Gem or muffin pan

In Collections: Feeding America: the Historic American Cookbook Project Museum Objects

Historical Note: From Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cook Book by Mary Johnson Bailey Lincoln (1884): These heavy cast iron pans (which were available with shallow or deep cups) were designed for baking muffins or muffin-like breads called gems. Gems are "the simplest form of bread," using whole wheat or graham flour, salt, and water, no leavening, and no eggs. Gem pans could be used interchangeably with popover pans. According to Linda Campbell Franklin: "A gem pan is supposed to be very different from a muffin pan, but no doubt many gems were made in muffin and popover pans."

Referenced In: Mrs. Lincoln's Boston cook book : what to do and what not to do in cooking, available at: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5nd67