Birthday parties were important for my brothers and me, and I always looked forward to mine with great anticipation. Not only would our mother bake a big birthday cake that day (my favorite was Devil’s Food), but in the evening neighbors and relatives would come over for supper. (My brothers, born in winter, didn’t have much of a party, as the relatives came over at noon on the weekend, and of course, as twins, they had to share the occasion.)
Eleanor made this birthday cake for granddaughter Lisa.
There were always candles on the cake, to be blown out while everyone sang “Happy Birthday.” And there were presents—not many, because times were tough, but we usually received one special gift. I will never forget my twelfth birthday, the year I turned old enough to buy a hunting license and hunt with my dad. My present was a hunting knife, which I still have. These days, I look at it and recall that birthday celebration and the many years of tramping through the woods and fields with my father.
Another birthday celebration I have never forgotten involved a neighbor girl, Katherine Davis. She never left the farm, staying to take care of her father after her mother died. Her sisters left and married, but Katherine stayed home to work. Alan Davis was not a good farmer (he was a better carpenter); he milked a few cows and raised a few acres of corn, oats, hay, and potatoes, but he scarcely had enough money to put food on the table.
My mother knew the date of Katherine’s birthday and one year thought it might be fun to host a little birthday party for her. By now Katherine was in her thirties. Ma made a birthday cake and invited over some of the neighbors. When they all sang “Happy Birthday,” Ma noticed that Katherine was crying. “This is the first birthday party I ever had,” Katherine said. I have no doubt it was birthday celebration she never forgot. And I never forgot it either.
¼ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup buttermilk
1½ cups flour
½ cup boiling water
2 squares of bitter chocolate
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat the shortening in a large bowl and add sugar until creamy. Gradually add the beaten eggs and beat hard. Stir in the buttermilk alternately with the flour. In another bowl, pour boiling water over chocolate to melt. Stir quickly and add the baking soda while mixture is still boiling hot. Add the salt. Stir until mixture thickens. Add chocolate mixture to the flour mixture. Add the vanilla and beat hard. Pour batter into a 9 × 13-inch pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Mrs. Sebold’s Cream Sponge Cake
This is exactly as it appears on the card. There’s no explanation of who Mrs. Sebold was.
4 egg yolks
3 tablespoons cold water
1 teaspoon lemon flavoring
1 cup sugar
1½ teaspoons cornstarch put in cup and fill cup with flour
1¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
4 egg whites
Beat yolks of 4 eggs and water until thick in a bowl. Add lemon flavoring. Add sugar gradually and beat for 2 minutes.
Put cornstarch in a one cup measuring cup and fill with flour. Level off the flour.
Pour the flour and cornstarch into a separate bowl.
Add the baking powder and salt to the flour and stir.
Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix thoroughly.
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Add the egg whites to the cake batter and fold in.
Pour the cake batter into a tube pan.
Bake for 30 minutes in a moderate, 375 degrees oven.
Turn pan upside down. Let cool. Remove from pan.
Eleanor’s recipe card has no directions. Watkins sold an “Imitation Maple Flavor” that she probably used.
1½ cups sugar
2 eggs
½ cup shortening
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon maple flavoring
7 teaspoons sour milk
3 good sized bananas
2½ cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Bake 50 minutes in moderate oven.
2 cups flour
1½ cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
7 eggs, separated
¾ cup cold water
½ cup cooking oil
1 medium-sized banana, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the unbeaten egg yolks, cold water, and cooking oil. Mix all ingredients together. Add mashed banana and vanilla and mix well. In a large bowl, beat the 7 egg whites and cream of tartar until very stiff. Fold into other ingredients. Pour the cake batter into an ungreased angel food tube pan. Bake for 55 minutes at 325 degrees; raise oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes.
When you take the cake out of the oven, turn it upside down on a cooling rack immediately. Cool for 2 hours. Turn right side up and run a knife around the edge of the pan before removing from the pan. Drizzle cake with your favorite white frosting.
1½ cups powdered sugar
1 cup sifted flour
1½ cups egg whites (You’ll need about 12 eggs.)
1½ teaspoons cream of tartar
1½ teaspoons vanilla
⅓ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 cup white sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the powdered sugar and flour together and set aside. In another bowl, combine egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla, salt, and almond extract and stir briskly until foamy. Gradually add sugar 2 teaspoons at a time and continue mixing. Stir until stiff peaks form into a meringue.
Sprinkle the flour and sugar mixture 3 teaspoons at a time over the meringue. Cut and fold in gently with a spatula, folding down the center and up the side of the bowl. Carefully pour into a 10-inch tube pan. Level off the batter. Pull a knife gently through the batter, widening your circle each time to break up air bubbles. Bake until no imprint remains when you lightly touch your finger to the top of the cake, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven. Turn pan upside down and cool for at least 2 hours. Remove cake from pan.