Eisenhower’s birthday cake

[kevin313]

A friend dropped off a box full of old newspaper clippings of recipes that belonged to a relative of hers that had passed away. I spent hours going through them - most from the 50’s through the 70’s. One was from October 1956 and it was the recipe for the cake that Ike requested for his birthday every year. An old family recipe of his wife’s, it was a chocolate cake with white (7 minute) frosting. The headline stated that it was a cinch for any woman to make - so I thought I’d give it a try!

 

[mattl]

Looks very good!  I just made the Hershey's Chocolate cake last week, sort of similar but a cup of boiling water went right into the batter.  It was super moist.

 

Your technique is very similar to what I grew up with, only difference I noticed is that I was taught when using glass cake pans you always reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees, might have reduced the crowning of the cake.

 

As a side note, odds are I have thousands of clipped recipes from the 40's to the late 80's in box after box tucked in closets that my mother collected.  It's hard but I have tossed quite a few, really gives a look at life in those days.

 

My favorite frosting is a cooked frosting with milk and flour cooked to thicken and that is beaten into creamed butter and regular sugar, much less sweet.

 

[sudsmaster]

How about posting the recipe as text, no video?

 

 

[foraloysius]

Rich

The recipe is in the text under the video. Here's the link to the video on Youtube.

 

[tomturbomatic]

When you have domed (not doomed) layers, you can invert the upper one so that you have a flat top and more room for icing between the layers.

 

[ea56]

Great video Kevin and Ralph, we watched it about 3 days ago on the living room flat screen.  

 

When I saw you were baking the layers at 375F in glass pans I thought that was a little too high.  But I also think that the reason the layers came out so nice and high was due to the high heat hitting the batter with the carefully folded in egg whites, causing the air to expand rapidly.  I agree with Matt this is probably what caused the doming of the layers.  As Tom said, flipping the domed side down can hide the doming, but this only works up to a point.  I know from experience that  if the dome is too pronounced this flipping can cause the layer to crack, making an even worse mess.  You did the right thing by leveling the top layer.

 

I recall that during the 50’s and 60’s Seven Minute Frosting was very popular.  There were even several Seven Minute Frosting mixes that you just had to add boiling water to and beat on high speed to get a nice frosting.  I remember that there was a delicious Cherry version that had an envelope of chopped cherries that you folded in at the end.

 

Thanks for another great recipe and video.

 

Eddie 

 

[gyrafoam]

7 minute frosting and chocolate cake. Great flavor combination.

 

[appnut]

7-miinute frosting was the only recipe used by my sister and when I began baking, me too.

 

[circlew]

I love it!

7-minute frosting is my favorite, especially on a dark chocolate cake. I have made several versions - the standard vanilla, mocha, chocolate, cherry, lemon, and brown sugar.

It's the frosting most common on coconut cake. My Aunt Doris's maid Marleta made a fantastic coconut cake, and she had an excellent frosting recipe.

A good thing about this frosting is that it has little if any fat, unlike buttercream types. The chocolate cake I usually make has vegetable oil instead of solid shortening, so with this type frosting is much lower in saturated fat.

 

[kevin313]

Thanks, everyone!

I did invert the bottom layer when it came time to frost, so the flat portion was on top, but I had to trim the top layer to get it flat on both sides. Thanks for the tips on getting a flat cake while baking - I will try, although Ralph will be sad as he loves to eat the pieces I trim off the top!!

Here's the recipe if you prefer not to watch the video. I usually try to include the recipe in the video description on YouTube.

In going through a box of old recipes clipped from newspapers that a friend gave me, I came across this recipe published in the Detroit Free Press on Friday, October 12, 1956. President Dwight D. Eisenhower ("Ike" as he was often referred to) was going to have a birthday on October 14, and this was the cake he requested every year for his birthday. Apparently, it was an old family recipe of Mrs. Eisenhower's. It involves a number of steps, but overall isn't a difficult cake to make - and it was light, moist and delicious!

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 eggs, seperated
1 cup sour milk (1 cup milk mixed with 1 TBSP white vinegar or lemon juice)
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

Sift together cake flour, baking powder and soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Cream together butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.

In a small bowl, add boiling water to cocoa and stir to dissolve. It will form a smooth paste. Add to creamed mixture and blend well.

Add flour mixture alternately with sour milk to creamed mixture until well combined.

Beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold into batter.

Pour in two greased and floured 9 inch cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake tests done. Remove from oven and let cake cool in pans for 10 minutes. Invert cakes out of pans onto cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

2 unbeaten egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 TBSP cold water
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

You will need a double boiler. Bring bottom pan to a boil and then reduce to simmer. In the top pan off the heat, combine all the ingredients except the vanilla. Stir well to dissolve the sugar as much as possible. Place top pan over bottom pan and begin mixing (an electric hand mixer works best) at high speed until frosting stiffens and will stand in peaks. This may take 7-10 minutes. Add vanilla, and beat in to combine. Spread frosting on cake while frosting is still warm. Allow frosting to set up (at least an hour) before cutting cake.

 

[ozzie908]

@kevin313

You inspired me !!

 

[ozzie908]

I had never made 7 minute frosting before and ok its a learning curve and I got there, Maybe next time it will look more like yours

Austin

 

[tomturbomatic]

Just beat it a little longer until it forms peaks that curl over at the top when you raise the beater. We used to tint it with a drop of food coloring like pink for Valentine's day or a lady's birthday. Mom used to buy those Russell Stover Rosebud Mints and put a circle of them on the top of the cake. I liked making 7 minute icing because it involved cooking. Range manuals from the late 40s-early 50s used to talk about how with an electric range, you did not need to use a double boiler; just start out on Medium.

 

[ozzie908]

@tomturbomatic

Thank you I will try again and take on board what you say

Austin

 

[kevin313]

Austin!

Your cake looks incredible! The 7-minute frosting always takes me 10 minutes! Maybe my mixer isn't as fast, but I find to get the frosting to the right firmness it takes a couple extra minutes.

Hope the cake tasted as great as it looked! So glad you gave the recipe a try!

Thanks!!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Yes, 7 minutes is not a rule, just a name. You always have to lift the beaters and see what you have before stopping the beating.

 

[ozzie908]

@kevin313

It Tasted very nice thank you I made it for my Husbands birthday and we had a slice with coffee after lunch

I will practice the 7 minute frosting it was in need of a little more cooking out but as they say practice makes perfect...

Thank you for sharing the recipe.

Austin xx

 

[mikael3]

The cake in the newspaper photo is sitting on a Fenton ruffle-edge cake plate.  Fabulous!!

 

Every time I see these videos I’m amazed by the vintage “store”.  It never gets old.

 

[vacerator]

Love Fenton glass

I have a square relish plate and matching canoe small candle holder in a hobstar pattern of a sort.