July 2026

Jul 6

Colonial Williamsburg & Fairy Butter

Dear Tastorians,

A couple of weeks ago, I visited Colonial Williamsburg. While there, I had the great honor of cooking in their historical kitchens at the Palace. Well, to be more accurate, I helped with a bit of the cooking while Frank, Abby, and Dominek, who are in there every day, did most of the work. I was like the little girl in the Shake n' Bake commercial: "It's Shake n' Bake, and I helped."

The reason I did very little cooking myself was because, while I've made many of the recipes before, I'd always benefited from a modern kitchen. Cooking over a coal fire with tools like a salamander (a very hot metal disk used to toast cheese or brulee a creme) is not for the faint of heart and definitely not covered by Colonial Williamsburg's insurance policy for non-employees. But even being present while these masters of the colonial kitchen worked their magic was a real pleasure. We filmed a lot, so several videos will be coming down the pike.

While we made several dishes, we discussed many more that they had made in the past. One of those was a simple dish called Fairy Butter. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had heard of this before. Perhaps because Dolley Madison used to give it to White House guests when she served gingerbread. But I never actually knew what it was. I could describe it, but better to let Hannah Glasse's 1747 recipe give you an idea.

“Take the yolks of two hard eggs, and beat them in a marble mortar, with a large spoonful of orange-flower water, and two teaspoonfuls of fine sugar beat to powder; beat this all together till it is fine paste, then mix it up with about as much fresh butter out of the churn, and force it through a fine strainer full of little holes into a plate. This is a pretty thing to set off a table at supper. ”

— The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse (1747)

Alas, I have yet to make this concoction, but I do think I may have to sooner rather than later. Until I do, here is a modernized recipe you can follow should you wish to make some yourself: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/fairy-butter

And now for a few things I thought you might enjoy:

Classic CAMPBELL'S SOUP KIDS Animated Tomatoland TV Commercial - Following up on last month's video on Tomato Soup Cake, I wanted to share this Campbell's Soup Kids commercial.
King Charles XII’s Personal Journal - Last month I made a video about the Swedish King Charles XII. Here is a link to his personal journal which is mostly filled with doodles of crowns, cannons, forts, and a few birds. It really humanizes this historic figure.