Old cake technique?

[vineyridge]

My grandmother was born in 1886 or so. I have one of her handwritten cookbooks that was typed by my mother. I was reading it yesterday, and found a couple of cake recipes that called for making a custard that was then added to the batter. This was completely foreign to any cake technique that I've ever heard of.

Have any of you heard of this? Was it common in the early twentieth century?

Here is the recipe for Devil's Food cake:

For custard--1 1/2 cups unsweetened grated chocolate, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk & yolk of 1 egg. Cook slowly on back of stove, but do not boil. (If I were to try this, I'd probably use a double boiler).

For cake-- 1 cup brown sugar creamed with 1/2 cup butter, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sweet milk, 2 cups sifted flour. Add custard & 1 teaspoon vanilla. Then add stiffly beaten egg whites of the 3 eggs. Last add 1 teaspoon soda dissolved in little warm water.

I should mention that I pulled this cookbook up because I remembered that it had the recipe of my grandmother's batter cakes, which I remember from childhood being the best pancakes I've ever eaten.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

My grandmother was born in 1886 or so. I have one of her handwritten cookbooks that was typed by my mother. I was reading it yesterday, and found a couple of cake recipes that called for making a custard that was then added to the batter. This was completely foreign to any cake technique that I've ever heard of.

Have any of you heard of this? Was it common in the early twentieth century?

Here is the recipe for Devil's Food cake:

For custard--1 1/2 cups unsweetened grated chocolate, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk & yolk of 1 egg. Cook slowly on back of stove, but do not boil. (If I were to try this, I'd probably use a double boiler).

For cake-- 1 cup brown sugar creamed with 1/2 cup butter, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sweet milk, 2 cups sifted flour. Add custard & 1 teaspoon vanilla. Then add stiffly beaten egg whites of the 3 eggs. Last add 1 teaspoon soda dissolved in little warm water.

I should mention that I pulled this cookbook up because I remembered that it had the recipe of my grandmother's batter cakes, which I remember from childhood being the best pancakes I've ever eaten.

It’s a hot milk cake, very common in the early 1900s. Raw milk contains enzymes (protease); some breakdown gluten. Heating (pasteurization) destroys some of these enzymes. Prior to commercial pasteurization, milk was scalded for baking to destroy and reduce the gluten inhibiting enzyme.

Before handmixers, creaming butter and sugar was a laborious task. The two-step method was faster and easier than the creaming method. Adding the butter and egg to the hot milk was just an easier way to blend them. The mixture is not a custard. Cooking a custard is a different process.

 

[gimmesomesugarnc]

Fascinating! I've actually never seen this-looks to me like a crème anglaise/stovetop stirred custard added to the batter. I'm going to try it!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Fascinating! I've actually never seen this-looks to me like a crème anglaise/stovetop stirred custard added to the batter. I'm going to try it!

When using a vintage recipe, keep in mind that you need to adjust the ingredients and measurement techniques to match as closely as possible to those from the recipe’s time period. For example, dry ingredients were measured using the dip-and-level method, which yields about 145 grams of flour per cup, unlike the spoon-and-level method common today that yields approximately 120 grams per cup.

Bleached flour, approved by the FDA in 1906, was the most widely available type throughout the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. The FDA did not set standards for egg weight and size until the mid-1950s, so earlier recipes often used eggs from backyard hens, which were not graded and varied significantly in size and weight. Because of this, it's difficult to know the exact size of egg a vintage recipe might require. Generally, food historians trying to recreate old recipes start with medium-sized eggs.

There was also differences in dairy products like milk and butter.

 

[gimmesomesugarnc]

Not to mention how much tastes have changed-most pre-1980's chocolate based recipes seem pretty anemic (and underseasoned) to me! The difference in weight due to evolving home measurement techniques is new info to me, very interesting!

 

[Sharzi]

My grandmother was born in 1886 or so. I have one of her handwritten cookbooks that was typed by my mother. I was reading it yesterday, and found a couple of cake recipes that called for making a custard that was then added to the batter. This was completely foreign to any cake technique that I've ever heard of.

Have any of you heard of this? Was it common in the early twentieth century?

Here is the recipe for Devil's Food cake:

For custard--1 1/2 cups unsweetened grated chocolate, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk & yolk of 1 egg. Cook slowly on back of stove, but do not boil. (If I were to try this, I'd probably use a double boiler).

For cake-- 1 cup brown sugar creamed with 1/2 cup butter, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sweet milk, 2 cups sifted flour. Add custard & 1 teaspoon vanilla. Then add stiffly beaten egg whites of the 3 eggs. Last add 1 teaspoon soda dissolved in little warm water.

I should mention that I pulled this cookbook up because I remembered that it had the recipe of my grandmother's batter cakes, which I remember from childhood being the best pancakes I've ever eaten.

It's basically the same as adding instant pudding mix to the batter. It makes for a denser and very moist cake.

 

[Mona]

What a wonderful treasure to have your grandmother's handwritten cookbook! The cake technique you're describing, where a custard is added to the batter, is indeed uncommon in modern recipes but was more prevalent in earlier times, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This method likely adds richness and moisture to the cake, as the custard would bring in a creamy texture from the egg yolks, chocolate, and milk.

Custards were often used in older recipes to ensure a velvety texture, and this technique makes sense for a recipe like Devil’s Food cake, which is known for its moist, tender crumb. The custard's careful cooking without boiling would ensure that the egg doesn’t scramble, keeping the texture smooth.

It's also fascinating how different the process is compared to modern shortcuts! This might be an old-fashioned way to add richness and balance to the sweetness of the cake. I imagine it would create a beautifully tender and flavorful cake. Definitely worth a try, especially given the family history behind it!

And those pancakes sound incredible! If you have the recipe for those, they’d be a treat to share as well. Printing Mart

 

[vineyridge]

It's not really a recipe; it's just a list of ingredients. But here it is.

Batter cakes:
2 cups flour, 1/3 teaspoon sale, 1 tablespoon sugar, 3(!) teaspoons baking powder, 2 cups sweet milk, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons melted butter.