Betty Crocker suggests: Bit o'Chocolate Chiffon Cake (circa 1949)

When Mother and I received a request here for the "Bit O' Chocolate Chiffon Cake", why, we went back to Grandmother Block's 1936 cookbook and found it to post right here :-)

We hope you'll enjoy....

Bit O' Chocolate Chiffon Cake

....delicious chocolate chips afloat in airy chiffon!

Light as angel food...rich as butter cake!

Tutorial here:  http://domesticatedengineer.blogspot.com/2011/04/recipe-too-good-not-to-try-or-bit.html

Preheat oven (see pan sizes and corresponding temperatures below.)  Sift an ample amount of GOLD MEDAL "Kitchen-tested" Enriched Flour onto a square of paper.  Grate unsweetened or sweet chocolate on coarse grater (see quantity below).

There are two cake sizes.  The LARGE cake makes 16 to 20 servings and the SMALL cake makes 8 to 10 servings.  We are posting the LARGE cake instructions for now, but can post the SMALL cake directions, too, if we have a request.

LARGE CAKE
Step 1
Measure and Sift together into mixing bowl:
2 cups sifted GOLD MEDAL "Kitchen-tested" Enriched Flour (spoon lightly into cup, don't pack)
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Make a well and add in order:
1/2 cup cooking (salad) oil such as Wesson
7 unbeaten egg yolks (medium-sized)
3/4 cup cold water
2 tsp. vanilla
Beat with spoon until smooth.
Step 2...in a large mixing bowl
1 cup egg whites (7 or 8)
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
Whip until whites form very stiff peaks.  They should be much stiffer than for angel food or meringue.  DO NOT UNDERBEAT.
Step 3...Pour egg yolk mixture gradually over whipped egg whites - gently folding with rubber scraper just until blended.  DO NOT STIR.  Sprinkle over top of batter gently folding in with a few strokes:
3 sqaures unsweetened or sweet chocolate (3 oz.), coarsely grated
Pour into ungreased pan immediately.

BAKE
10-in. tube, 4-in. deep 325 F for 55 min., then 350 F for 10 to 15 min.

9x13x2-in. oblong 350 F45 to 50 minutes
...or until top springs back when lightly touched.

Immediately turn pan upside down, placing tube part over neck of funnel or bottle, or resting edges of square, oblong or loaf pans on 2 other pans.  Let hang, free of table, until cold.  Loosen from sides and tube with spatula.  Turn pan over and hit edge sharply on table to loosen.

Serve with whipped cream to which has been added crushed peppermint stick candy.  (To crush peppermint sticks, break into pieces.  Place pieces between two sheets of maxed paper, then fold into a towel.  Roll lightly with rolling pin.)

If you live at an altitude over 2,5000 ft., write Betty Crocker, General Mills, Minneapolis 1, Minnesota, for recipe adjustments.  Specify recipe wanted.

Nancy Jacques' Pumpkin Bar Recipe

Thank you for allowing me to share your beautiful 40th anniversary Christmas photo and your oh-so-delicious Pumpkin Bar Recipe here on RocknRecipes, Nancy!

In the 1970's, our family had a little red cabin in the woods.  Cousin Bud Jacques and his wife Nancy brought their three children to the lake for swimming, fishing, boating and LOTS of FUN and Good FOOD!

These pumpkin bars are so good - lots of great memories!

Nancy Jacques' Pumpkin Bar Recipe

4 eggs beaten

1 1/2 cup oil

1 1/2 cup pumpkin

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 1/2 cups flour

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit

30 to 35 minutes

Mother and I found a few more recipes, a 1936 cookbook and a 5 year diary...

I remember my Great Aunt Dorothy Block.  She visited Grandma Adeline and Grandpa Elvin in Washington State once when I was eight years old and Mom and I were there visiting.  She was such a nice lady!  Mother says that one of her favorite things to eat was 

Aunt Dorothy's Graham Cracker Roll.

1 lb. graham crackers

1 lb. walnuts

1 lb. dates

1 lb. marshmallows

1 pint of heavy cream

Roll crackers fine, reserving six crackers.  Chop dates and nuts.  Quarter the marshmallows.

Mix cracker crumbs, nuts, dates, marshmallows and cream.  Mold into a loaf.

Roll the loaf in the crumbs of the remaining six graham crackers reserved.

Chill 24 hours.  

Serve in slices with whipped cream.

Dorothy Block

The Household Searchlight Recipe Book, 1936
published in the USA
Grandma Maggie Block (Mrs. Otto Block)

Grandma Block's things - there might be a few more recipes than I originally thought!

It cost 2 cents for Kraft to mail this to Grandma Block,
of course, at that time she was Mrs. Otto Block of Landa, North Dakota,
as ladies never used their own first names outside family and friends.

A much cherished Gibson Electric Refrigerator booklet with recipes

The Watkin's man always brought Mother (aged 5 at the time) a stick of gum when he came to visit Grandma Block.  Mother lived with Grandma and Grandpa Block on the farm as a young child.

