Old-Fashioned Cakes

[andiesenji]

I forgot to include the Hickory Nut Cake.

I ordered a bag of hickory nuts in early December to prepare this cake and then got so involved with other things I forgot all about it.

I put the nuts in the freezer as soon as they arrived so they will remain fresh. They tend to become rancid more rapidly than other nuts.

Edited January 30, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I guess gingerbread (which is cake) would qualify as an old fashioned cake as well.

[RWood]

I forgot to include the Hickory Nut Cake.

I ordered a bag of hickory nuts in early December to prepare this cake and then got so involved with other things I forgot all about it.

I put the nuts in the freezer as soon as they arrived so they will remain fresh. They tend to become rancid more rapidly than other nuts.

Oh, I love hickory nuts and black walnuts. Seems in the South, they are easier to get. I used to sit on my aunt's carport with a brick trying to crack hickory nuts from her tree. So much effort for so little meat out of them. I'll have to order some.

My aunt used to make a great black walnut cake, but it had cream cheese icing on it.

[andiesenji]

I forgot to include the Hickory Nut Cake.

I ordered a bag of hickory nuts in early December to prepare this cake and then got so involved with other things I forgot all about it.

I put the nuts in the freezer as soon as they arrived so they will remain fresh. They tend to become rancid more rapidly than other nuts.

Oh, I love hickory nuts and black walnuts. Seems in the South, they are easier to get. I used to sit on my aunt's carport with a brick trying to crack hickory nuts from her tree. So much effort for so little meat out of them. I'll have to order some.

My aunt used to make a great black walnut cake, but it had cream cheese icing on it.

She also made a hickory nut pie but unfortunately I never was able to get that recipe. One of my aunts says she has it but hasn't been moved to look for it, so far.

The hickory nut cake tastes a bit like a very rich praline, but not as heavy.

My grandmother had electric mixers but for her cakes Miz Gibson almost always mixed them by hand. She had arms like a weight lifter and never had to ask for help from a man to fill the flour "hamper" from a 100 pound sack.

Miz Gibson had a flock of grandchildren that were sent out to gather hickory nuts and would be lined up on the back porch with a sadiron upside down between their legs and something to hammer the nuts with. I sometimes took part in this if my grandma wasn't looking. I am ashamed to admit that I probably ate more than I saved for cooking.

Edited January 30, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[janeer]

One of my bachelor uncles made a *very* molasses-rich sheet cake. Even though Uncle Art was mostly a before-his-times health/natural foods fan, this cake had a lot of white sugar poured on top of the batter before baking. The sugar made a thick, fudge-like layer at the top of the cake...delicious! I have his recipe, if there are any other molasses fans who would like it.

I would like it, thank you for sharing!

[baroness]

One of my bachelor uncles made a *very* molasses-rich sheet cake. Even though Uncle Art was mostly a before-his-times health/natural foods fan, this cake had a lot of white sugar poured on top of the batter before baking. The sugar made a thick, fudge-like layer at the top of the cake...delicious! I have his recipe, if there are any other molasses fans who would like it.

I would like it, thank you for sharing!

Uncle Art's Molasses Cake

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups dark molasses

5 1/4 cups flour

1 rounded tsp. baking soda

1 cup sour milk*

sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Line a 9" by 13" pan with buttered wax or parchment paper.

Cream sugars with butter; add eggs and molasses.

Sift flour and soda together and add alternately with milk. Mix well.

Pour batter into lined pan and sift lots of white sugar (top should be solid white, at least!) over the top.

Bake at 325F about 1 hour, or until pick comes out clean. Will keep for weeks.

*Buttermilk or 1 T. vinegar in a cup of 'regular' milk can be substituted.

[Jaymes]

One of my bachelor uncles made a *very* molasses-rich sheet cake. Even though Uncle Art was mostly a before-his-times health/natural foods fan, this cake had a lot of white sugar poured on top of the batter before baking. The sugar made a thick, fudge-like layer at the top of the cake...delicious! I have his recipe, if there are any other molasses fans who would like it.

I would like it, thank you for sharing!

Yes, me, too.

My dad loves molasses. The thicker, richer, blacker, the better.

ETA: Oh, I see it. I guess we cross-posted.

Thanks!

