We've written our new book, Northern Comfort: The New England Baking Tradition (New York University Press, 2026), in part to correct a number of misconceptions about New England's historic foods, especially its baked goods. Because of a nostalgia-driven movement of the 1870s to 1920s called the "colonial revival" and led by prominent New Englanders of Yankee (English Protestant) heritage, the varied and delectable foodways of early New England were reduced to a few representative dishes. In fact, these were colonial revival reworkings of older dishes, and some were essentially inventions. All were made sweeter and richer to suit Victorian tastes. So, for example, the old "rye and Indian" bread that was the mainstay of the New England diet for centuries--made with rye flour and cornmeal because wheat didn't grow well in New England--was turned into a molasses-laden steamed loaf. This bread was called "Steamed Brown Bread" and it was raised with the new chemical leaveners rather than the traditional yeast of rye and Indian bread. Sometimes raisins were added to the batter to make the bread even sweeter. It was often called "Steamed Boston Brown Bread," the placename giving the dish greater cachet.
It's not that we dislike all of the inventions of the colonial revival--we even include a recipe for steamed brown bread in our book, along with a baked version and brown bread muffins! But we also offer readers and home bakers a much deeper dive into the historic cuisine, with dishes from the elegant "manchet," an aristocrat's bread from Old England, to a layered and frosted sponge cake recipe that first appeared in print during the Civil War. In between, readers will find dozens of recipes for slapjacks, Johnny cakes, third bread (made of wheat, rye, and corn), ham and chicken pie, a cod pie garnished with mushroons and oysters and flavored with Madeira, a two-crust light custard pumpkin pie, an apple-and-pumpkin layered pie, a peach pie made with the pits still in it, and much more.
Because we approach historic cooking as food historians, the recipes we have adapted from the originals (most to be found in our earlier book, Northern Hospitality) are accompanied by introductions and headnotes discussing the varied agricultural challenges New Englanders faced, the region's long cultural connection to British foodways, the New England writers who shaped culinary tastes after the Revolution, and a great number of other historical themes and details that help paint a fuller picture of the domestic lives of New Englanders, from the seventeenth century through the late nineteenth century.
In time, we may resume posting here on our blog some new recipes that we've been cooking and baking. But for now, we hope that you will grab a copy of Northern Comfort and try baking some of the 52 adapted historical recipes it contains. The hardcover book is available at online booksellers, like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org (a site that shares profits with eligible independent bookstores), as well as at our publisher, New York University Press, and many brick-and-mortar bookstores. As retired public librarians, we are also happy to say that many libraries are purchasing the book for their patrons, so you can probably check out a copy at your local library, too! The book is also available in e-reader and Kindle editions. We hope you enjoy reading it and baking from it as much as we enjoyed writing it!