do you know how to make a real marshmallow? I think real ones were made of marsh mallow root extract.
I'm not sure we had it in America. Not sure when it was introduced or shipped over. Now I would like to know.
they were, also used egg whites. they were once used as medicine as marshmallow root is very soothing to the GI tract.
Wow I've never thought of marshmallows as anything but fluffed sugar
you're right! you can actually grow the marsh mallow in your garden. today's marshmallows are obviously not made using the root, and I think even then it was probably used medicinally, rather than a sweet treat. seems I remember seeing an 1800s recipe somewhere. the roots produce a really thick mucilege when put into water, really cool stuff! :)
+The Mud Room nice for the hair instead of silicones. Gives it the same slip.
Great, great recipe! Many thanks!!!!! Your recipe is very nice for urban guys, but it's a rustic peasant recipe, simple as written in the 1796 book.
The pound cake is the good ole "quatre quarts" in France. The cake you learn to make with grandma when you're 7 or 8 years old.
The simplest original recipe is ; you take the eggs, weight it, measure the same weight in flour, sugar and butter. A bit of vanilla, or orange peel or rhum if wanted but if the eggs are very fresh and the butter tasty, no real need. Spices very very optional, that is for the city people, for a rustic guy that spoils the flavor of the eggs and butter.
Beat the eggs with the sugar until white and twice the volume, add the melted butter, after the flour and the levener if you want. Put in a oven and cook.
No thrills, not complications, it's a fast made recipe for a hard pressed mom before the six children are back from school, and she has to feed the little noisy monsters.
That is a recipe from Brittany, but I saw a similar in in the Welsh countryside. Maybe the Scotts and Irish have a similar one. I would not be surprised.
In Brittany quatre quart are made with a twist: 1.5 to 2 % salted butter. Try it, it's even better, I swear.
You could buy it by pieces of 1 kg (2.2 pounds) and 2 kg (4.4 pounds) at the bakery.
In same time you buy a 2.2 pounds bread for eating some shrimps, sea snails, and smoked sardines with well buttered bread. In Brittany you buy the salted butter by pound...
Following these entries, slurp fifty fresh wild small oysters (sold by the hundred) if you like oysters, 2 pints of dry cider or buttermilk and you will feel the need of half a pound of quatre quarts with a good coffee. You're ready now for going to fish on the boat, you won't have any hypoglycemia.
You can eat the pound cake with grated black chocolate on the slice, it's a favorite of the children. Take care this cake is very buttery and its butter gets everywhere.
Nutmeg is Townsends Equivalents of EMTs Bacon
Your channel has really made being handicapped with a 40 dollar a month food budget easier. Who knew I could eat so much out of my yard!
Are there any noodle type recipes?
Yes, we have three different episodes that use vermicelli which is one of the pastas most referenced in 18th century English cookery. Here is the first one: ua-cam.com/video/PtZw9-uhG58/v-deo.html
Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc. Thank you very much
Rose water is also really easy to make if you can grow or access some rose bushes. Lots of recipes for it online, and information on which roses would lend the best taste.
Nutmeg again? Put some suet and mushroom ketchup in there as well.
cinamin?
caraway is all the way
You do realize, your personal taste doesn't alter what people enjoyed hundreds of years ago? If you don't like those flavors, use those you do, no one has a gun to your head.
BugPope it's obvious you don't know anything about nutmeg, it's a spice used for flavouring. Grenada in the Caribbean is a producer of nutmeg, it's used in small amounts. You crack the shell to release the nut, you then grate the nut, a teaspoon or half that amount is all that is needed. Good for cakes, bread and drinks.
@@bonitaweekes4366 whoooooosh
The roses used for rose water are discussed in "Tales from the Green Valley" episode 11, starting at minute 8:13. How to distill them is shown in "Tales from the Green Valley" episode 5, starting at minute 10:57. I find commercial rose water strong, and use it as I would vanilla. I've used a gill cup for test weight of small seed samples in agricultural research (gill cups are hard to find, as the standard volume now is 0.5 L). It's interesting to see gill and jack measures used in cooking. Thank you.
It just dawned on me where the name, "Jason", came from. Jas.'-son.
you just blew my mind
No, unfortunately. The name Jason actually predates the English language. The oldest reference to the name I know of is the Ancient Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts searching for the Golden Fleece, but the name is likely even older.
Don't ruin this for us!
Thompson means toms son
James is Hebrew, like all common "English" names. The OP may be right.
It gave me quite a laugh when the background music paused as he gave the cake a taste, only to pick back up for Jon to give his verbal seal of approval. Little editing details like that are wonderful.
Enjoyed alot keep it up Rob
Thanks!
ANOTHER SIMPLE DOABLE RECIPE. FUN TO WATCH AND WILL GIVE IT A TRY. YOUR CHANNEL IS AWESOME.