Thursday, April 2, 2009

One-Egg Cake Recipe And Nine Variations Vintage Recipe Thursday -- 2nd Weekly Edition

Vintage Recipe Thursday is meant to preserve out-of-print, copyright-free recipes from old cookbooks, magazines, newspapers or your own original vintage family recipes. Want to participate? Get the details by clicking to the Vintage Recipe Thursday Homepage. I post recipes from the Searchlight Recipe Book, first published in 1931. My 16th printing is from 1943.

Today, I chose the one-egg cake recipe and its nine variations because it is so versatile, easy, fast and inexpensive to bake. Even if you are a beginning baker, you can master this single cake recipe, and with the nine additional variations, you will have ten cakes to serve friends and family. It's a Depression Era recipe, and it will cost next to nothing to make, so that's a great thing in this current economy too.

One-Egg Cake Recipe (Master Recipe)
1/4 Cup Shortening (or butter)
2/3 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Flavoring (or real vanilla)
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Milk

Cream shortening and sugar. Add unbeaten egg. Add flavoring. Beat thoroughly. Sift flour, measure, and sift with salt and baking powder. Add alternatively with milk to creamed shortening and sugar. Pour into well-oiled loaf pan. Bake in moderate oven (375 F.) 35 minutes.

Tea Cakes (Variation 1)

Prepare one-egg cake batter, and bake in small muffin tins. Ice with butter icing. Food coloring in a number of the pastel shades may be added to portions of the butter icing.

Short Cake (Variation 2)
Prepare one-egg cake. Bake in shallow pan. Cut in rounds. Split each round and place sweetened fresh fruit or well-drained and sweetened cooked fruit between the layers and on the top. Serve with whipped cream. Garnish with some of the fruit section.

Cream Cake (Variation 3)
Prepare one-egg cake. Bake in shallow pan. When cake cools cover with a layer of thinly sliced bananas. Serve with slightly sweetened whipped cream, a cream filling, or a soft custard.

Chocolate Cake (Variation 4)
Prepare one-egg cake batter. Melt 1 square of unsweetened chocolate over hot water. Add to creamed shortening, sugar and well-beaten egg. Complete recipe in manner indicated.

Spice Cake (Variation 5)
Prepare one-egg cake batter. Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, and 1/2 cup raisins dredged in 2 tablespoons of the flour. Pour into well-oiled loaf pan and bake in moderate oven (375 F.) 35 minutes.

Raisin Cake (Variation 6)
Prepare one-egg cake batter. Add 1/2 cup chopped raisins which have been dredged in 2 tablespoons of the flour. Pour into well-oiled loaf pan and bake in moderate oven (375 F.) 35 minutes.

Upside-Down Cake (Variation 7)

Prepare one-egg cake batter. Cover the bottom of shallow cake pan with waxed paper. Cover with 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and add a layer of slices of well-drained pineapple or other cooked fruit. Cover with cake batter. Bake in moderate oven (375 F.) 30 minutes.

Quick Coffee Cake (Variation 8)
Prepare one-egg cake batter. Add 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind. Pour into well-oiled loaf pan. Sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon. Bake in moderate oven (375 F.) about 35 minutes.

Washington Pie (Variation 9)
Prepare one-egg cake batter. Pour into 2 well-oiled layer cake pans. Bake in moderate oven (375 F.) about 20 minutes. Put layers together with cream filling. Sprinkle top with powdered sugar. Serve with whipped cream.

YOU are next!
I'll put your link right here if you want to participate.

Tamy @ 3 Sides of Crazy: Marshmallow Caramel Balls

Tamy @ 3 Sides of Crazy: Garlic Au Gratin Potatoes

Gudrun @ Kitchen Gadget Girl: DeLuxe Chocolate Pie

Amy @ Vintage Cookbooks: Stuffed Ham Slices

Allen @ Recovered Recipes: Silva's Pancakes


Don't forget to visit each other.
Enjoy new friends; Enjoy vintage recipes.


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  • Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for a great new book:
I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI
By Giulia Melucci

  • Looking for a new weekly carnival?
Check out the details for
Vintage Recipe Thursday

  • Does CHOCOLATE make you happy??!!
Join my next recipe roundup
Joy Of Chocolate Roundup
Click the link for details.

