This artifact was featured on our social media series "Museum Mystery Mondays."
This is a cake mixer and apple butter stirrer in one. Families would use the same paddle for many things, including mixing cake batter, making apple butter, and mixing soap and lard. The holes in the paddle were for breaking up flour and butter clumps. Many people still make apple butter the traditional way in a kettle pot over a fire. Check out Horne Creek Farm’s page on apple butter, which includes an old recipe.
