January 14, 2009

Here is the recipe from Mother's cookbook for the three variations on the cake in the previous post.  The cookbook was a text book for Home Economics.

  BUTTER CAKES
  Portions for three types of butter cakes

  Ingredients: Plain  Foundation   Rich

  Milk 11/8 cups 1 cup   1 cup
  Flour (soft wheat) 3 cups 3 cups   3 cups
  Fat 1/3 cup 1/2 cup   3/4 cup
  Eggs 1 2 or 3   4
  Baking powder 5 teaspoons 4 teaspoons   4 teaspoons
  Sugar 1 1/4 cups 1 1/2 cups   2 cups
  Salt 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon   1/4 teaspoon
  Flavoring 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon   1/2 teaspoon

Note:
These proportions are for fat containing no water. If butter or other fat containing water is used, increase the proportions 2 Tablespoons for each cup. Flour should be sifted once before it is measured.

Mother had a tube cake pan that we used to bake this cake. The sides and bottom of the pan were coated with butter or lard. We made a liner for the bottom by tracing on a piece of paper around the bottom of the pan and making a hole for the 'tube'. (no wax paper) The fat coated both sides of the paper which was removed while the cake was hot. We usually made a white iceing and served it with home canned peaches. A Sunday dinner treat. "Dinner was our mid-day meal. We didn't do dessert on week days.

1 Home Baking, United States Department of Agriculture Farmer's Bulletin #1415 (1926)

Cake Method:
Cream fat well. (I used lard) Add sugar gradually. Beat yolks until thick and add to creamed sugar and butter. Sift together dry ingredients. (Flour should always be sifted before it is measured.) Add dry ingredients and milk alternately. Beat or stir batter only enough to make it smooth. Add flavoring. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Equipment :
Tablespoon for creaming and mixing egg beater, teaspoon, teacup