“MOONSHINE” Dessert from Dr. Price’s 1887 Cook Book

If you read my posts of a few days ago, I have been putting up some recipes from an old cook book which belonged to my great grandmother, Rebecca Frances Smith McMenus.  The cakes, pies, muffins and other baked goods give very few instructions and even the measurement of ingredients are somewhat vague as they measure by a teacupful, a coffee cupful, and then a cupful.  No heating instructions since things were usually baked in a wood stove.  The last pages of the book have recipes for frostings and other desserts.  This one is particularly interesting since it is called “moonshine.”  It calls for beating the egg whites for more than thirty minutes!  No idea what a “broad plate” was supposed to be.  I intend to try this in the near future and will report back.  See below.

MOONSHINE

This dessert combines a pretty appearance with palatable flavor, and is a convenient substitute for ice cream.  Beat the whites of six eggs in a broad plate to a very stiff froth, and then add gradually six tablespoonfuls powdered sugar (to make it thicker use more sugar up to a pint), beating for not less than thirty minutes, and then beat in about one heaping tablespoonful of preserved peaches, cut in tiny bits, and set on ice until thoroughly chilled.  In serving, pour in each saucer some rich cream sweetened and flavored with vanilla, and on the cream place a liberal portion of the moonshine.  This quantity is enough for seven or eight persons.