In honor of President Lincoln’s birthday today, I decided to make a recipe from the cookbook-“Miss Leslie’s Complete Cookery” that once belonged to Mrs. Lincoln during her time at home in Springfield, Illinois.

The cookbook was written by Eliza Leslie and was originally published in 1837, was considered one the most popular American cookbooks during that era.

In the book written by Jean H. Baker titled Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography,” Jean H. Baker talks about Mrs. Lincoln’s life in the kitchen:

…By 1851, after nearly ten years of housekeeping, Mary Lincoln had progressed to an advanced version of Miss Leslie’s Cookery… there were recipes for everything from family soup to invalid cookery of beef tea and blackberry preserve…Because she had not learned the vices of sugar and, like everyone in Springfield, innocently believed it the “most nourishing substance in nature,” she spent hours making pudding, cakes, candies and cookies…”

Because Mrs. Lincoln had a copy of the cookbook and used it frequently, I thought it fittingly to use a recipe from the cookbook to make something special in honor of Mr. Lincoln’s birthday today. O

One of the recipes in the cookbook was for Apple Bread Pudding.

President Lincoln was known to enjoy apples, and he often ate the apples with milk as a light lunch. He once explained his love for apples to a fellow Illinois lawyer, Charles S. Zane: “Apples agree with me; a large percent of professional men abuse their stomachs by imprudence in drinking and eatin and in that way health is injured and ruined and life is shortened.”

Here is a modern version of Apple Bread Pudding.

Apple Bread Pudding

Ingredients

12 small baking apples (I used Granny Smith)

1 large lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup unsalted butter (will need more for greasing the baking dish)

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 cup of bread crumbs (I used Panko)

Cream Sauce

Ingredients

1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract – I used vanilla.

Directions

Pour heavy whipping cream into a small pot and warm slowly over medium heat, whisking occasionally as it warms.

When cream begins to boil, whisk in powdered sugar, nutmeg, and almond or vanilla extract.

Remove from heat. Strain the sauce through a mesh strainer or sieve into a serving dish.

Serve warm sauce over hot slices of Apple Bread Pudding. This is not a thick sauce, and it will need to be stirred from time to time to keep a skin from forming on the surface. Best if served immediately.

Directions for the Bread Pudding

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and core the apples, then slice them very thin. Place the slices in a large mixing bowl. Pour lemon juice and lemon zest over the

apples along with the nutmeg. Toss the apples with a spatula till evenly coated by the lemon juice, zest, and nutmeg.

Chop the unsalted butter into several very small chunks.

Grease a 9×13 baking dish with unsalted butter. Create a single thick layer of apple slices on the bottom of the dish, covering the entire bottom of the dish.

Sprinkle a generous layer of brown sugar on top of the apples.

Dot a few bits of butter across the top of the brown sugar.

Sprinkle a thin layer of bread crumbs on top of the butter.

Repeat this process of layering– apple slices, brown sugar, butter, and bread crumbs– until the dish is full. Finish the dish with a thin layer of breadcrumbs.

Bake the pudding uncovered for 50-60 minutes until the edges brown, the pudding is cooked through, and the apples are soft. Serve warm topped with cream sauce, if desired.