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22 comments:

  1. WOW I love all the variations!! I love the versatility. Thanks for linking me up.

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  2. Thanks for participating, Tamy. Yes, we don't see so much versatility too often. I really liked that.

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  3. I posted a humorous Easter vintage stuffed ham one this week, and will do a yummy dessert next week. Thanks for linking!
    http://vintagecookbooks.blogspot.com

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  4. Gadget Girl: Thank you for participating in Vintage Recipe Thursday. I’m so glad that you are and that this carnival was that tiny nudge that you needed to start preserving your family’s treasured recipes. This one sounds like a real winner since it is a favorite for both your brother and your son. Our son LOVES chocolate so I will make this pie for him. Thank you for sharing! :-)

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  5. Amy: Glad you joined in! Thanks for the fun post and I look forward to next week's dessert recipe.

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  6. Sorry for the delay in my posting -- my first week participating and I'm tardy :-) Here is a link to my post:

    http://www.recoveredrecipes.com/2009/04/sitras-pancakes-or-sitvas-pan-cakes.html

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  7. Allen: It's alright, "better late than never," as they say. I'm glad you joined in with this pancake recipe. :-)

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  8. Hello. I just found your link on 3 Sides of Crazy. This looks like a fun and interesting site.

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  9. the one egg recipe looks good! and i'm thinking about it.. it just seemed to get away from me (the dutch oven that is!)

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  10. Jerri: Thank you and welcome to my dessert blog. I'm so glad you popped in and took the time to leave a comment. Tamy at 3 Sides of Crazy and I are good blog friends. We have a lot in common and often think alike, so if you like her blog, you will probably like mine and vice versa.

    Amy: It's great to see your comment. That little dutch oven has been empty for too long. It needs some good food and recipes! I do hope you get back to blogging at The Dutch Oven soon. :-)

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  11. Happy Hermit: Oh, yes, Spice Cakes are yummy! Thanks for visiting!

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  12. Joy,
    I'm sorry I didn't get my post up in time. I'll submit one for your next vintage Thurs!

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  13. Joie de vivre: Great! I'll be looking for you and your recipes.

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  14. Joy,
    Thanks for visiting me and introducing yourself. I look forward to coming back and even participating on Thursdays for the vintage recipes.
    DarcyLee

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  15. DarcyLee: I look forward to your visits and your vintage recipes on Thursdays too.

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  16. I have "The Household Searchlight Homemaking Guide" 1937. I bought it several years ago at an antique mall in Lubbock, Texas. It is in near mint condition. We also have my husband's mother's "Searchlight Recipe Book" 1947, it is well used and has a lot of her handwritten recipes as well as those clipped from various products. I have started a blog beginning with "Amecican Cookery 1798" I have several cookbooks in the 1800's. If you ever need a certain recipe and need help let me know.
    My blog is http://theamericanwomanshome-pastandpresent.blogspot.com
    You have a very nice blog.
    Sharon

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  17. Sharon: It's wonderful to find someone else who has an interest in vintage and even antique cookery. I hope you will join this meme with any of your vintage recipes, including your mother-in-law's clipped and handwritten recipes, even those from the 1800's or earlier. I find these to all be such amazing treasures which need to be preserved. I have a reproduction copy of American Cookery 1796 by Amelia Simmons too. I posted about it on 4/29/08 and also linked to a review of it. Now I'm off to go visit your blog! :-)

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  18. I made the plain version using butter. it was quick and easy, very delicious too. Now I have good recipe that I can trust whenever I want to bake a cake. thank you.

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  19. Made this cake today the cake did not rise or cook properly I double the recipe and use a rectangle cake pan.

    What happen?

    Lucinda November 2010

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  20. Anonymous #1: I see I missed your comment earlier, but it's never too late to say thank you. I'm glad you tried it and liked it. It's great to have a go-to cake recipe, especially one with so many easy variations.

    Anonymous #2 (Lucinda): When cakes or breads do not rise it is most commonly because the baking powder, baking soda or yeast is no longer active. Be sure to always check the expiration date on the box. Too much heat, air or moisture will also shorten that shelf life. Also if too much time passes by between the time liquid ingredients are added and the cake is placed in the oven, all the rising power will be spent bubbling in the bowl instead of while the cake is baking.

    Experimentation makes for great learning, and it is exactly how some of the best recipes were created, so keep on baking and having fun with it. :-)

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