While most Victorian recipe articles focused on a type of dessert (e.g., puddings), some were based on a particular ingredient or theme, such as "American foods" or recipes made from stale bread. This section brings you a selection of "themed" collections of recipes, which often include main courses and side dishes as well as desserts.

Our New Cookbook: Ice Cream (Peterson's, 1866)

Some Neglected Articles of Food, by Dora de Blaquière (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1877)

Some American foods, including "mush," Indian meal pudding, ginger-cake, hoe-cake, and various recipes for pumpkin.

Home-Made Ices, by Lizzie Heritage (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1883)

Home-Made Ices, by Phyllis Browne (Girl's Own Paper, 1891)

One could still obtain an ice-cream "freezer" and use these very same recipes today!

Some Foreign Sweet Dishes and How to Make Them (Girl's Own Paper, 1891)

A collection of German and Austrian treats.

Some Culinary Dainties for Bazaars, by Deborah Platter (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1893)

Angels' Food, by Dora de Blaquière (Girl's Own Paper, 1894)

A host of "angelic" dishes, including various types of angel cakes, angel custard, angel fruit cakes, and even angel water.

Some Eastern Sweets, by Lina Orman Cooper(Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

Such tasty dishes as Coconut Pudding, Indian Fritters, Leechee Cream, Plaintain Fritters, and Lemon Honey.

Recipes for the Month (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

While this collection offers some delicious-sounding main courses, it's the desserts that carry the day: Rice Shape, Bread-and-Butter Pudding, Raspberry Cream Tart, and Green Gooseberry Jam, among others!

Some Little-Known Sweets on Old Methods (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

A host of old-fashioned puddings, including Larkin Pudding, Vermicelli Pudding and Queen's Pudding, plus cakes and other desserts.

Some Nice Ways of Using Up Stale Bread, by Susan M. Shearman (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

Bread puddings, tea cakes and fritters made of leftover sandwiches.

Twenty-five Desserts for Every Stomach, by Mrs. S.T. Rorer (Ladies Home Journal, 1898)

Two Recipes for September (Girl's Own Paper, 1901)

Pickled onions and preserving lettuce stalks (as a dessert!)

A Few Nice Moulds and How to Make Them, by E.J. Jones (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

Mould with cherries, milk jelly, apple jelly, chocolate cream, custard-cheese mould, beef mould and chicken mould.