Baking History

Three recipes that revive Revolutionary-era tastes and traditions

Photo is courtesy of the Old Sturbridge Village Facebook page

As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday this summer, few things honor our national heritage more deliciously than Revolutionary-era recipes. This week, we’re sharing Mary Washington’s Gingerbread, Onion Pye, and Whiskey Truffles—three recipes that connect us to the tastes and traditions that sustained early Americans during the founding of our nation.

We’re providing the recipe for Mary Washington’s Gingerbread free to all of our readers, but only paid subscribers can access the recipes for Onion Pye and Whiskey Truffles. Bon appétit!

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Mary Washington’s Gingerbread

Recipe courtesy of the Mary Washington House Museum Store in Fredericksburg, Virginia

This richly spiced gingerbread recipe is attributed to Mary Ball Washington, George Washington’s mother. It blends molasses, brown sugar, butter, warm milk, brandy, and warm spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace. The batter consists of orange juice and zest for brightness, raisins for texture, and cream of tartar and baking soda for leavening. Serve it with homemade whipped cream, lemon sauce, or powdered sugar.

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Onion Pye and Whiskey Truffles

Onion Pye

This modern adaptation of Onion Pye, created in 2003 by Lori Trolan, draws directly from Hannah Glasse’s 1747 cookbook The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy—a bestseller widely used in British colonies.

Layered with thinly sliced potatoes, onions, apples, beaten eggs, butter, and warming spices like mace and nutmeg, it reflects the era’s savory-sweet pies that combined available produce in a hearty, economical dish. Such recipes were common in George Washington’s household, embodying the flavors and techniques of the country’s founding era.

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Whiskey Truffles

George Washington developed a strong fondness for drinking chocolate. He first ordered 20 pounds in 1757 and continued purchasing it regularly throughout his life, including a 50-pound order just months before his death in 1799. The Washingtons enjoyed it primarily as a warm breakfast beverage consisting of grated chocolate frothed with milk or water, then sweetened with sugar, and often spiced or fortified with wine or brandy.

This truffle recipe revives 18th-century colonial chocolate traditions using American Heritage Chocolate’s Milk Chocolate Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix*, which is modeled after the drinking chocolate served at Mount Vernon with notes of vanilla, cinnamon, and orange. The truffles blend whiskey, cream, and chocolate into a ganache that can be rolled in the cocoa mix and/or a mixture of confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon.

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Thanks for reading, and remember to always … take the long way home.