One time, a parachute salesman came to the door instead.  My mother vividly recalls this because that salesman did not offer her a stick of gum or candy, much to her chagrin!
Read more about  & see what Grandma Block purchased with her egg money from the WWII parachute salesman here:
Grandma Block's Parachute Quilt

Betty Crocker in her heyday.

Mother reading her Grandmother Block's daily diary.

Grandma Block kept her diary faithfully each day.

Here's all the sordid details like how many eggs the chickens hatched that day and if there was enough sun to dry the clothes on the line.  Mother told me that every egg the hens laid was egg money for her Grandmother to keep and purchase cloth, embroidery thread, etc. with.  Egg money was usually the only cash a woman had in those days.



Times have changed, haven't they?

This historical journey is getting more and more interesting, not to mention tasty!

Betty Crocker Future Homemaker of Tomorrow Award Winner

I'm so proud of my mother!  In 1957, she took a test in her 12th grade home economics class in high school and won the Betty Crocker Future Homemaker of Tomorrow Award!

Mother chose to take two full years of home economics in school.  Most girls did that.  There were absolutely no boys in home economics class back then!  She also took a Morse Code class and was the only girl in there, so Mother dropped out because the boys didn't want her in there.

Mom remembers placing a dishtowel across her shoulder one day in cooking class.  The teacher yelled so loudly that even to this day if she goes to place a dishtowel on her shoulder, that teacher's voice rings loud in her ear, reminding her never to do such a thing because hair should never touch a dishtowel.

Nonetheless, she enjoyed the subject matter and memorized the books.

Besides a certificate, my mother won a free ticket to see a film in the movie theater.

Now, how about you?  Did you ever take a home economics class and the Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow test?  Some gals even won scholarship money for college, though Mother did not.

Link to poll

If you went to an American high school in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, you might have taken this test.
It would be nice to know how many of you took such a test, or perhaps a similar type of test in your home country.  Was there such a competition in Canada, Great Britain or Austrailia?

Thank you for sharing!

Overnite Buns and Double Pastry Crust

Overnite Buns

2 cups sugar
4 cups water
boil five minutes
then add 1 cup lard (Mother says that margarine or Crisco are acceptable substitutes, but not butter)

When cool add big tablespoon of salt, 2 eggs and yeast - 2 pks dissolved in small amount of sugar and warm water.

Add sifted flour for soft dough.  (Mother says always sift twice, or else your 'buns' will be 'bricks'.  Add flour until it kneads correctly and doesn't stick anymore.  You need to turn as you knead.  It's a bit of work!)

Let rise 10 min.  Knead down.  Let rise 3 hours.

Put in pans.  Bake in morning.  (Mom suggests 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes and recommends muffin pans.)

Double Pie Pastry

2 cups flour (sift twice)
2/3 cups shortening (Crisco)
1/3 cup milk (this would have been directly from the cows, so Mother suggests cold, whole milk)
1 1/2 tsp. salt

If you work pie dough too much, it gets tough.  For tender pie crust, Mother recommends using a fork to cut the shortening into the twice-sifted flour and salt mixture, then adding the cold milk and mixing just until blended.  Roll out onto a floured board, but use a gentle touch.  Once rolled out, roll the pie crust back up onto the rolling pin and then transfer the pie crust carefully to your pie tin.

We hope you'll enjoy these recipes for your collection.  They are from Grandma Margarethe "Maggie" Block.

Soups and Scuffs

Beef and Cabbage Soup from Mother

1 lb. ground beef chuck or lean ground beef
2 - 15 oz. cans kidney beans, undrained
1 - 13  3/4 oz. can beef broth
1 cup canned, crushed tomatoes
2 cups shredded cabbage
(235 calories per cup)

Brown hamburger, mash kidney beans, add liquid.  Heat.

Cabbage Bean Soup

1 small onion, chopped, 1/4 cup
1 large celery rib, sliced thin, about 1/2 cup
3 medium potatoes, peeled & diced (2 1/2 cups)
2 tblsp oil
1 lb. cabbage shredded, 6 cups
3 cups chicken broth
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Bay leaf
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 can (16 oz.) beans with pork & tomato sauce

Saute onion, garlic, celery & potatoes in oil five minutes or until onion is tender.  Cook cabbage 10 minutes or until tender.  Add ingredients except beans.  Cook about 20 minutes or until cabbage and potatoes are tender.  Add beans and heat.  Flavor to taste.
(345 calories per cup)

Staying thin was important to Mom and her girlfriends in the 1970s.  These are her "diet" recipes.  In 1976, she sewed a beautiful Centennial dress in yellow calico, full length with pretty lace on the sleeves.  It was a size 10.

