Some of my favorite scenes in HBO’s The Gilded Age involve the preparation and display of sumptuous food. Nothing says dripping in money like elaborate sugar sculptures, sumptuous Bavarian puddings and, of course, a six-foot-tall wedding cake. One wonders, were the holiday desserts of the time just as fabulous as those Newport picnic spreads or the 5th Avenue formal dinner offerings?

Last holiday season I wrote about some delicious Gilded Age recipes found in Becky L. Diamond’s The Gilded Age Cookbook HERE. So, you can imagine my excitement when I discovered Diamond had written a follow-up volume completely dedicated to holiday desserts from the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook is a treasure trove of recipes as well as holiday trivia from the late 19th century.

DID YOU KNOW?

For example, did you know that some people think John Jacob Astor was the inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Diamond recalls how the two dined together (Dickens was 30, Astor 79) when Dickens was touring America in 1842 and Scrooge made his debut in December of 1843.

“Although we may never know the true inspiration; with Astor’s vast wealth and often stingy nature, the similarities are there,” writes Diamond.

Diamond has curated quite a few interesting interludes about Gilded Age holidays that answer questions you might have had. For example, have you ever wondered how all those candles on Christmas trees didn’t set every house aflame? Ingenious weighted candle holders were part of the solution as was a dedicated candle watcher equipped with a bucket and sponge.

When were the first electric Christmas lights lit at the White House? Hint: it was in 1894 during that president’s second (nonconsecutive)  term.*
Having only read about plum puddings in Dickens and other literature of the time, I didn’t realize that making it was often a family affair with family members taking turns stirring up the ingredients on “Stir-up Sunday.”

And learning about Black Women’s Clubs and Black Aristocracy society events like the concluding ball thrown in Season 3 of The Gilded Age was fascinating.

RECIPES

As to the recipes, it’s clear that Diamond has done her research. She references the original 19th century recipe books and writers, but thankfully, she’s also updated ingredients and techniques to accommodate modern cooks and kitchens.

Once again, my young grandchildren were around to help make the sugar cookie-like Frosted Christmas cookies and though they had the unusual (for modern times) additions of currents, they puffed up nicely and were happily consumed. Diamond explains that these were often made with animal shaped cookie cutters, so I purchased a little woodland creature set that made for a charming neon-colored menagerie (the grandkids had a heavy hand in tinting the icing.)

The pretty lemon-flavored Christmas Cake studded with dried fruit and candied citron had a nice crumb and looked pretty baked up in a decorate mold like what Diamond shows in the book.

Many of the recipes reminded me of those my grandmother made like popcorn balls or “penuche.” Diamond’s recipe for this brown sugar fudge includes raisins—something my grandmother’s recipe didn’t—but it looks easy to make and again, delicious.

As a non-drinker, I’m intrigued by her non-alcoholic Children’s Plum Pudding, steamed in a crockpot no less!

And that Fudgy Chocolate cake or Doughnut Hole Croquembouche made with pre-made glazed donut holes look like winners for my own Christmas dinner table.

So, if you, too, are a fan of those dinner scenes in The Gilded Age, channel your inner Monsieur Baudin and pick up Diamond’s charming cookbook to create some of the festive offerings of the Gilded Age time and holiday season.

* President Grover Cleveland and his young wife—the former Francis Folsom—embraced this new technology and replaced the traditional candles with a string of red, white, and blue electric lights.