Homemade holidays: 12 days of vintage sweets Posted: Last Modified: Updates

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/12/2022 (1393 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

To cap off the Free Press’s anniversary year, we’re plumbing the archives for holiday recipes of yore. Follow along until Dec. 23 for a sampling of the sweet, strange and trendy desserts to grace our pages and your tables over the last 150 years.

 

Mulled apple juice delivers holiday cheer

Mulled apple juice delivers holiday cheer

Posted:

Cinnamon, cloves and warm apples — throw a pot of this mulled apple juice on the stove and your home will be smelling like holiday cheer in no time.

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Divinity fudge answers prayers for those with a sweet tooth

This marshmallowy fudge recipe from 1956 is nice to look at, but a mess to make. (Photo by Eva Wasney)

Posted:

Divinity fudge? More like a sticky, marshmallowy nightmare. I’m not sure the task of cleaning rock hard egg whites and syrup from the beaters of my mixer was worth the pretty, but cloyingly sweet results of this recipe (which I had to make twice because the first batch was too runny to cut).

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Frosty, festive inspiration from 1930s ‘hand freezer’

Eva Wasney / Winnipeg Free Press Wondering what to serve for holiday dessert? Mrs. Madeline Day’s advice, straight from 1936, is the ‘very popular choice, ice cream.’

Posted:

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Christmas ice cream. No? Well, then I’d like to take this opportunity to push for the revival of the ice cream-as-holiday-dessert trend of the 1930s.

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Day 4: Cranberry meringue pie

Eva Wasney / Winnipeg Free Press This cranberry meringue pie recipe was published in 1922.

Posted:

Cranberry propaganda was having a heyday 100 years ago. In 1922, the pages of the Free Press were littered with advertisements for the tart red berries, with promotions ramping up, understandably, around the holiday season.

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Day 3: Cocoanut caramels deliver a sweet and simple tropical treat

This Cocoanut Caramels recipe ran during the holidays in 1909. (Eva Wasney / Winnipeg Free Press)

Posted:

With lightly browned sugar, lemon extract and coconut — or rather cocoanut, as per the original recipe — these sweet and simple treats are decidedly tropical.

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Day 2: Plum pudding recipe indulges in old-fashioned passion for dried fruit

Eva Wasney/Winnipeg Free Press This plum pudding recipe published in the Free Press in 1893 was billed as the ‘genuine old English article.’

Posted:

For the first several decades of the Free Press’s existence, holiday recipes were decked with all manner of dried fruits and booze. If it wasn’t fruitcake, it was plum pudding.

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Day 1: Fruitcake recipe fit for a queen

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Murrell family fruitcake has served as a Christmas and wedding tradition over the years.

Posted:

Have you heard the one about monkey soup? How about sailing through the Canary Islands? Or the time a family member swiped the recipe for Queen Victoria’s wedding cake from the castle kitchen?

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To see our archive of previous years of holiday baking click here.

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Irmie’s Honey Spice Drops perfect for a cookie party
Eva Wasney / Winnipeg Free Press This recipe for Irmie’s Honey Spice Drops was published in 1975 by Free Press food writer Evelyn Larson.
History

Updated on Wednesday, December 14, 2022 7:50 AM CST: Adds cranberry meringue pie recipes

Updated on Thursday, December 15, 2022 8:00 AM CST: Adds new recipe

Updated on Sunday, December 18, 2022 9:49 AM CST: Adds new recipe

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TED MCGRATH / FLICKR The Roy Wilson Suspension Bridge crosses the Wabigoon River near Dryden, Ont. It is named for Roy Wilson, who ran Wilson’s Business Solutions.

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In Dryden, Ont., a 34-metre suspension bridge crosses the Wabigoon River rapids. It is named after a man who paid for a quarter of the bridge himself. A plaque recognizes Roy Wilson’s “many contributions to City Revitalization” and mentions his 40 years in the Rotary Club, whose motto is “service above self”.

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Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Files Winnipeg School Division superintendent Matt Henderson says his division’s quiet rooms help students calm down. Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Local - media literacy Free Press's media literacy project, Earl Grey School Photo of Matt Henderson, Superintendent, WSD, talking with students in the literacy program at the press conference Wednesday. Education minister Tracy Schmidt, Winnipeg School Division superintendent Matt Henderson and Winnipeg Free Press Editor Paul Samyn, take part in the launch of Media Literacy Resource held at Earl Grey School Wednesday. Winnipeg School Division (WSD) is proud to announce the launch of the Winnipeg Free Press Media Literacy Resource, a dynamic new toolkit designed to help students think critically about media. Developed in partnership with the Manitoba government and the Winnipeg Free Press, the resource brings authentic journalism into classrooms to deepen inquiry, critical reading and powerful writing across grades. Photos for both Melissa who is writing a bigger feature on media this week for 498 and also a local education story by Maggie. Oct 29, 2025

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Reverend Gary Paterson, right, and his partner Tim Stevenson clap and beat on a pot with a wooden spoon as part of a tribute to health care workers in Vancouver, B.C. Tuesday, March 24, 2020. Thousands of people in Vancouver's west end have been going out on their balconies to applaud the front line heath care workers each night at 7pm. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

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VANCOUVER - At the same time each night, Rev. Gary Paterson and about half a dozen other neighbours have begun gathering at least two metres apart on the rooftop patio of their building in Vancouver's west end.

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