Hello r/oldrecipes! My client’s birthday is coming up (I do senior care) and his grandmother used to make this cake for him. It’s his favorite so naturally I want to make it for him, however it has very sparse instructions. There are no temperatures or times on the sheet, and I am curious if “soda in cream” just means mixing the baking soda into the sour cream or if there might be another explanation. If you can offer any guidance on what might be the best way to prepare this dish I would be forever grateful. His birthday is early November so the sooner the better. Thank you so much!!
by oskinn
21 Comments
Eep! Not sure what to write in the comments apart from this is not my recipe! This is from an American woman who lived in New York during the 50s and hand-typed her own recipes.
crosspost to r/askbaking
I am sure they can help!
Melt the chocolate in the coffee and leave to cool.
Separate the eggs and beat the whites to soft peaks
Beat the butter and the sugar together; beat in the egg yolks and a few drops of vanilla
Add the soda to the sour cream and mix, add this to the butter mixture.
Add the cooled coffee and mix in, then add the baking powder, flour and a pinch of salt.
Add a spoonful off the egg whites and mix well to lighten, then fold in the rest of the egg whites gently.
180c / 350F till a skewer comes out clean.
Oooh okay, I love this kind of stuff.
Side note for later… I know 4x is powdered sugar (though most sold today is 10x)
I would start by creaming the butter, egg yolks, and sugar like any other recipe. I don’t know why she wants the baking soda in the sour cream, but ok. Mix all wet together, cream, coffee, melted chocolate, blend into creamed egg yolks and sugar. Sift in flour and baking powder. (I would also add a pinch of salt!) Fold in fluffy whites at the end.
If you’re doing 8” rounds, I’d start with three of them, line with parchment, 350°, check after 20 minutes with a toothpick. Maybe give another 5.
Flip cakes to cool, level as needed.
4x sugar is a type of powdered sugar that is a bit coarser than what you can buy today. There isn’t really a great place to buy it, unless you special order it, but you can get away with using powdered sugar. Just be aware it might create a slightly different texture. What we call powdered sugar today is actually 10x sugar.
For the first frosting, start by creaming the butter, then adding the sugar, then the cocoa, then the vanilla/salt (probably a tsp vanilla and a pinch of salt). I’m also guessing the “hot milk for right consistency” is only going to be a couple tablespoons.
I’m not sure about the second frosting, honestly. Definitely make sure your sugar is sifted, because lumps are going to show up if you don’t. If it were me, I’d probably start with the butter, then the egg yolks, them the melted chocolate (making sure it’s not hot, just warm so you don’t screw up the egg yolks), then the sugar, then the vanilla/salt. Then the boiling water to thin it out.
Pan size you’re going to have to guesstimate. It doesn’t look like a huge cake, so maybe try 8 inch circle pans? Make sure you grease them well and let them cool before flipping the cake out.
It’s very sweet of you to take on this project for your client! I hope it turns out well for you. 🙂
Wow, I want this for my birthday too. Maybe I’ll make it for the family for Thanksgiving.
“Bake in sheets or layers”.
My mom used to write that when her cakes were square. This is (I think) a square pan layer cake.
Very old fashioned but lovely.
Okay, the recipe’s a bit garbled, but here goes:
This is a type of chiffon cake. Chiffon cakes are a pain in the FRICKIN ASS to make.
Mix flour, baking powder, and a teaspoon of salt. Set aside.
Separate three eggs. Keep yolks and whites
Melt chocolate in coffee (I would use a microwave–look up methods), add butter and melt butter, stirring. You shouldn’t need to microwave it at this point. Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Allow to cool but not harden. .
Mix egg yolks into brown sugar.
Mix baking soda into sour cream.
Beat egg whites until “stiff peaks” form. If you don’t trust your egg beating technique, add 1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter to egg whites before starting to beat them.
Now, stir chocolate mixture and egg/sugar mixture together. Add sour cream mixture. Add flour, gradually. Mixing. Now, mixing sour cream with baking soda will activate it. If you’re really worried about that, you might want to beat the egg whites *before* you mix the baking soda and sour cream.
Fold in egg whites (look up “folding egg whites” if you need to).
Bake at 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Then raise temperature to 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Cake is done when it “springs back” when touched. (Times are approximate–PAIN IN THE ASS) Be careful, these times may be too long or too short. They presume using two layer cake pans.
Cake must be cooled completely before icing.
