15 Depression Era Desserts (2024)

FAQs

What unusual dessert became popular during the Great Depression? ›

Depression cake is a type of cake that was commonly made during the Great Depression. The ingredients include little or no milk, sugar, butter, or eggs, because the ingredients were then either expensive or hard to obtain.

Celery soup mixed with tuna fish and mashed potatoes. A salad of corned beef, gelatin and canned peas. Baked onion stuffed with peanut butter. Those are just some of the recipes Americans turned to during the Great Depression, when many families struggled to eat enough nutritious food.

This depression era cake is made with the usual chocolate cake suspects like flour, sugar, and cocoa minus the typical rich ingredients like eggs and butter which were harder to come by in those days.

Ashure (Noah's Pudding) is thought to be the oldest dessert in the world, first made by Noah after his fabled landfall at Mt Ararat. It is a delightful mix of dried fruit, nuts, grains and beans (yes, beans!) made in Turkey and all over the Middle East.

Perhaps one hobo acquired a few carrots from a charitable person, while another stole an onion off a box car, while another had a few potatoes from a farm he worked on briefly… From this concoction, a “hobo stew,” also known as “Mulligan/Mulligatawney stew” was born and became the traditional food of the hobo.

Potatoes were also inexpensive and used extensively. Some meals even used both. One of these meals was called the Poor Man's Meal. It combined potatoes, onions, and hot dogs into one hearty, inexpensive dish, which was perfect for the hard times people had fallen on.

During the week, if there was a dessert, it would be a piece of corn bread with some molasses poured on top or some fruit. In addition, slave cabins rarely had the cooking equipment or appliances necessary to adequately bake a pie.

What did the pioneers eat for dessert? ›

Supper: To supplement the wagon food supply, pioneers hunted turkey, prairie hen, bison and duck. They also fished and gathered local fruits & vegetables. For dessert a pie made with dried apples.

A bizarre form of counter-magic, the witch cake was a supernatural dessert used to identify suspected evildoers. In cases of mysterious illness or possession, witch-hunters would take a sample of the victim's urine, mix it with rye meal and ashes and bake it into a cake.

The next cake is called “Les Miserables”, which has nothing to do with the article written by French writer Hugo, but is a traditional cake from Belgium. It is said that at that time, more water was used to make custard sauce instead of milk, which meant “tragic”.

There are a few theories as to how it got its name. One, it's the decadent counterpart to angel food cake. Two, it's sinfully delicious. Finally, devil's food cake came about during a time when food that was spicy, rich, or dark was described as deviled, like deviled ham and deviled eggs.

Radio programs, music, dancing and dance marathons, and cinema were popular forms of entertainment during the Great Depression. Many people affected by the economic downturn sought inexpensive ways to pass the time and distract themselves from the challenging circ*mstances.

The company was named "Lego" in 1934, a contraction from the Danish phrase "leg godt", meaning "play well". Coincidentally, 'lego' means 'I put together' in Latin. During the Great Depression, Christiansen began producing miniature versions of his products as design aids, which eventually inspired him to produce toys.

Prince Philip's Favourite Dessert was Crepe Islandaise.