Watergate Cake with Cover-Up Frosting

Watergate Cake with Cover-Up Frosting

Schatzi: Though this cake was a prominent fixture on the community cookbook circuit when it debuted (my mother’s version is noted as being from the Nursing Office Cookbook), I have no conscious memory of it. I came across the recipe in my mother’s recipe box, which contains not only many magnificent Christmas cookie recipes, but also numerous treasures of late Sixties and early Seventies cooking. I remember quite a few of them, but there are a number that my mother seems to have dropped from her rotation as I was growing up. Malia remembers this one (and the Banana Split Cake) quite well; Mom made them all the time when Malia was a little girl, right about the time of Watergate.

I happened upon it in the Desserts section of Mom’s recipe box, and had to make it for several reasons:

1. I have been craving a pistachio cake lately,
2. our love for desserts with fun ingredients like soda,
3. my love for vintage recipes, and
4. my sincere affection for Richard Nixon (he’s one of my two favorite US presidents). I am totally serious.

It’s a very simple, throw everything together kind of recipe, and since it’s not from scratch, I just dumped everything into my big measuring cup/mixing bowl and stirred it up real good. I especially enjoyed watching the pistachio green color bloom into the rest of the cake at I mixed. Be careful not to overbake; the cake will look slightly sunken in the middle even when done.

As for taste, HOLY SHIT. We had pieces last night, and it was nice. But then I had a piece this morning after it had been refrigerated all night (breakfast of champions!), and it delivered. Cool, creamy, and that perfect ice cream parlor pistachio green that is so evocative of childhood. It’s like ambrosia in cake form! It might not tickle the sophisticated palate, but it is a comforting, nostalgic treat. I can’t wait to enjoy some on a hot summer day.

Mom's recipe card

Coca-Cola Cake

two great tastes that taste like something together

Schatzi: Let’s start off Bake Week with a bang, shall we? And by bang, I mean with a an odd little recipe that happens to taste delightful! I’m talking about Coca-Cola Cake. Being lovers of Coke and fascinated by odd desserts, Eli and I have been hankering to try one of these babies out for quite a while, so I decided to just up and bake one. I used a clipped newspaper recipe I found in the pages of my Betty Crocker’s New Picture Cookbook, which has several recipe cards and clippings stuffed in it, some clippings dated 1970, others dated 1984, all originating in Florida. This was an undated clipping. I looked into Cola Cakes over at the Food Timeline, and would guess that they were indeed a company-manufactured phenomenon. The recipe in my clipping is identical to the one at the Timeline, as well as one published by the Coca-Cola Company, and one found in the White Trash Cookbook. So it’s apparently a very common recipe.

The result is actually very good, but very sweet. The cake itself isn’t too sweet or too chocolatey, but has a faint caramel-like flavor. The icing, on the other hand, is incredibly sweet and fudgelike. But the two go well together; everyone that tried it liked it quite a bit. I was also amazed at the way the marshmallows simply baked into the cake, making it extra silky and springy. One thing: I wouldn’t try it with Pepsi, which to my mind is sweeter and less caramel-tasting than Coke or RC.

a piece of Coca-Cola Cake

March is …

National Caffeine Awareness Month
National Celery Month
National Flour Month
National Frozen Food Month
National Hamburger & Pickle Month
National Noodle Month
National Nutrition Month
National Peanut Month
National Sauce Month
National Veggie Month (United Kingdom)
March 1: National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day
March 1: National Fruit Compote Day
March 2: National Banana Creme Pie Day
March 3: National Cold Cuts Day
March 3: National Mulled Wine Day
March 4: National Pound Cake Day
March 5: National Cheese Doodle Day
March 6: National Frozen Food Day
March 6: National White Chocolate Cheesecake Day
March 7: National Crown Roast of Pork Day
March 7: National Cereal Day
Chocolate Chip Cookie Week (2nd week)
National School Breakfast Week (2nd week)
March 8: National Peanut Cluster Day
March 9: National Crabmeat Day
March 10: National Blueberry Popover Day
March 11: Oatmeal-Nut Waffles Day
March 12: National Baked Scallops Day
March 13: Coconut Torte Day
March 14: National Potato Chip Day
American Chocolate Week (3rd week)
March 15: National Pears Helene Day
March 16: National Artichoke Hearts Day
March 17: Corned Beef and Cabbage Day
March 18: Oatmeal Cookie Day
March 19: Poultry Day
March 19: National Chocolate Caramel Day
March 20: Bock Beer Day
March 20: National Ravioli Day
March 21: Maple Syrup Saturday
March 21: California Strawberry Day
March 21: National French Bread Day
March 22: Coq Au Vin Day
March 23: National Chip and Dip Day
March 23: National Melba Toast Day
March 24: National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day
March 25: Pecan Day
March 25: Waffle Day
March 25: National Lobster Newburg Day
March 26: Spinach Day
March 26: National Nougat Day
March 27: National Spanish Paella Day
March 28: Something on a Stick Day
March 28: National Black Forest Cake Day
March 29: National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day
March 30: National Hot Dog Day
March 30: Turkey Neck Soup Day
March 31: Tater Day
March 31: National Clams on the Half Shell Day
March 31: Oranges and Lemons Day

Sorry guys, I lost my internets for a few days!

Christmas Cookies: Fruitcake Cookies

Fruitcake Cookies from LHJ circa 1977

Schatzi: It seems that one either loves fruitcake or hates it. Well, count me among the former, because I could maow fruitcake all the livelong day. These cookies can  satisfy my cravings for liquor-soaked, nutty-fruity deliciousness all season long. These Fruitcake Cookies were a Christmas staple in my mother’s household for as long as I can remember–and according to the recipe card, were around even before I was. I always remember them being there at Christmas, but it must have been when I was twelve that these became my particular responsibility every year. I use both red and green glace cherries to top them with for a more festive approach, but you could stick with just one color. I also have adapted her recipe slightly to fit my currently tight budget, but these are delicious either way. And as you can see on her original recipe card below the cut, a half batch is pretty large. I like Myers’s Rum’s delicious, rich, and boozy cookie, but we made them with bourbon for years, so don’t worry about the right liquor. Anything flavorful will do: dark rum, whiskey, brandy. After they cool, store them for a few weeks to ripen for the best flavor.

Baked Apples

baked apple with bleu cheese

Mother didn’t like the idea of my going to a strange boarding-house, so Miss Mills kindly made a place for me. You know she lets her rooms without board, but she is going to give me my dinners, and I’m to get my own breakfast and tea, quite independently. I like that way, and it’s very little trouble, my habits are so simple; a bowl of bread and milk night and morning, with baked apples or something of that sort, is all I want, and I can have it when I like.” —Louisa May Alcott, An Old-Fashioned Girl

Elisha: I thought these up this morning when Schatzi and I were beyond hungry and trying to figure out what I could possibly make with the little ingredients I had available. I saw Schatz’s bag of apples and thought to myself jokingly that I could make baked apples. Then a second later I realized that was a great idea.

You may leave the blue cheese off, and they will still be delicious, but even someone like Schatzi who has a love/hate relationship with blue cheese thought that it added an amazing creaminess and sophistication to an otherwise homey dish.