Another Cake and Swans Down in the 40s

This week was my sister's birthday. Happy birthday, sis! So I invited her over for retro cake and coffee (all my coffee is retro, because I use a stove-top percolator). Unfortunately, her car broke down on the way, but the cake was already in process. So I guess I will eat the cake? Is that rude? I don't really know the protocol for birthday cake sans birthday person.

This recipe, like the last one, calls for "cake flour."  I normally avoid recipes that don't use all purpose flour, because I don't want to have multiple flours around the house. It seems redundant. For these recipes I've decided to bite the bullet and picked up some Swans Down Cake Flour. I chose it because of the old fashioned packaging.

The ribbon along the top of the box says that this flour has been in production since 1894. During the 1940s Swans Down was a popular cake flour and according to their website in 1945 General Foods introduced the first boxed cake mix under the Swans Down name. I also found that during the war there was a Swans Down war ration cook book with recipes modified to compensate for shortages in things like eggs, butter, and sugar.

Today's cake recipe, certainly did not account for any egg shortages, because it called for eight egg yolks. Prudent and heart healthy, that's my kinda cake.

The cake is called a Gold Cake. To make the cake, cream 3/4 cups shortening with 1 1/4 cups sugar. Add 8 egg yolks and continue creaming. Sift 2 1/2 cups cake flour with 3 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt. (Since my last entry I have learned that a mesh strainer makes a much better sifter than any actual sifter on the market.) Add this to the creamed mixture alternately with 3/4 cups milk and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat until smooth between each addition. Bake at 350* for 20 minutes. The recipe says that it will make three 9" cake pans (which I have now purchased), but I was only able to get two pans worth from the batter.

They came out looking pretty nice.

For the frosting, I attempted a recipe from the book. It was difficult to find a recipe that doesn't call for raw eggs. I guess salmonella wasn't a big concern back in the day. I made Eggless Confectioners' Frosting. This is made by combining 2 Tbsp milk with 1 cup confectioners sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla. I chose to make it using one of the suggested variations by adding 2 Tbsp cocoa.

This makes the runniest possible "frosting." I chilled it in the fridge for a bit to make it spreadable, but it kept getting soaked right into the cake. There wasn't enough to cover everything so I went back to my trusty old whipped cream recipe to finish it off. You can see the color variation in the frosting, but I think it looks alright.

Definitely looks homemade.

I was a bit concerned when I cut the cake, because it started to crumble like crazy.

Hmmm.... do you suppose it's a bit dry?

The cake was actually really tasty (as were both of the frostings). I could detect just a hint of baking powder in the flavor and it was a touch dry. Not enough to be bothersome, but if I were making this cake again I would cut the baking powder down to 2 teaspoons instead of 3. I really liked the flavor of the frosting from the book. I would recommend it for a pour-over frosting and use something else in between the layers. This recipe was very good and seems to leave a lot of room for latitude. With a few tweaks here and there I think a few really special cakes can be made.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to have another slice.