In the days our family worked on the farm, dieting was unheard of.  Grandma always cooked dishes high in calories so that everyone had the energy they needed to throw 100 lb. hay bales, plant 1/2 acres of potatoes and hoe them, garden, do the wash (with a wringer washer) and hang it on the line to dry, take in the garden and can, etc., etc.  Do you recall when Wash Day was?  How about Baking Day?  Grandma made several loaves of bread on baking day and she put this dough recipe on the night before, so the whole house could wake up to freshly baking cinnamon-sugar "Scuff's".  There were never any leftovers.  Trust me, this is no diet food :-)

Scuff's

1 pkg. yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3 cups of flour
2 Tblspn sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1/2 cup whole milk
2 eggs

Soak the package of yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water for 15 minutes.  Mix as you would for a pie crust the following ingredients:  flour, sugar, salt & butter.  Now add the milk, eggs and finally the yeast mixture.  Knead the dough until soft and put in a covered crock in the refrigerator over-night.  In the morning, divide the dough into four parts.
Roll the parts like a pie crust & sprinkle with 1 cup sugar mixed with 2 Tblspns of cinnamon.  Use this sugar & cinnamon mixture instead of flour to roll the dough out.  Cut the dough in triangles & roll from the wide end to the narrow end.
Bake 20 minutes in a 350 degree (Fahrenheit) oven.  Makes four dozen.

Recipe from Aunt Ruth Carlson (Grandma Maggie Block's sister)

...and one more oldie, but goodie....

Year unknown.

Toaster Tarts

Makes 12
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
Combine in a bowl:
3 cups packaged biscuit mix
1 1/2 cups crushed cornflakes
1/2 cup sugar
Mix well.
Add:
1/2 cup shortening
Cut in with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture looks like coarse cornmeal.
Add:
3/4 cup hot water
Mix just until blended.  Divide dough in half.  Roll out each half to a square, 12x12 inches.  Cut each square into twelve 3x4 inch rectangles.  Place 12 (3x4" rectangles) on ungreased cookie sheets.
Place in center of each rectangle:
2 tsp strawberry preserves
Top with remaining 12 rectangles.
Moisten edges with water and seal securely.
Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 12-15 minutes, or until done.
To pack for lunch, cool and wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap, or serve warm at home with coffee.
Tarts may be reheated in toaster.
Note:  Try varying the preserve filling.  Apricot or peach preserves are good substitutes.

(And here I thought "Pop Tarts" were only available on a store shelf!)

Mary Ann & Mother @ RocknRecipes
Please also visit http://www.rocknquilts.blogspot.com
Thank you for stopping by!  Please leave comments, suggestions and questions...
we're happy to help, but also welcome help and tips from others.

Grandma Block's Sour Cream Cake

Sour Cream Cake 
(marked with a Very Good)
PS  Please take the time to sift your flour twice with a sifter, as Gma did, otherwise the cake will turn out heavy.

two eggs, beaten
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sour cream (this is fresh, whole "farm" cream that has gone sour, not the sour cream in the supermarket)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda in cream
1 tsp cinnamon

flour for ordinary cake batter, 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 cups, start with less and add more, depending upon humidity
This batch makes 2 layers and is good with brown sugar frosting


As written by my Great Grandmother Margarethe 'Maggie' Block.


Brown Sugar Frosting

• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 
  
• 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons water
• 
  
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Cook the ingredients except powdered sugar in a heavy cast iron skill until smooth.  Take off the heat and beat in the sugar.  Spoon over your cake.  Frosting hardens when it cools.

My mother's recipe box

Many would agree that quilting and cooking do go hand-in-hand.  This afternoon, I rediscovered my mother's recipe box.  You know, the one with Great Aunt Ruth's special butter pickles recipe and a hand-written recipe from Aunt Bertha to Grandma Adeline for Brown Sugar Cake.

This box fills my mind with wonderful memories and I thought that it is worthy of its own blog here in blogland.

So, the following idea came to me:  why not write out these pencil-written, very worn, somewhat torn and disintegrating recipes from years ago here on this blog for not only my family and I to enjoy, but also you, the readers in blogland.  This will be much less expensive than publishing a book, but it will be 'published' nonetheless, and for family and friends to enjoy.

Thank you for joining me here.

I hope you'll enjoy these recipes as much as my family has enjoyed them.

Mary Ann @ RocknRecipes-RocknQuilts

Sour Cream Cake 
(marked with a Very Good)
Grandmother Margarethe Block PS  Please take the time to sift your flour twice with a sifter, as Gma did, otherwise the cake will turn out heavy.

two eggs, beaten
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sour cream (this is fresh, whole "farm" cream that has gone sour, not the sour cream in the supermarket)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda in cream
1 tsp cinnamon

flour for ordinary cake batter, 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 cups, start with less and add more, depending upon humidity
This batch makes 2 layers and is good with brown sugar frosting


As written by my Great Grandmother Margarethe 'Maggie' Block.


Brown Sugar Frosting

• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 
  
• 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons water
• 
  
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Cook the ingredients except powdered sugar in a heavy cast iron skill until smooth.  Take off the heat and beat in the sugar.  Spoon over your cake.  Frosting hardens when it cools.