Afternoon tea

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Whole-Wheat Puffs.—Put the yolk of an egg into a basin, and beat the white in a separate dish to a stiff froth. Add to the yolk, one half a cupful of rather thin sweet cream and one cupful of skim milk. Beat the egg, cream, and milk together until perfectly mingled and foamy with air bubbles; then add, gradually, beating well at the same time, one pint of wheat berry flour. Continue the beating vigorously and without interruption for eight or ten minutes; then stir in, lightly, the white of the egg. Do not beat again after the white of the egg is added, but turn at once into heated, shallow irons, and bake for an hour in a moderately quick oven. If properly made and carefully baked, these puffs will be of a fine, even texture throughout, and as light as bread raised by fermentation.
From ""Science in the Kitchen", 1893, by Mrs. E. E. Kellogg

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Ten minutes might not sound much — but to beat something vigorously and without interruption for ten minutes is something that, I'm sure, was left for the maid. As we all know the working class could beat anything for hours without getting tired. What a blessing today's electric equipments are!
Have you ever wondered how slow a slow oven is or how to know when the oven is hot? You get the answer in "Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Household Management", 1916, published by the Ministry of Education.

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2. Kinds of ovens:
(1) Slow.

(2) Moderate—white paper browns in ten minutes.

(3) Hot—white paper browns in five minutes.

(4) Very hot—white paper browns in one minute.

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3. Rules for baking:
(1) Heat the oven according to the recipe.

(2) Put the food in the oven, usually on the lower shelf, to get an under heat first, then toward the last of the cooking, set it on the top shelf to brown.

(3) Watch carefully during the baking, but in opening the oven door, be gentle and quick.

(4) If the oven gets too hot, set a pan of cold water in it, or leave the door slightly open. If browning too quickly, cover the surface with brown paper.

(5) Cook the food according to the time required by the recipe, or until it is done, as shown by some test.