Vintage Eats Recipe: Brownstone Front Cake

Brownstone Front Cake, freshly baked, sits on a vintage dessert plate adorned with a dollop of peach Greek yogurt.

If someone asked me to estimate how many cakes I’ve made in my lifetime, I’d have a hard time with that number. I’ve been making cakes since getting married in the 1980s. For a long period while my kids were young, it was weekly.

Cakes were easy to make for this working mom who preferred feeding her kids homemade rather than storebought food – usually just a few minutes of mixing, then pouring the batter into 9”x12” greased pans (I had about six glass and aluminum pans of this size, but Mom beat me with around 20!).

Nowadays, with the kids grown and not around, I have to think of the calories involved in having a cake of this size around our home. Neither my husband nor I need the extra pounds they might bring, but I still pull out the mixer sometime when I need to keep my hands busy.

Today was just such a day and I happily perused my vintage cookbooks until I happened across this recipe.

Brownstone Front Cake is from the “Learn to Bake” instruction manual/ cookbook from General Foods Corporation. It is a small, stapled recipe booklet with full color on the front & back covers. It was published in 1947 and is in great condition. I found it at an antique store.

Inside is information and guidelines for new bakers, such as a section on “The Role of Flour” (it promotes its brand called Swans Down) and “Variation in Shortenings.” Lard played a big part in baking back then, I’ve discovered.

How-to directions with photos are provided for many steps. Dozens of baked goods are listed with an index in the back.

I don’t know why the cake I chose is called what it is, but I was attracted to the spices used within.

Cinnamon goes into nearly everything I bake, even when a recipe doesn’t call for it. I generally insert a teaspoon and it is never overpowering. Something I read said cinnamon is an antioxidant and that sounded like a good enough reason to use it often. Plus it makes the kitchen smell good!

Sometimes a recipe includes a topping, but as you’ll see from the directions below, this one does not.

My husband doesn’t like frosting so I’m going without it on this one, except for a dollop of peach Greek yogurt.

As always, I provide the directions exactly as they are printed, including italics, with notes from me at the end about the baking process.

Let me know if you make this simple cake and what occasion you made it.

Enjoy!

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Brownstone Front Cake

(3 eggs)

Preparation. Have the shortening at room temperature. Line bottom of 13x9x2-inch pan with paper; grease.

Start oven for moderate heat (350 degree F.).

Sift flour once before measuring. Simmer raisins in small amount of water until plump and tender; drain and chop or grind with nuts.

Measure into sifter:

2 ½ c. sifted Swans Down Cake Flour

1 t. soda

1 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

½ t. nutmeg

½ t. allspice

Measure into mixing bowl:

¾ c. shortening

Measure into cup:

*Sour milk or buttermilk (see below for amount)

Have ready:

1 ½ c. brown sugar (firmly packed)

3 eggs, unbeaten

1 c. finely chopped nuts

1 c. raisins, cooked, drained, and finely chopped

*With butter, margarine, or lard, use ¾ c. sour milk. With vegetable or any other shortening, use 1 c. sour milk.

Now the Mix-Easy Part

Stir shortening just to soften. Sift in dry ingredients. Add brown sugar. (Sieve to remove lumps, if necessary.) add milk and mix until all flour is dampened. Then beat 2 minutes.

Add eggs and beat 1 minute longer.

Add nuts and raisins; blend.

(Mix by hand or at a low speed of electric mixer. Count only actual beating time. Or count beating strokes. Allow about 150 full strokes per minute. Scrape bowl often.)

Baking. Turn batter into pan. Bake in moderate oven (350 degree F.) 50 minutes.

My notes:

*I didn’t have allspice so used ½ t. of cloves. It tasted great.

*We like chunky nuts so I didn’t grind them up.

*I use an electric mixer all of the time. I’m certain to lose count of my strokes if forced to count.

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Vintage Find of the Week

Talking about spices, these three spice containers caught my eye in a thrift shop. I don’t recognize the brands – Quaker, Deerwood, Frank’s – but they will find a place on display in my kitchen on a shelf above my stove. They are empty so I’m guessing their previous owner liked their food hot!

Please leave a comment and tell others about this blog where good food and good memories are shared.

Take care,

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