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The Quest for Antique Cooking
by Andy Newbrey
There are few vices in my life, but the one that gives me the most pleasure is sugary
things. I was born with one tooth already popped out and that was my sweet tooth.
My wife, on the other hand, who is skinny as a rail, can carry a piece of candy
around in her pocket for three weeks and not eat it. (She won’t let me have it
either…Which is just not nice.)
While digging through old, antique cook books, the desert or confectionary sections
are always the place to look first. Most generally there is a recipe for sponge cake
followed by several variations on the theme.
Sponge cake is called “sponge cake” for one perfectly good reason—it’s a sponge.
If baked correctly, it will soak up whatever it’s combined with, grabbing the flavor
and enhancing the primary element of the recipe. Its’ the great pianist who
accompanies all of the best singers: no one knows his name but the performance
would have been greatly lacking without him.
Here is an excellent, easy, basic, basic, basic sponge cake recipe from the 1940’s.
It is the foundation of many really nifty southern deserts.
Make this sponge cake and slice is into ½ inch slices. Put one slice on a pie plate
and drizzle some whole milk or ½ & ½ over it. Then drizzle over it the juice from
some macerated berries. (Strawberries, blackberries, etc. cut up and left to set,
mixed with sugar. It pulls the juices from them making a rich syrup. ) Cover it with
REAL whipped cream; then some of the berries. Then top it with another slice and
repeat the previous. Chill this in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. On
really hot summer days you can feel the cold, moist, fruity cake traveling all over your
body. (This is a great way to reward yourself for mowing the lawn…with a push
mower of course.)
Hot Milk Sponge Cake
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs, slightly beaten
1 Teaspoon Vanilla (or other flavoring)
1 Cup Cake flour (or general purpose flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoons butter
½ Cup hot milk
Combine sugar, eggs and vanilla and beat thoroughly. Add sifted dry ingredients,
mix them thoroughly. (Remember, mix dry with dry & wet with wet before
combining.) Combine butter and hot milk until butter is melted; add to the cake
mixture until smooth. Bake in a buttered 9”x 5” cake pan at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.
by Andy Newbrey
There are few vices in my life, but the one that gives me the most pleasure is sugary
things. I was born with one tooth already popped out and that was my sweet tooth.
My wife, on the other hand, who is skinny as a rail, can carry a piece of candy
around in her pocket for three weeks and not eat it. (She won’t let me have it
either…Which is just not nice.)
While digging through old, antique cook books, the desert or confectionary sections
are always the place to look first. Most generally there is a recipe for sponge cake
followed by several variations on the theme.
Sponge cake is called “sponge cake” for one perfectly good reason—it’s a sponge.
If baked correctly, it will soak up whatever it’s combined with, grabbing the flavor
and enhancing the primary element of the recipe. Its’ the great pianist who
accompanies all of the best singers: no one knows his name but the performance
would have been greatly lacking without him.
Here is an excellent, easy, basic, basic, basic sponge cake recipe from the 1940’s.
It is the foundation of many really nifty southern deserts.
Make this sponge cake and slice is into ½ inch slices. Put one slice on a pie plate
and drizzle some whole milk or ½ & ½ over it. Then drizzle over it the juice from
some macerated berries. (Strawberries, blackberries, etc. cut up and left to set,
mixed with sugar. It pulls the juices from them making a rich syrup. ) Cover it with
REAL whipped cream; then some of the berries. Then top it with another slice and
repeat the previous. Chill this in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. On
really hot summer days you can feel the cold, moist, fruity cake traveling all over your
body. (This is a great way to reward yourself for mowing the lawn…with a push
mower of course.)
Hot Milk Sponge Cake
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs, slightly beaten
1 Teaspoon Vanilla (or other flavoring)
1 Cup Cake flour (or general purpose flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoons butter
½ Cup hot milk
Combine sugar, eggs and vanilla and beat thoroughly. Add sifted dry ingredients,
mix them thoroughly. (Remember, mix dry with dry & wet with wet before
combining.) Combine butter and hot milk until butter is melted; add to the cake
mixture until smooth. Bake in a buttered 9”x 5” cake pan at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.
