
Savvy Canadian bakers have been pleasing picky palates with White Rose flour since 1880. Published in 1915, this classic cookbook includes recipes for bread, cakes, cookies, crullers, pastries and a few non-baked extras to boot. It’s a fascinating look at how Canadians baked and cooked a century ago. View it online or downloaded it for free at archive.org (see link below)

The recipes aren’t for beginners, however. Instructions for the Handy Cake includes a list of ingredients and the instructions “Bake in 1 large tin or 2 small ones. Ice with chocolate”. The Hickory Nut Cake just below that has no instructions whatsoever, just ingredients. Cookie recipes might say “roll thin and cook in a quick oven”. Temperatures and times are rarely mentioned… presumably most bakers didn’t have electric ovens, which were still quite new.


You can find the White Rose Flour Cookbook here:
https://archive.org/details/McGillLibrary-rbsc-cookbook-coll-TX763F581915-18659
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