I thought "patty pan" was a squash!

I saw the above picture of a cast iron "patty pan," and wondered what on earth it was. No, it's not the squash.

They're also called "patty bowls." I thought maybe they were used for making meat patties, but that's not quite right either.

Patty pans were part of a "patty mold" set which is also pictured above. The pan was for deep frying.

You would heat oil in the pan, then dip the mold into batter, and "deep fry" the batter in the pan.

The result would be a crispy exterior shell, which would be filled with ingredients to make a wide variety of desserts. Similar to a taco salad shell.

The batter was made from 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 2/3 cup heavy cream.

Stick the mold in the cold oil, then heat the oil to 375. Remove, let excess oil drip off, then dip in batter, then place in hot oil until golden brown.

I've never done this, since I don't have a patty mold set, but it's interesting to learn about.

Of course this wouldn't be limited to desserts; You can fill the shells with anything you want.