In 1906, The Frederick News printed a whimsical explanation for the ‘bakers dozen.’ A Dutch baker in the 1600’s bickered with an “ugly hag” over whether a dozen was twelve or thirteen, stingily sending the woman away with only twelve New Year’s cakes. His shop became cursed until the baker conceded that a dozen was thirteen.
The New Year’s Cakes (cookies were often known as cakes or “little cakes”) mentioned in this story would most likely be cookies bearing close relation to Speculaas, a spiced biscuit made around St. Nicholas Day in early December in the Netherlands and Belgium, and around Christmas in Germany.
Another similar but thicker molded biscuit, the German “Springerle”, are flavored with anise and also made around the Christmas holidays. These types of cookies bear close relation to gingerbread, which was never related to bread at all. Much like the confused etymology of scrapple, the word gingerbread originally came from the word ’gingerbrar’, simply referring to the preserved ginger used to spice these kinds of cookies.
The Montrose Democrat, PA, January 4th 1912
Caraway seed cakes had long been a customary food to commemorate the harvest in Europe. Harvest customs naturally drifted and morphed into Christmas celebrations, which in turn stretched into “New Years.”
Dutch New Years cakes were popular throughout the northeast united states but were most commonly associated with New York. Although the cookies appear in bestselling cookbook author Eliza Leslie’s 1828 book as “apees cakes”, her 1851 book “Directions for Cookery” refers to the same recipe as “New York Cakes,” noting that they are also known as “New Year Cakes.”
According to historian William Woys Weaver in “A Quaker Woman’s Cookbook,” Leslie’s recipe traces to the cooking school of Elizabeth Goodfellow in Philadelphia. Earlier versions appear as far back as the first American cookbook published by Amelia Simmons in 1796.
Amelia Simmons “American Cookery” 1796
Eliza Leslie’s many books were wildly popular and influential (and in fact her own parents were from Cecil County), but Weaver drew a closer connection between Maryland-born Goodfellow, whose husband was a Quaker clockmaker, and Quaker cookbook author Elizabeth Ellicott Lea. “Lea’s contact with Goodfellow may have been indirect, but it is clear that many of Lea’s friends and acquaintances had attended the cooking school,” resulting in many versions of Goodfellow recipes making their way into Lea’s book.
“For rural Quakers, [these cookies were] a special treat for Children at New Year’s… related to New Year’s cookies that were associated with the Dutch settlers in Colonial New York. Those cookies were often shaped with elaborate carved molds. The leavening in them was potash or pearl ash.” – William Woys Weaver, “A Quaker Woman’s Cookbook”
Dutch cookie mold for sale on etsy
I actually first noticed this recipe in a handwritten manuscript at the Maryland Historical Society; a personal cook-book belonging to Becky Amos, wife of a Baltimore bricklayer. That recipe, it turned out, was copied verbatim from Lea’s. That’s how these things work sometimes.
Mrs. B.C. Howard also published a nearly identical recipe in her 1873 book. Being the high-roller that she was, there is a little more butter, and a pinch of salt added. She also called for ‘soda’ instead of saleratus.
Although all three of my Maryland recipes opted for caraway seeds, I followed my palate and opted for coriander. If no less authority than Joyce White says its authentic then I’m in the clear.
I did have a New Years brunch and these cookies proved popular with adult humans, babies, and dogs.
Recipe:
- 2 c flour
- 1 c sugar
- 8oz butter, softened
- ½ tsp baking soda dissolved in…
- .25 to .5 pint milk
- .25 tsp salt
- caraway seeds, or crushed coriander seeds, grated lemon peel, nutmeg, etc. to taste
Preheat oven to 400°. Cream together butter and sugar. Gradually blend in flour (mixed with salt) until dough resembles pebbles. GRADUALLY add milk until all ingredients are moistened and dough forms a solid ball that is no longer sticky to touch. You may not need all of the milk! I used too much then had to add a ton of flour. I blame Mrs. B.C. Howard for that one. One 1890s recipe uses only 3tb of milk.
Roll thin and cut into shapes. If desired, stamp with designs or use a patterned rolling pin. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned on bottoms.