Edited January 31, 2011 by Jaymes (log)

[CanadianBakin']

I grew up in the 1940s and we always had cakes. My grandfather's cook was a wonderful cake baker and I wish I had her recipes.

The ones I remember best are:

Coconut cake which took two days to prepare

The cake layers were baked and then drizzled with a syrup made with the coconut water so the interior was very moist and the icing was an Italian meringue (aka "fluffy white icing).

Red Velvet cake, unlike any other recipe but I know the secret to this one.

Into the batter went an entire jar of maraschino cherries, crushed and mashed, no food coloring.

again the icing was the fluffy white Italian meringue.

Orange chiffon cake - the recipe was on the Softasilk cake flour box in 1947.

7-layer Devil's Food cake with cherry jam between the layers and fudge icing.

Spice cake with burnt sugar frosting.

Do you have the Red Velvet Cake recipe?

[andiesenji]

I grew up in the 1940s and we always had cakes. My grandfather's cook was a wonderful cake baker and I wish I had her recipes.

The ones I remember best are:

Coconut cake which took two days to prepare

The cake layers were baked and then drizzled with a syrup made with the coconut water so the interior was very moist and the icing was an Italian meringue (aka "fluffy white icing).

Red Velvet cake, unlike any other recipe but I know the secret to this one.

Into the batter went an entire jar of maraschino cherries, crushed and mashed, no food coloring.

again the icing was the fluffy white Italian meringue.

Orange chiffon cake - the recipe was on the Softasilk cake flour box in 1947.

7-layer Devil's Food cake with cherry jam between the layers and fudge icing.

Spice cake with burnt sugar frosting.

Do you have the Red Velvet Cake recipe?

I have Meemaw's version posted in RecipeGullet.

I use either the maraschino cherries or sweet cherries with the grenadine as long as the amounts are equal.

slightly tweeked to use canned cherries and grenadine for some reason she never revealed.

[ChrisZ]

My mum (and her mum, etc etc) would make a German kartoffelkuchen (potato cake) that was studded with sultanas and topped with crunchy nutmeg-flavoured streusel. Making the streusel while mum made the cake was one of the earliest things I did in the kitchen. The cake would usually be made to use up leftover mashed potato, and although mum used SR flour I'm sure the original recipe used yeast as a leavener for an even more distinctive taste.

An alternative version was to top the cake with apricot halves (fresh not canned) neatly arranged in a perfect grid, and each apricot half would be filled with sugar before the cake went into the oven. As I kid I was always mystified by the way the sugar had 'vanished' when the cake came out of the oven.

My personal favourite oldie is a simple Victoria sponge filled with whipped cream and a berry jam, and I especially love the miniature versions which were known as 'powder puffs' when I was a kid. I still make them occasionally.

[Lindacakes]

Yipes, this thread is making me want cake, seriously bad. Danish Cake, Burnt Sugar Cake, Black Walnut Cake, Molasses Cake, I want them all. Please share your recipes! (Thank you for the Molasses Cake recipe!)

I love angel food and the Solo poppyseed can poppyseed cake. Coconut cake with seven minute frosting. My own Red Velvet that has cream cheese frosting. Buttermilk cake with chcolate frosting.

Thick cake with thick frosting.

Yes.

[zoe b]

I'm loving reading about these old fashioned cakes--wouldn't it be wonderful to try them all....

My mother wasn't a baker--she was that unusual thing in 1960's America--a working woman--so we had food that was easy & quick to prepare--had fruit cocktail or jello for dessert.

My Aunt Mary was the baker--she was considered to be quite sophisticated & Bohemian--had worked in NY as a costume designer, & traveled to Europe every year. She wore loose dresses, sandals with red toenail polish & matching red lipstick. Wore her hair in braids wrapped around her head like a crown, & reread Jane Austen every year.

She made a very rich & dense yellow cake flavored with nutmeg, and a thick milk chocolate fudge frosting--I can still taste it. And she and my other aunts made what was called blueberry pudding-- a moist cake with loads of blueberries baked in a rectangular pan. It was served with hot lemon sauce. The other wonderful dessert was peach cobbler--in a crispy, buttery cake batter--served with plain heavy cream--not whipped.

[tmriga]

I love pound cake - the old-fashioned, pound-o-this, pound-o-that, cake. Occasionally, I add vanilla extract, citrus zest, or chocolate chips.

I lighten it just a bit by beating separating half the egg whites and folding it in at the end, before baking.

