Recipes from the Past
Leftover Cake
By Frank Daniels
Believe it or not, Nov. 15 is “National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day.” Legend has it that Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day was designed so that there would be room in the fridge at Thanksgiving. Other sources claim that Whirlpool Appliances came up with the idea. No one really knows where the “holiday” came from, but there are plenty of things that you can do with stale breads and cakes. Here are few examples of what you can do with leftover cake:
1) Keep leftover pieces of cake or cookies in a covered metal box. Crumble into pieces or grind into crumbs; combine with cooked leftover fruits (with juice) for steamed fruit puddings. Serve with lemon sauce.
2) Cut white, sponge or chocolate cake into rectangles to fit refrigerator tray. Line tray with waxed paper. Put cake together in layers with sweetened whipped cream. Place in freezing compartment and freeze for 8 hours. Lift out, remove paper and frost with whipped cream. Serve whole; cut into slices at table.
3) Arrange squares of sponge-cake bread with jam or marmalade in pudding dish; top with boiled custard and chill for 3 hours. Sprinkle with chopped toasted almonds before serving.
4) Cut angel food cake into rounds; spread with a paste of chopped figs and preserved ginger sirup [sic]. Place a marshmallow in center of each and bake in moderate oven (375oF) until marshmallows soften.
5) Combine broken up chocolate or angel food cake with whipped cream, marshmallows, chopped nut meats and chopped candied or cooked pineapple. Chill for 3 hours. (Excerpt from 500 Delicious Dishes from Leftovers, 1940)
The booklet, 500 Delicious Dishes from Leftovers, published by the Culinary Arts Institute, was so popular that you might have a copy in your collection without even realizing it. There were five different editions in the early 1940s, available in a variety of colors. The whole series of books, which also contained this one, was reprinted in 1949 and throughout the 1950s, and elements of the series were incorporated into the publisher’s other books. In the 1970s, books from the series were available in a smaller format. The books were sold separately and in sets through every means that the entrepreneurial publisher could conceive.
Bonus Recipe: Cabinet Pudding No. 1
A cabinet pudding can be any molded, cake-like dessert made with fruits and/or bits of bread or cake. The expression goes back at least to 1822, but sometimes the dish was called by other names – such as Chancellor’s Pudding. Sources agree that the creative dish could be made in any number of ways, and the Century Cook Book has four recipes for it. The dish, which originated in England, seems to have been most popular around the turn of the twentieth century.
Ornament the bottom of a well-buttered mold with citron and raisins. Cover them with slices of cake; then fill the mold nearly full with alternate layers of fruit and cake, arranging the fruit on the edges of the fruit layers so it will be even and symmetrical. Make a custard mixture of a pint of milk, three egg-yolks, and three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Pour it slowly into the mold, so the cake will be thoroughly soaked, and set it in a pan of water. Bake it in a slow oven for an hour, or until the custard is set. Unmold the pudding, and serve it with a wine sauce. (Excerpt from The Century Cook Book, by Mary Ronald, 1900 edition).
Good eating, and save me some!
Editor’s Note: We love you Frank, but seriously, who has leftover cake? JPS |
Values in NM condition:
500 Delicious Dishes from Leftovers, paperback 1940 edition, $4
500 Delicious Dishes from Leftovers, spiral hardback, $15. |
The Century Cook Book, 1898 First Edition $75 |
