Velvet Spice Cake
On day seven of Advent, a cake celebrating the 93rd anniversary of Joy of Cooking
Over the past several years I’ve written frequently about the respect I have for Irma Rombauer, and I’m about to do it again in honor of the 93rd Anniversary of the publication of Joy of Cooking.
After being widowed at the start of the Depression, and needing work and money to support her family, Rombauer gathered her own recipes and wrote a cookbook.
Then, in 1931, she self-published it.
Joy of Cooking has sold more than 20 million copies and has been continuously in print since the 1930s. The 9th Edition (Scribner/Simon&Schuster 2019) was revised and expanded by Irma’s great-grandson, John Becker and his wife, Megan Scott and it’s terrific.
The first edition was illustrated with cutouts by Irma’s daughter, Marion, who wrote later editions of Joy.
And Marion’s design for the cover?
Marion also created the cover art depicting St. Martha of Bethany, the patron saint of cooking, slaying the dragon of kitchen drudgery.
— from the jacket of the 1931 first edition facsimile, Simon & Schuster, 1998
And in keeping with tradition, there are fantastic papercuts in the latest edition done by the wonderful
who is currently creating a beautiful daily Advent Calendar (24 Days of Making, Doing and Being) here on Substack at .Velvet Spice Cake
This cake will fill your kitchen with the scents of the Season: cinnamon, nutmeg, clove. It’s one of my favorite cakes for this time of year.
I love Irma’s voice:
This cake is well named, as it has a very delicate consistency. Its flavor is unequalled in spice cakes.
— Irma Rombauer, 1931
I agree. Here’s the recipe, as it looked in the 1931 self-published first edition.
I did not ice the cake, I dusted with confectioners sugar and topped with some candied orange rind and sugared cranberries. The cake stand is one of my favorites and is by
.Notes:
Some ingredients (buttermilk, eggs) are found in the instructions
It’s not necessary to sift 3x -one time will do
Add the baking powder to the dry ingredients
Alternate the flour with the buttermilk
Grease and flour the pan (9 inch tube or bundt pan)
Bake for 50-55 minutes till toothpick comes out clean
Enjoy!
Day Seven of “The Little Town” Advent Calendar
An Arts and Crafts (Kunst Gewerbe) window.
See you tomorrow for the start of the second week of Advent, where the theme for the week is peace. 🕊️
Jolene
I need to remind myself AGAIN that this is NOT the season to try to go on a DIET ! It's like building a sand castle in a hurricane, LOL.
I’m excited to try this and glad you shared the dusting instead of icing…i try to reduce sugar when I can. I'd love to know how you make sugared cranberries.