Dutch Country Cooking: Family Casserole and Amish Cake

By Kevin Williams

I recently received a copy of "Dutch Country Cooking" in the mail. I grabbed a used copy for $1.50 off Amazon.  The book was published by Swiss Country Enterprises in Sugarcreek, Ohio in 1976.  This is a gift and novelty business in Sugarcreek which still exists to this day.

The book is a quirky collection of recipes scoured, I'm assuming, from the kitchens and hills surrounding Sugarcreek.  There isn't much context to the recipes.  For instance, the book doesn't have an introduction or any sort of context.

But, wow, when you flip through this book you really do get the idea that you are peeking into someone's old recipe box.  Of course, as Amish cookbooks are wont to do there are some head-scratchers and quirky ones like a recipe for "Jacqueline Kennedy's Baked Beans."  But then there is a recipe for "Aunt Lizzie's Jelly Doughnuts" which just seems like, from the way it is written, that it is an old, old family recipe that is probably a true treasure. Ditto for "Mel's Hamburger Roll" which is like "roll of seasoned hamburger."  It sounds amazing.  I'll share more of this book's recipes in the weeks ahead.

Related Recipe:  5 Amish Recipes With Funny Names

There are still a few used copies of this book available on Amazon for 3.99 which you can order via the affiliate link here.

Some recipes are just written out in instructions like this one for FAMILY CASSEROLE:

FAMILY CASSEROLE:  Fry 2 - 3 pounds of hamburger. Put into a casserole or roaster.  Use enough sliced potatoes for the size of your family, a few sliced onions, then a layer of sliced carrots.  Mix 2 or 3 cans of cream of chicken (or mushroom) soup with the same amount of milk.  Pour over all and top with bread crumbs.  Bake about 1 1 /2 hours at 350. Very good!

Other recipes directly pay homage to heritage and are written in recipe format, like this  "Amish Cake"

Amish Cake

 

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Ingredients

• 1 pound brown sugar
• 1 /4 pound butter
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 cups pastry flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Instructions

1. Mix the first two ingredients and then add altenately the buttermilk, vanilla, soda, and flour.
2. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
3. Mix brown sugar,butter, and nuts and spread on cake.
4. Put cake under broiler until it bubbles.

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