Born in Marlboro, Mass., on July 28, 1849, Flora Ann Martin Ellithorp married Frank B. Holden of the adjacent town of Hudson on Nov. 22, 1871. The couple had three children: Marion Carlton, Fred Tracy, and Beatrice Spurr. Flora was just 35 when she died of liver cancer on May 24, 1885.
Holden's manuscript receipt book includes recipes for a variety of baked goods and desserts, but primarily cakes and custards. Although some of the recipes may be original to her or her family, others are clearly attributed to other writers and some may have been derived from published cookbooks. Among the recipes are some of the most popular dishes of the era, including Parker House rolls, Washington pie, and Graham bread.
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Born in Marlboro, Mass., on July 28, 1849, Flora Ann Martin Ellithorp married Frank B. Holden of the adjacent town of Hudson on Nov. 22, 1871. The couple had three children: Marion Carlton (1873-1968, later married to Charles H. Lockey), Fred Tracy (1876-1963), and Beatrice Spurr (1881-1982, later married to Joseph Henry Turner). Flora was only 35 when she died of liver cancer on May 24, 1885.
Flora Ellithorp Holden's manuscript receipt book includes recipes for a variety of baked goods and desserts, but primarily cakes and custards. Although some of the recipes may be original to her or her family, others are clearly attributed to other writers and some may have been derived from published cookbooks. Among the recipes are some of the most popular dishes of the era, including Parker House rolls, Washington pie, and Graham bread.
Among the recipes included in the book are:
Cakes:
Corn starch cake, sponge cake, cream cakes, gold cake, cider cake, black cake, French cake, "New York fancy," composition cake, "Martha's pork cake," seed cake, vets cake, bread cake, fruit cake, ocean cake, lilly cake, beautiful cake, raised cake, Rocky Mountain cake,"Charlie's cake," lemon cake, loaf cake, coffee cake, breakfast cakes, apple cake, molasses cake, "Miss Maynard's white cake, election cake, hickory nut cake.
Puddings and custards:
Soft custard, arrowroot pudding, Queen of pudding, Indian pudding, wedding cake pudding, apple pudding, sponge pudding, poor man's pudding, cottage pudding, Troy pudding, floating island, French custard.
Other items:
Graham bread (several versions), "Aunt Josies cookies," "Aunt Esther's squash biscuit," Washington pie, lemon pie, jelly rolls, "Delia's buns," "Delia's brown bread," pop overs, fritters, Charlotte Ruche, doughnuts, "Laura's buns," Parker House rolls, gingerbread; meat pie, chili sauce, fish salad, pickled eggs, and gravy for boiled poultry.
A series of inscriptions on the front end paper indicate that the cookbook was passed down in the family. Flora signed the page with her maiden name (e.g., presumably prior to 1871), followed successively by her daughters Marion C. Lockey (dated 1896) and Beatrice H. Turner (1949), and then by Turner's daughter, Marion T. Kesseli (1968). Although none of the recipes themselves are signed, it appears from differences in the handwriting that at least some may have been provided by one or more Flora's daughters, most likely (assuming the dates are accurate) Marion.
The collection is open for research.
Acquired from Steve Finer, Mar. 2009 (2000-050).
Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, Aug. 2014.
Cite as: Flora A. M. Holden Cookbook (MS 488 bd). Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst Libraries.
