Day 47: Muffins

Today was one of those days where I really just wanted to skip cooking from The New Galt Cook Book (1898). This was my seventh day at work and a long weekend so I’m tired. But so were women in the 1890’s and they didn’t have frozen meals or fast food restaurants to fall back on. I’ll keep going. I’ve decided to make Muffins using Mrs. Hepburn of Preston’s recipe.

I wasn’t sure how to approach this recipe. I decided to put the dry ingredients in a bowl and then add the wet ones. I started with the two cups of flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp cream of tartar. I added the 1 tbsp of sugar and 1 tsp salt next. I put 2 eggs in a bowl and stirred them with a fork. I melted the butter and added 1 tbsp of the melted butter and 1 cup of milk to the eggs. I mixed them together and then added the liquid ingredients to the dry ones. I stirred and realized I had a dough rather than a batter.  I went ahead and filled muffin cups with the dough. I baked them for 20 minutes at 350 F.

There seems to be just one Hepburn family in Preston Ontario in 1891. Therefore I think Isabella Stark, wife of William David Hepburn, is the woman who contributed this recipe. It is thanks to Waterloo Region Generations that I know her maiden name. William was a shoe manufacturer and the couple had three children.  Their only son died when he was 39 of chronic nephritis (kidney disease). The younger daughter married in 1891 and the elder daughter seems not to have married. It looks like Isabella might have died in the early 20th century while her husband lived to be 90 years old.

The muffins were okay. They were more like a tea biscuit than a muffin. There’s nothing wrong with them but there is nothing special about Mrs. Hepburn’s recipe for muffins.

MUFFINS
Mrs. Hepburn, Preston

One cup milk, one tablespoonful melted butter, one tablespoonful white sugar, one even teaspoonful salt, two eggs, two cups sifted flour, one-half teaspoonful soda, one teaspoonful cream tartar.