Theresa

[TeakettleSlim]

Our heat is out, and I need to think of reasons to have the oven on all day (or until the heater guy gets here). Baroness, your Uncle Art's cake is Reason #1! Used up all my blackstrap in it. It's in the oven now, and smells delicious. Thank you for the recipe!

[nakji]

Are bundt cakes considered old-fashioned now?

[RWood]

I had a request for the Danish Cake, so I'll post it here.

The last time I had it, I felt it was really sweet. But, when you're a kid, things don't seem that way. I though I would leave a little sugar out of the icing next time, but my mother said it was fine the way it is. Maybe unsweetened coconut might be better.

The instructions aren't the best, so just wing it.

Danish Cake

3 eggs

1 c buttermilk

1 c veg. oil

1 1/2 c sugar

2 c self-rising flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 c chopped toasted pecans

1 c chopped dates

1 tsp vanilla

Mix well, pour into a greased and floured 13X9 pan. Bake at 300 for about 45 mins. Cut into squares.

Icing:

1 c sugar

2 T corn syrup

1/4 c butter

1/2 c buttermilk

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 c coconut

Combine in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 mins. Pour over cut cake.

[Lindacakes]

Excellent, thank you.

I usually decrease the amount of sugar called for in date recipes as dates usually don't require any help!

[DanM]

I don't have any family recipes, but I am a sucker for a simple yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

Dan

[Emily_R]

I've got to add that I love love love hot milk sponge cake. I use the recipe from the red and white checked better homes and gardens cookbook, and it's perfect. I often serve it with a strawberry compote and whipped cream. In fact, this thread may inspire me to make some tonight!

[janeer]

One of my bachelor uncles made a *very* molasses-rich sheet cake. Even though Uncle Art was mostly a before-his-times health/natural foods fan, this cake had a lot of white sugar poured on top of the batter before baking. The sugar made a thick, fudge-like layer at the top of the cake...delicious! I have his recipe, if there are any other molasses fans who would like it.

I would like it, thank you for sharing!

Uncle Art's Molasses Cake

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups dark molasses

5 1/4 cups flour

1 rounded tsp. baking soda

1 cup sour milk*

sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Line a 9" by 13" pan with buttered wax or parchment paper.

Cream sugars with butter; add eggs and molasses.

Sift flour and soda together and add alternately with milk. Mix well.

Pour batter into lined pan and sift lots of white sugar (top should be solid white, at least!) over the top.

Bake at 325F about 1 hour, or until pick comes out clean. Will keep for weeks.

*Buttermilk or 1 T. vinegar in a cup of 'regular' milk can be substituted.

Thank you. You know it is a true old fashioned cake when it calls for sour milk (which I keep on hand). This I will definitely try.

[LindaK]

I'd nominate applesauce cake with icing flavored with a bit of lemon. Or a Boston creme pie, really a cake.

[Genkinaonna]

Hah! Success! My Aunt is apparently waaay better at keeping track of little pieces of paper than I am!

Mahogany Chocolate Cake

Ingredients~

3 sqs unsweetened

chocolate

½ cups water

1 cup sour cream

2 cups sifted cake flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp bkg powder

2/3 cups butter

2/3 cups brown sugar

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

Melt chocolate and water over low heat. Cool. Stir in sour cream. Meanwhile

sift soda, salt, flour and baking powder. Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs

one at a time. Mix in well. Beat in vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture

and chocolate mixture. Mix well after each addition. Pour into 2 greased 9”

pans lined with wax paper. Bake 35 mins @ 350 degrees. Cool and frost

[Toliver]

I don't have any family recipes, but I am a sucker for a simple yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

You might find some good recipes in here:

"Yellow and white cakes - search for the perfect"

Are bundt cakes considered old-fashioned now?

I think any cake you make and don't buy already made is considered "old-fashioned" these days.

[toolprincess]

My favorite is 16 layer cake which is yellow cake baked in very thin layers with chocolate frosting between each layer.

I tried to make once and failed miserably.

[RobertM]

My Mom used to make a Butterscotch Cake with a Penuche Icing - to this day (and I'm OLD) it's my favorite cake - and I was able to introudce my 4 nephew's to this cake and am proud to say it was while eating this cake that I taught each one of them the proper way to eat cake: Cake first, Frosting LAST.....