Cake in a frypan?

[turquoisedude]

Mais Oui! I've been doing this for years when the weather gets too hot to use the oven (which should be most days in July or August here but...)
I wanted to share this old technique with fellow vintage-appliance fans.
Here's the batter ready to go into the preheated frypan (it doesn't HAVE to be turquoise... lol).
The Sunbeam book recommends a heat of 280 for the metal-cover models and 300 for the glass-cover models.

 

[turquoisedude]

Grease and flour

As per the booklet, I melted a small amount of vegetable shortening in the pan, spread it around with a pastry brush, then sprinkled in a little flour.

 

[turquoisedude]

Batter up!

Pour in the batter and spread it out evenly.

 

[turquoisedude]

Bake

for about 30 minutes, covered and with the lid vent closed until the last 5 minutes of baking.

 

[turquoisedude]

And the finished product

The top of a cake baked this way is a bit sticky, but it will dry out when cooling. The cakes done this way may be a bit thin, but will be moist!
I made this one to leave for hubby while I will be at the Peoria wash party this weekend - I don't want him to A: starve and B: mess with my vintage appliances! lol

 

[mixfinder]

Sunbeam Does it Best

The Sunbeam was the first adjustable thermostatically controlled frypan in America. Other brands followed but Sunbeam was legend for the eveness of heat.

 

[petek]

Hmmm I've never tried baking a cake like that.
On the few hot days we've had I take my Nesco Roast-Aire and Corning Electromatic skillet outside under the veranda so as not to heat up the kitchen. I finally used my NIB 1973 Toastmaster stovetop oven the other day as well. Made some Jiffy muffins and they were dreadful, not the ovens fault thought,, Jiffys fault.. yuk

 

[xraytech]

I have baked cakes in my Sunbeam Skillet before, but I usually put a wire rack in the frypan and put my Flamingo Pink Pyrex 8" round cake pain on it and bake my cake in the pan.
I will have to try your way of baking the cake.

Sam

 

[foraloysius]

Actually my grandmother baked poundcake like that. Not in a skillet but in a normal pot. The pot was put on an electric stove with solid elements for an hour and voila pound cake a la grandmother! I often helped her with baking on Saturday morning. Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories!

Louis

 

[toggleswitch2]

caldero en espanol, or cauldron in English

Would that be a Dutch oven?
(Ducks and runs).

Seriously by a normal pot do you mean a stockpot or a frying pan that goes stove-top?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_oven

 

[ronhic]

My aunt used to bake cakes in the frypan and when my mothers oven died some years ago, I did too.

I used to raise the cake pan off the base of the frypan with 4 2c pieces around the edges.

Worked a treat

 

[j2400]

I remember my mother baking cakes on the stove. She had a special pan (Harvest Gold Club Aluminum) and--I think--a recipe designed for stove use. She did this a year or so, due to a broken oven.

I remember her baking cookies in an electric skillet, too.

 

[dynaflow]

the same skillet

I have the same skillet in aqua and canary yellow but cant find my booklets for them would u pass the recipe along
thx in advance
ron
[email protected]

 

[foraloysius]

Well Steve, it sort of was a Dutch oven indeed! LOL

My grandmother used an ordinary cookpot, she might have used it for boiling potatoes, but I'm not sure about that. The recipe was a bit odd.

4 eggs
250 grams sugar (it's more like half a pound cake LOL)
250 grams butter
250 grams cake flour (which in this case was a flavoured self raising flour
a pinch of salt
vanilla flavour or some concentrated lemon juice from a bottle

She started with melting the butter in the pot. In the meantime the eggs got beaten with the sugar and the pinch of salt very well. Then the butter was added but before that the pot was well buttered right to the top with the melted butter in it. The flour was added last together with a flavour. She put the batter in the pot and then the pot with the lid on it went on the cooktop on a medium heat (the burner was preheated, those solid burners took long to heat up). After an hour she took the lid off the pot and tried if the cake was done. If necessary the cake got a little extra time on the cooktop. She let the cake rest for five minutes and then got it out of the pot and on to a plate to let it cool. I remember the crust was rather dark brown and on top the cake was yellow and moist. When I got a slice I always ate the part that had been on top last! Yummie!

 

[mixguy]

Electric Skillet Cake

I too have made Cake baked by both methods in an elecric skillet. Had a Dominion elecric skillet received as a gift for help my mother gave in running her sister's store. She gave mom appliances (Silex blender, Poly Perk coffee maker too) in appreciation and to pay her back as she wouldn't accept money for a few hours work and it was near my sister's school and mom would stay until school let out and bring sis home rather than ride the bus. In dealing with the pale top of the cake baked directly in the pan, cooked at 275 degrees, I would make a strusel topping sprinkled on the batter or put some icing on the cake. The other method you would place 3 pennies on the bottom of the pan formering a 4-5" triangle to rest the batter filled pan 8" or 9" rounds pans would fit. Baked 15 min at 425 degrees vent closed and 10 min vent opened. We baked ocassionally this way before we had any toaster ovens.

 

[mixguy]

Turquoise Appliances and Accessories

All the hours spent to acquire that collection! Very nice looking too! The walls of the living area of my parents' home built in 1960, had turquoise walls for 12 yrs! The kitchen formica had little sandlewood, petal pink, canary yellow, and turquoise fern leaves scattered on a white background. Small appliances on the countertop had matching covers since most were a acquired before this house was built.

 

[norgeway]

Cake!!!

Try a pineapple upside down cake like this, it comes out great,Here is my Grandmothers recipe
1-stick butter..1 cup br. sugar- melt in pan
seperate 3 eggs-whip whites set aside
beat yolks-1 cup white sugar-5 TBSP pineapple juice
sift and add...1 cup flour-1 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp salt
mix well..fold in egg whites, place pineapple slices on butter sugar..decorate with candied cherries..pour on batter,bake as directed for your pan...Mamie Craig 1894-1969,Cooked on a wood stove at the age of 10,for a logging camp my great grandfather ran in the mountains of N. C.