Old-Fashioned Great Depression Cake

This Great Depression cake is from the 1930s. I just love vintage recipes, don’t you? Do you have any classic recipes that you’d like to share with me? If so, please post them in the comments below.

It’s hard to wrap our heads around what the people went through during the great depression. It’s nice to know that they at least had some simple joys in their lives such as this cake.

 

Ingredients

2 cups cold water

2 cups Sun-Maid raisins

1 cup Domino brown sugar

1/3 cup Wesson vegetable oil

2 teaspoons McCormick cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons water

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon Morton salt

2 cups Gold Medal flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Powdered sugar for serving (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325º degrees F.  Line a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang.

In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine water, raisins, brown sugar, vegetable oil and the spices. Bring to a boil and, stirring constantly, boil for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool 10 minutes.

Meanwhile mix the baking soda and salt in water and stir until completely dissolved. Combine flour and baking powder and toss with a fork to combine.

After raisin mixture has cooled, add soda and salt mixture – it will bubble up, so stir well.  Add the flour mixture and stir until a stiff dough has formed and raisins are well distributed. Spoon into prepared pan, smooth the top and bake 55 minutes.

Remove cake from oven to a cooling rack and let cool 5 minutes, then use overhanging foil to remove cake from the pan and allow to cool completely.

Serve slightly warm as dessert or with morning coffee. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving if desired.

 

 

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Quick Tip: Sprinkle the top of this cake with a dusting of powdered sugar.

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27 comments

This recipe reminds me of another recipe called Applesauce Cake, which my Grandma and me use to make .It too is a recipe from the 40’s and 50’s, with lots of spices and a sprinkling of powered sugar cause it was so moist and
flavor you didn’t need icing plus sugar was a commodity hard to come by back in the Depression Era.

My Grandmother & Mother use to make an applesauce spice cake with a homemade carmel icing that was so good!!

I have my grandmothers recipe books, hand written, it has Applesauce cake in with spices too. Her recipe book also has many depression era recipes in, especially cakes, pies, muffins, cookies and canned items. I don’t put icing on just powered sugar. My grandmother–born 1905 in Hungary–recipe came from her mother-my great-grandmother had this recipe she was born around 1879 in Europe. They came to Canada back in the early part of the 20th century. Anyhow I just love Applesauce cake it is so delicious. Sometimes I will put a thin layer of butter icing on.

My mom, born in 1915, gave me this tecipe years ago. I baked and served these cakes following her memorial servive when she died at the age of 99, as a special tribute to her. Simply stated, i love this cake!!

I would love to try it but I can never find the actual receipt. I am just going to stop trying to look for any of them.

Have you ever heard of a depression era recipe called “Butter Rolls ” I can’t type the recipe tonight but please remind me tomorrow . Very easy and economical, my grandchildren love it!

I’ve never heard of any recipe from that era that contained “vegetable oil”. It seems like, originally, it would have been made with lard. Since sugar was rationed during the depression, I also wonder if an entire cup was used. Just food for thought. (Pardon the pun.)

My grandmother’s applesauce cake is made with shortening and no eggs, and she probably used lard back then.

This recipe is so similar to one we call “Grandma Barnett’s Raisin Cake”. The ingredients are the same but our recipe calls for larger quantities of some. We bake it in a Bundt pan and drizzle icing made from powdered sugar, cream and vanilla extract. A real family favorite.

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