Friday

Peach Whip Cake


 
This recipe cut from a magazine is simple and versatile: you can use it to both layer and top your cake. While it sounds really good I wonder what flavor of cake it would go best with. As a side note I compared a couple of names mentioned in the recipe; in my house we call a “whip” a whisk, and a “beater” a mixer.

Wednesday

Burnt Sugar Cake


 
I honestly had never heard of Burnt Sugar Cake before coming across this next recipe. By snooping around the internet I found it was very popular during the early to mid twentieth century at church and senior functions.  

As is the case with many of these recipes there are no baking instructions, because the person who wrote them carried that info in her head. To get burnt sugar, my research found, you melt it in a pan on the stove. All of the recipes I read online called for white sugar, while this one uses brown sugar. For a complete recipe try this one.

Monday

Red Devil's Food Cake


 
The more common name for this kind of cake is “Devil’s” rather than “Deviled”, so that’s what I am going to call it. The cocoa is what gives this cake its dark, reddish color, but some recipes online also call for the addition of red food coloring to really make it stand out. Most of the recipes I found online also call for the cake to be frosted, so unless we come across one for chocolate frosting later in the old recipe box, I am linking to one here.

Friday

Tea Cakes


 
There are different variations of tea cake seemingly all over the world. This American version seems pretty similar to others of the country, the biggest difference being whether to frost them or not. After reading some recipes on the web I gather that one eats their tea cakes plain in private, and frosted for company. The pink icing mentioned at the end of this recipe indicates these are company cakes.

Wednesday

Spice Cake


 
Now this spice cake sounds delicious! Adding cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cloves makes it the real deal. The reverse of the card mentions adding raisins or nuts as an additional ingredient, which I think I would do.

Monday

Brown Stone Cake

 
 
The oldest Brown Stone Cake recipe I found on the internet was dated 1905, while putting the words together to form "Brownstone" Cake travels back to at least the mid 19th century on the east coast and then beyond that to Europe. If you stop your search at New York City you would believe the recipe was named after the rowhouses found there, but I think it is the density and color of the cake that led to it being named in Europe after the sandstone building material found there. When the recipe came across the pond to America, first on the east coast, the name became associated with the buildings made out of local sandstone, called brownstone. All of that is my educated guess, so I would love to hear other theories.  
 

Friday

Coffee Cake




 
I’m glad all of these coffee cake recipes were together so I could run them as one post. The basic ingredients are the same with all three, while the first one actually calls for the addition of a cup of coffee. Sprinkling them with sugar and cinnamon before baking makes for a sweet, crunchy crust when done.
While reading the ingredients for the third recipe (the last card down is the reverse side of that recipe) I was stumped by the inclusion of a ½ cup of “Spry.” A little research led me to Spry Vegetable Shortening and Aunt Jenny, both of which I had never heard of. Interesting what you can learn from an old recipe card, eh?

Wednesday

Best Economy Date Cake


 
My best guess is the “Eco” in the title is short for “Economy.” Sounds like a pretty decent cake and simple to throw together. Since I don’t like dates I might substitute raisins or some other fruit. 

Monday

Made-in-a-Minute Chocolate Cake



 
There is that creative spelling of chocolate again!
This made-in-a-minute cake sounds good, and you could even use this frosting to top it with. However, once you get to the backside of the recipe you see it will take more than a minute to make it.

Friday

Swans Down Silver Cake


 
Swans Down Cake Flour has been around since 1894, and seems to have a superior reputation among those who like to bake cakes from scratch.
This recipe is pretty straightforward, with the lemon frosting making for what sounds like a light, sweet cake overall. Visit the Swans Down site for more recipes and baking tips.

Wednesday

Crisp Cookies


 
We are finding that some of these recipes don’t have baking instructions, which usually means the author kept it in her head. Most of the cookie recipes so far would bake well at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
I flipped through my own recipe box and many of the ones I hand wrote or cobbled together from various sources do not have cooking instructions, because I already know what to do after assembling the ingredients.

Monday

Apricot Pineapple Jam


 
This sounds like a delicious, and simple, homemade jam. The missing part of the instructions involves canning the jam, which must have been assumed and so not included.
The nine jars mentioned are the glass pint sized jam and jelly variety. Fill the prepared (boiled) jars almost to the top, screw on the lids, and submerge in boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove, let them cool and then press the middle of the lids. If they don’t give, the jars are sealed. Any that have springy lids will need to be refrigerated.

For more information on home canning visit National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Friday

Apple Krisp


 
Fall is a great time of the year to make anything with fresh apples. Recently we finished putting up over 30 quarts of applesauce, apple butter and apple pie filling. We give away much of it in holiday gift baskets, along with homemade bread with the applesauce as one of the ingredients and homemade dry soup mixes and various other goodies. The baskets are always a big hit with family and friends.
The only problem with this recipe, besides a lack of baking instructions, is the absence of apples!