The oldest family wedding of which I have knowledge was that of Uncle Ed and Aunt Ida. Ida was Grandma Ina's older sister. Ina writes of the wedding as follows:
"Ed and Ida were married that winter, December 14, 1879, in Kansas. He had added a small addition to the house, which was of sod, for a bedroom for them. The wedding was a simple affair; the only guests w
ere one neighbor family. The woman, Sevilla Maxfield, helped in dressing the bride and preparing the wedding dinner. I recall of that dinner only the wedding cake. It was a large one made by Ma – her favorite 'pork cake,' and of course, it was 'frosted.' They were married by a justice of the peace who skated up the river from his home to ours. Mr. Maxfield's brother dropped in at our place soon after the wedding ceremony was over. I recall his cheerful manner and good-looking face, and how he said, "Lord bless me, I must kiss the bride!" which he did without more ado and in good style. We rather suspected that he may have wished himself the bride-groom." By the way, according to my calculations, Ida was 15 in 1879. Ed was much older. They eventually settled in Drain, Oregon, and had a long life together.
The photo above is of Lafe and Lucy Dickson, my great-grandparents, in 1903. Lucy is the "Ma" mentioned in the paragraph above. My dad used to chuckle that in all their photos, Grandpa Dickson would hold their marriage license while Grandma held the Bible.
Wednesday is "recipe day" according to my newly ordered household system. On recipe day I not only organize recipes but have the option of a recipe adventure. Today I baked my Great-Grandmother Dickson's pork cake, an experience I've been looking forward to.
First, I thawed the pork fat I've been saving when Mike trimmed pork chops. Finding that I had only enough for half a recipe, I decided that was probably enough anyway. Th
is cake won't be low in "sat fat." Since Ina's recipe lacked method, baking temperature, and flour, I checked online for some ideas. The recipe called for me to run the fat twice through a food chopper, but I cheated and used my food processor. The result was not a pretty. [See photo right.] I made a cup of instant coffee, added a teaspoon of soda, then poured that liquid over the fat. While that cooled, I grated the rind of an orange. At this point I began to use the mixer, a luxury my grandmothers didn't have. I added molasses and sugars, then the dry ingredients, the orange peel, raisins, citron (I used Radiant mix), and the almond meats I had chopped earlier.
Sad to say, the cake is darker on the bottom than I would have wished, even though I cut the heat. But it's edible and really quite tasty, if you like fruitcake. I think I'll frost it with a browned butter frosting.
Would I do it again? Yes! I had a good time. KW
Interesting about this pork cake. Are there other animal cakes? Beef cake? I wonder how they compare...
ReplyDeleteOf course, lard is pork fat, and according to one website, not as bad for us as I had assumed when you compare to the triglycerides. Apparently it's enjoying a rebirth in some circles. If I were to try this recipe again I would just use applesauce and maybe a little Crisco. I consider "Ma's Pork Cake" the closest I have to an old family recipe.
ReplyDeleteIt seems I was more interested in the people than the recipe. Who is Ed? Is it Ed Patchen? I couldn't figure out who the Maxfield's were. At least the recipe was quite clear. In New Zealand, lard was the only shortening you could find. No vegetable shortening, like Crisco.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed -- Ed Patchen. The Maxfields are folks we don't know. This wedding happened in Kansas, I believe, in 1879. The Maxfields were just people they knew at the time. I'm still working on the recipe -- Kathy's "no pork" cake.
ReplyDeleteHim holding the wedding license and her the bible. So sweet.
ReplyDeleteAny chance of posting the original recipe? Vague though it may be? I have some from my grandma that are equally vague! I am intrigued enough to maybe try it someday, if you are able to share.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, if you research a bit (I've been reading about this for years), you also may conclude that pork fat is not unhealthy, but Crisco definitely is. I've read that doctors could go for a whole career without ever seeing a heart patient...until the advent of vegetable shortenings early in the 20th century. The rise of heart disease correlates directly with the rising use of vegetable oils. I'm sure there are other factors, with our abundant intake of sugar near the top of the list, but if we ate how people ate 100 years ago on a farm, I think we'd be much better off.
I'd be happy to share the original recipe. That I didn't post it here was an oversight. Right now, though, I've stashed it in one of my many safe places and I'm not sure where it is. I'll post it as soon as I find it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the old recipes are fun to read and fun to try.