Coconut Washboards

One reason I began A Cake Bakes was to discover delicious and unusual recipes from the past that for reasons unknown didn't make it to the 21st century. Coconut Washboards are that -- and true rock stars among cookies. These are very yummy and so easy to make. They are shaped like old-fashioned washboards and a fork is used to add the grooves, completing the look,  A little internet research into these gems revealed that they were meant to suggest that hard work (i.e., scrubbing clothes by hand) makes for a sweet reward. 

I baked these for our friend Alec, who joined us to watch the second presidential debate. I figured that we could all use a little old-fashioned sweetness to counter the bitterness (and craziness) that's overtaken our nation.

Start by beating the butter and brown sugar, then adding the egg, vanilla and almond extract.

Combine well and add the coconut and flour, mixing it all together.

Divide the dough in half, and roll out one portion into a rectangle between parchment or wax paper.  (The recipe suggest patting it down, but I found rolling it was easier. Though I still couldn't achieve a rectangle.)

With a sharp knife, cut into "washboards."

With a fork dipped in flour, create the washboard grooves.  I needed to coat the fork continuously so it didn't stick. A bit of flour on the cookies didn't make a difference after baking.

These took me longer than the ten minutes suggested in the recipe. But at the end, the tops were a light golden brown, with the bottoms a slightly darker shade.

Production notes: I followed this recipe almost exactly, but have written out the method I used below. Not sure of the size of a bag of Baker's Cookie Coconut when this recipe was written (in the 1940s), so I used the 7 ounce bad of sweetened coconut available today. I also could not achieve a 10 x 13 inch rectangle. You can just gather the scraps and roll out again. If you want the washboard grooves to be more prominent, you will need to process the shredded coconut so that the dough is really smooth.

Coconut Washboards

3/4 c. unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) softened
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract
2 1/4 c, all-purpose flour
3/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. each cinnamon and nutmeg
1/8 t. salt
7 oz bag of sweetened coconut

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, spices and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter, and cream in sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg, vanilla and almond extract.
Add flour mixture and blend until well combined.
Add coconut and stir.
Divide mixture in half. Pat (or roll) each half into a 10 x 9 rectangle between two sheets of parchment or wax paper.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Chill for one hour.
Cut into 1 x 3 inch rectangles.
Place on an ungreased (or parchment lined) cookie sheet
Press ridges into each with a floured fork.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 14 minutes.
Cool on a rack.

Lime Pie

Have you ever tasted a cloud? I did when I ate this lighter-than-air and beyond delicious fresh lime pie. Making it was a rather time consuming endeavor, but oh so worth it. I chose this vintage recipe because it is unusual -- instead of the meringue atop the custard filling, it is folded in, which creates the ultra light texture. The flavor is pure lime, sweetened the perfect amount.

Start by making a graham cracker crust, much easier than the traditional pastry crust. You can crush the crackers in a food processor, or do it the old-fashioned way using a rolling pin (or wine bottle). I did it in plastic bag to avoid a messy clean up.

Press the cracker and butter mixture into a pie plate and bake a few minutes.

Next, zest some limes. A microplane makes quick work of this.

Zest first, then cut and juice the limes.

This is where the recipe gets complicated. Beat the egg yolks in a double boiler (stick a bowl atop a saucepan), add the sugar and cook until very thick.

Add the lime zest and juice, and heat until this mixture gets thick.

While the lime mixture is cooling, beat the egg whites with the sugar. Then, using a large spatula, gently combine the two.

Place the filling into the cooled crust. Make some swirls so it browns nicely.

Bake until the top is browned.

Although I served this for company, you can see that it's a rather messy pie. But I guarantee your guests won't mind once they have a bite of this luscious lime cloud. A gift from the gods and worth the effort.

Production notes: I followed this almost exactly, but used regular, not superfine, sugar. (You can make your own by whirling sugar in the food processor for a few minutes.) I also didn't add the whipped cream topping because the meringue looked so nice. I didn't freeze the pie -- only refrigerated it for a few hours. I also don't see how one could freeze this pie, despite what the recipe author says.

Even though the instructions are long, they are very clear, making the recipe easy to follow.

Rich Peanut Butter Cookies

Who doesn't love a peanut butter cookie? Not me!  I've never warmed up to peanut butter desserts, but since I seem to be in a club of one, I often indulge family and friends. And so, just a few weeks ago on a gorgeous sunny day, I made a batch to share at an outing to the Jersey shore.