**Icing between layers:**
4x Sugar is a fine sugar. It is not “powdered sugar” or “confectioner’s sugar”, although those might have a 4X mesh. Powdered and confectioner’s sugar have cornstarch added. What you want is now sold as “caster sugar”. That being said:
Heat some milk. It doesn’t have to be scalding, but it should be warm to the touch.
Cream together butter and sugar. This does not mean to add cream (my poor stepdaughter). It means you mix them together until they have a creamy and spreadable consistency. Mix in the cocoa, 1/2teaspoon salt, and 1 or 2 teaspoons vanilla.
Gradually add milk a tiny bit at a time until it’s the consistency you want.
**Icing for outside:**
Stir all ingredients except for water together in bowl of stand mixer. Salt should be 1/2 teaspoon, vanilla 1 or 2 teaspoons. Add boiling water. Mix with whisk attachment until the consistency you want.
There was some speculation to put this together, so I make no guarantees. Don’t presume it will come out right the first time.
Use these instructions for guidance. Not exactly, but should give you a good idea.[https://livforcake.com/almost-scratch-cake/](https://livforcake.com/almost-scratch-cake/)
Frosting sounds good!
I am so using this, esp the duel frostings!!
Let us know how it turns out. I agree put the baking soda into the cream. I guess it means the whites you saved out from the 3 yolks but it isn’t notated to save them? The beaten whites probably make it a little chiffon-like. I’ve tried a similar recipe, that wasn’t Angel good or calling itself chiffon. I guess it makes it more airy, plus in an older recipe you wouldn’t want to waste the whites so they incorporated them like this. Then I see three more yolks are needed for the icing on the outside of the cake?
Interesting. There’s probably better experts than me who will weigh in. I just like to bake.
I wonder if “soda in cream” is cream of tartar? Or maybe just baking soda, but I’d wonder.
Edit: I think that you need to add the cream of tartar to the egg whites before beating them. This helps the egg whites hold stiff peaks.
Good general rule is cream together wet ingredients, then fold in dry. (Obviously need to melt the chocolate before adding to wet ingredients.)
When in doubt, 350-375F for cakes
There was a chocolate cake recipe that went viral and looks like this exact recipe. The frosting is a classic French Silk. Super delicious 🤤
Wow are there a few bakery owners or anyone who has done a baking challenge for the Food Network that is commenting? Wow. I am so impressed with all of the comments. This is like a master class in baking and it’s really amazing. I hope that this cake is out of this world.
If this recipe is from the 1980s or earlier, use the scoop-and-level method for measuring dry ingredients. This technique dates back to the 1896 publication of “The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book” and remained the standard until the late 1990s or early 2000s.
If you use the spoon and sweep method, you’ll be short about 50 g (1/3 cup) of flour.
Vintage recipes typically used either bleached all-purpose flour or bleached cake flour. Since the recipe doesn’t specify the type of flour you may need to experiment with both bleached all-purpose flour and bleached cake flour.
If the recipe comes from the South, particularly from North Carolina, South Carolina, or Tennessee, consider experimenting with a soft, low-protein flour made from white wheat, like White Lily.
From the early 1930s until the late 1990s, Red Band flour from Red Band Milling Co. was the most popular flour in Southern states. It was a low-protein flour that was 94% bran-free. The popularity of the flour soared after seven of nine members of a local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution selected Red Band the winner in a cake taste test.
Red Band was discontinued in 2009, so White Lily is closest to Red Band in wheat variety and milling.
For decades, Baker’s Unsweetened Baking Chocolate was the most common brand available. It used to be packaged in eight individually wrapped 1-ounce squares, making it simple for bakers to use a simple calculation of 1 square = 1 ounce. In recipes calling for 2 squares, we used 2 squares = 2 ounces of chocolate.
However, Baker’s Chocolate now comes as a single 4-ounce bar, scored into 16 smaller squares. Now, 4 squares = 1 ounce, so for 2 ounces, you’ll need 8 squares.
I wonder if maybe “baking soda in cream” is an old timey way of saying “baking powder”? Since baking powder is basically baking soda+cream of tartar.
Please post a pic once you make it.
looks like you got great help. I hope you update with how it turned out.
It appears to be an awesome recipe. Mix all the ingredients except the flour. Mix until smooth then add the flour. Mix smooth again and fold the whites in. Bake at 350° F until baked. Use a toothpick to be sure. Do not overtake. I am guess 30 to 40 minutes but just a guess.