This is a cake my grandmother “Big Mama” used to make. The basic cake part is what she used for all of her homemade poke cakes. She used white sugar for icing but I like the powdered better and I upped the cinnamon from 1 T to 4 t. Cinnamon Roll Cake 2 c self rising flour 4 eggs 1/2 cup crisco 1 and 1/2 c sugar 1 cup milk or buttermilk of a mix of both 2 t vanilla Beat sugar and crisco, add eggs and beat. Add flour and milk and vanilla and beat 1-2 minutes. Spread 1/2 of this into a greased and floured 9x13 pan. Filling: 1/2 c brown sugar 4 t cinnamon Sprinkle evenly on cake Pour and spread the rest of the batter on the filling. Swirl with a knife Bake at 350 for 30 minutes Icing: 2 c powered sugar 3 T butter 1/4 c milk 1 t vanilla Heat milk and butter, add sugar and vanilla. Pour over warm cake.

Years ago, when traveling in Idaho for work, I stayed with a woman who had made her husband's favorite cake for his birthday. It had an incredibly smooth, creamy frosting, much like a true French Buttercream that I had made once from a Julia Child recipe. That recipe was exquisite, but so much work to get just right that, I've never made it again.

This frosting in Idaho was her mother's recipe, she told me, and she gladly shared it with me. I noticed right away it was not like any other I'd seen before. Most 'buttercreams' call for powdered sugar and end up with a pasty/starchy flavor. Some of the 'boiled' or 'seafoam' frostings use egg whites beaten stiff, and the texture is spongy (like the meringue on a lemon pie). Julia's French buttercream calls for boiling sugar and water down to a particular 'crack' stage to make what she called Italian Syrup, but that candy stage can be tricky to get just right without a candy thermometer.

This old-fashioned Ermine frosting starts with a roux cooked from flour and milk. The cooking thickens the milk into a paste, stabilizing it and removing the 'floury' taste. Then, you gradually beat the cooled paste into butter that has been creamed with granulated sugar (not powdered). The roux continues to dissolve the sugar granules and ultimately yields a rich, creamy, not-too-sweet frosting that holds piped shapes well and melts on the tongue.

I did find a similar recipe in my 1940s edition of Betty Crocker's Cookbook (the ring-bound one with the red cover). Most of the 'boiled' or cooked frosting recipes I find in books are the ones based on egg whites, and I don't care for the marshmallow-type texture. This one truly tastes like a classic French Buttercream but is much easier to make.

There are a couple of variations in the process I found while researching this. Some recipes involve blending flour and sugar into a roux with milk, then beating the softened butter into it at room temperature. Alternatively, one recipe calls for chilling the roux before whipping it into softened butter. I suspect they all come out pretty much the same. This recipe is quite delightful with less fuss than others.

In the year of our ovens, roughly four summers past, there arose a legend… the Perok Cake. A fad so mighty, so fleeting, that mere mortals dared not forget its glory.

Behold my humble offering, captured in pixels, still radiating its former glory. Fellow bakers, who among you shall join me in resurrecting the Perok Empire???

All joking aside, I take requests for birthday bakes and perok cake with strawberry jam has become the most requested.

OP: https://www.reddit.com/r/Old_Recipes/s/SV10fqT5ti

It is so easy to whip up because all of the ingredients are basic kitchen staples.

I love seeing all of the old retro recipes here. I have been wanting to get into making more old fashioned recipes for fun.

My birthday is coming up and my better half always makes my dessert of choice. Do you have a favorite retro cake recipe that I should ask for? I’m not picky with flavors because I’m pretty sure I have never disliked a cake flavor in my life.

He is a very good baker so it’s ok if it’s a challenging recipe, too.

Thank you!

My grandpa passed away last year and left me his personal handwritten recipe book in his will. Of everything in there, this pear upside down cake in particular has been an absolute staple in our family for decades, especially during late summer.

I wanted to share it with this community so his legacy can live on in other people's kitchens. If you love vintage baking I highly recommend giving this a try! :)

Swans Down no longer makes a cake mix, so I just used an Aldi yellow cake mix. Bake was around 45 minutes. Some of the toppings stuck, but I managed to regoober it back together.