Peanut butter cookies have been a popular American treat for decades; I have about a dozen vintage recipes in my collection.  This one dates from the 1950s. These are very good peanut butter cookies (or so I was told), but I think the "Rich" adjective was added for marketing value only, as these are no richer than other peanut butter cookies I've made despite a large butter to flour ratio. It seems to make the cookies softer, if not richer.

Rich Peanut Butter cookies can be put together in just minutes, if you've softened the butter. It follows the formula of beating the "fat" and sweet ingredients, adding eggs and then the dry ingredients. This recipe does call for refrigerating the dough before forming into balls.

Cool the cookies a rack.

World's best SIL Josh enjoying a cookie.

World's best DS created an ice cream sandwich with the ice cream intended for the raspberry pie, the other dessert I brought to the gathering.

Production notes: I followed this exactly, but used all butter instead of the shortening. I used a natural peanut butter with no sugar added. The dough was too soft, even after refrigeration, for the fork indentations to work. After forming into balls (with gloved hands), I just pressed them down with my palm.

Apple Dapple (aka Fresh Apple Cake)

Greetings after a rather lengthy blog sabbatical, but A Cake Bakes is back with a lovely fresh apple cake recipe, perfect for your Rosh Hashana dinner or any dinner or teatime, for that matter. It's a vintage recipe, probably from the 1950s, and it gave me a chance to use my personalized baking pan, a thoughtful gift from my boss. (David, I'll bring you a slice on Monday!)

This is a quick and easy recipe which puts your apple picking harvest to excellent use. The caramel glaze heightens the depth and flavor (and sweetness) of this rather simple cake. I have no idea why it's called Apple Dapple, but its unusual title is why I chose it from my vast collection of apple cake recipes.

The most time consuming part of this recipe is peeling and chopping the four large apples. The recipe didn't indicate the size of the apple pieces; you can see what I did below.

Mix the eggs, oil and sugar by hand or machine...

until it looks like this, smooth and glossy.

Add in the dry ingredients, then the apples. The batter is so thick that, fearing the machine would crush the fruit, I mixed them in with a spoon (right after I took this photo).

Place the batter in a greased and floured 12 x 9 inch baking pan.

Use a spatula to spread it to the edges.

Bake for about 30 minutes.

Just before the cake is done, make the topping by melting butter, and adding brown sugar and a bit of milk. Let the mixture boil for three minutes.

Pour the topping onto the hot cake.

I followed this recipe exactly, using vegetable oil for the oil, and using one stick of butter for the Oleo. I added a teaspoon of cinnamon but not the nuts, as my son who will be enjoying this cake later, wouldn't touch it if he detected a nut. Always preheat the oven before beginning any recipe.

Mayonnaise Biscuits & Strawberry Shortcake

Spring is synonymous with strawberry shortcake, and it's super easy to prepare, especially with farm market stands filled with fresh berries and these VERY easy and tasty three-ingredient biscuits.  The secret ingredient is mayonnaise, which is simply a combination of egg yolks, oil, lemon juice and vinegar. It yields a very moist muffin. This vintage recipe is from a collection of Amish recipes I purchased a few years ago.

I love three ingredient recipes, but unfortunately I had none of the three in my house. While I could have made mayonnaise, I was lazy so ran to the corner bodega. They didn't have self-rising flour so I made my own (by adding 1 1/2 t. baking powder and 1/2 t. salt to the all-purpose flour) and didn't want to get a large container of milk for just a half cup (so I just added some water to half and half).

The naked biscuits below. Delicious on their own, they're even better as a base for macerated strawberries.

Mix up the batter, which takes literally minutes and requires only low tech equipment -- a bowl and whisk (or spoon or fork).

Spoon into greased muffin tins.

Bake for about ten minutes. (I baked for about 14 minutes, until the tops turned golden brown.

Inside, the biscuits are light and fluffy.

To prepare the strawberries, just slice and add some sugar to coat. Let stand until the sugar crystals melt and then mash about half of the berries with a fork to release their juices.

Split the muffins and spoon the berry mixture on top.  You can add whipped cream (if you happen to have any).

I followed this recipe exactly (after adjusting for the missing ingredients), and my batter yielded seven (not eight) biscuits.
Be generous with the sugar over the berries.