Recipes
Mug Cake Recipe
A good thing is worth sharing. Here's a cake-for-one recipe I came up with last year after my friend mentioned the idea. If you're making chocolate cake, add a little cocoa powder to the base mix so it doesn't taste so bland. For vanilla, look for some powdered vanilla around town to boost the flavor. Or forgo all of that and do whatever you want--just enjoy, dang-it!
Mug Cake
Base Cake Mix
- 1 box of angel food cake mix
- 1 box of your favorite cake mix
Whisk together the above in a resealable container.
Individual Mug Cakes
- 1/4-cup of base cake mix
- 1/4-cup of water
Mix the cake mix and water in a microwaveable mug. Microwave for 1 minute. Remove and garnish as you see fit. Eat, and enjoy.
Store that base cake mix in the kitchen cabinet for whenever you need a last-minute dessert for friends or a little sweetness for yourself.
Mug cake. Let's hear it for the science of cooking!
Milwaukee Gas Light Company Recipes
My goodness, what an unexpected gift! My dad and I were talking about baking with apples the other day--my recent explosion into apple baking, reminded about his mom's apple cake that he used to eat as a kid. He reminded me that we have two of grandma's recipe boxes above the stove at my parents' house--recipes I haven't looked through in years. I took them down one at a time, and while paging through the recipes for this apple cake recipe of lore, I learned a little about my grandma.
My grandma used to work for the Milwaukee Gas Light Company, "If It's Done With Heat, You Can Do It Better With Gas," that always sent out recipe cards with their bills--silly, I know. But how convenient, especially for all the housewives of the '40s and '50s! What a marketing goldmine! Heck, with all the great recipes I see here, I'd be happy to see my next bill, just to see what outlandishly titled recipe the gas company sent me this week.
So, like most gifts, I can't help but share these with you--they're too good to keep to myself. Whether it's the silly title, bizarre ingredients, a familiar recipe that's withstood the test of time, or something that actually sounds good enough to cook, I'm passing it along to you trusting that you'll enjoy these along with me.
I found my grandma's apple cake recipe among hundreds of Milwaukee Gas Light Company recipes, written in her own handwriting. I'm going to hang onto this one a little longer before I share it; I think you'd understand.
Menuse With Little Or No Meat--Pie
Series XXV, Lecture 5
Lemon Pie Filling
- 1/4 cup general all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups boiling water
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 lemon, juice and grated rind
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix flour, cornstarch and sugar. Add boiling water, stirring mixture as water is added. Stir and cook in a double boiler 20 minutes. Beat egg yolks slightly. Pour a portion of hot mixture onto the egg yolks and mix. Then return this to the remainder of sugar and starch mixture, and cook until smooth. Remove from flame, add butter, salt, lemon juice, and rind. Mix well
Pastry
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 5 tablespoons solid shortening
- Cold water
Sift flour once, measure, and sift again with salt and baking powder. Cut in shortening and add cold water to make a stiff dough. Toss on floured board, pat and roll out. Bake on an inverted pie plat at 425 degrees F., about 12 minutes
Meringue
- 3 egg whites
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 3/8 teaspoon baking powder
Beat egg whites slightly, adding baking powder and beat until stiff and dry with rotary beater. Sift sugar, ad dto whites, beating until smooth. Spread on top of pie and bake at 325 degrees F., about 20 minutes.