Be Mine: Two Mid Century Inspired Desserts
Photo Credit: Jessica Morone of Mashed
Share with your Sweetie or Just for Your own Sweet Tooth
Let’s face it — whether you are dining at home or at a restaurant on Valentine's Day, the best part of the meal is the dessert. Mid century homemakers definitely had a way with desserts giving them jazzy names like Sock-It-To-Me cake, Wacky cake or even 7-up cake.
According to an article in Women’s Day Magazine, in 1960, the most popular cake was a bubbly number called Pink Champagne Cake. Food52 — a cooking content website — elaborates further saying that pink champagne was a popular drink in nightclubs in 1960 and soon became a popular color for jewelry and even shag carpeting.
Their recipe has simplified the recipe that the Los Angeles Times says is still one of their most requested recipes. This recipe for the Classic Pink Champagne cake from cooking site Mashed has step by step instructions.
For another take on this recipe try this Strawberry Champagne Cupcake recipe from the recipe site, Delish.
Photo: Jim Wilson / New York Times
In 1966, Ella Rita Helfrich of Houston took second place in the Pillsbury Bake off Contest for her Tunnel-of-Fudge cake. The original recipe featured Pillsbury’s fudge icing mix to create the gooey chocolate center. Her cake was so popular that it is said that Bundt pan manufacturer Nordic Ware was making 30,000 Bundt pans a day to keep up with demand.
When Pillsbury discontinued the fudge icing mix the popularity of the cake led Pillsbury to release a recipe for making the cake from scratch.
You can find the Pillsbury recipe plus numerous others online for this cake but we like the one from New York Times Cooking who has adapted the original Pillsbury recipe. Maybe for Valentine’s Day it should be renamed the Tunnel-of-Love cake?
Whichever recipe you choose is sure to make February 14 a very sweet day indeed.
Don’t want to bake? Here are few Sacramento pastry shops where you can order your sweet treats:
Freeport Bakery (they offer a champagne cake!)
Pushkin’s Bakery (gluten-free bakery)
