February 8, 2015

Care for a slice of vintage Sweet Story Cake?


Though we may still be up to our vintage hat brims in snow and ice, there's a renewed sense of happiness - what in decades past would have frequently been called gaiety - to the weeks of mid-February. They house Valentine's Day, which even if you're not a massive fan of, surely you can find at least one positive in: the fact that it is the perfect excuse to indulge in your favourite sweet treats!
 
Chocolates are swell, sugar cookies stamped out with festive cutters are always great, and decadent mousses, puddings and parfaits have their rightful - and very tasty – place at the table, but sometimes, especially when serving a holiday crowd, one wants a handy-dandy, no-fuss, thoroughly celebratory cake to cut into. If that what you're in the mood for as February 14th draws nearer than you, my dear, are in luck because today's fun mid-century vintage dessert recipes delivers on that front big time!

Boasting a liberal coating of pink frosting and elegantly arranged silver nonpareils, this 1940s maraschino cherry flavoured, relatively quick to prepare, vintage dessert is sure to put a smile on the faces of even the staunchest opponents of Valentine's Day! :)




{A few simple ingredients, many or all of which you may have to hand already, are all it takes to make this marvelously festive mid-century Sweet Story Valentine's Day Cake. Vintage recipe image source.}



Don't fret or sweat for the tiniest of moments if nonpareils aren't your favourite ingredient, you can easily jazz up this charming heart shaped cake with red sprinkles/jimmies or sanding sugar instead. And though they wouldn't likely be festively hued in shades of red or pink, small slivered almonds would be a lovely and very delicious option as well.

I've always been a big fan of elegant verging on kitschy vintage cakes, which I think this Valentine's Day beaut nails squarely on the head. They seem to speak of a simpler time, before shows like Cake Boss and sites like Pinterest made the average home cook run the risk of feeling like he or she was failing to measure up to the skills held by a very small number of extremely talented pastry chefs and professional bakers around the world.

I can, humbly, cook and bake with the best of them, but I'm not a cake artist in the slightest, so I love it when vintage desserts like this easily allow me - and you alike - to deliver an eye-catchingly fantastic sweet treat to the table that will receive hearty nods of approval and admiration from one and all.

After all, baking, like Valentine's Day itself, shouldn't be stressful. Both offer up the promise of fun and deliciousness - a combination that is hard to beat anytime of the year!


29 comments:

  1. That is one truly adorable cake. My father is particularly fond of cherry so I think I know what he's getting this year! Thank you, as always, for sharing all your wonderful finds with us! :)

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    1. Isn't it though? It would be fantastic for an anniversary, too. How lovely! I hope your dad loves it to pieces if you make this fun cake for him.

      It's truly my pleasure - thank you in turn for all of your wonderfully lovely comments.

      Big hugs & the happiest of Valentine's week wishes,
      ♥ Jessica

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  2. I do use the oven, Jessica, but only for roasting chicken, lamb, etc., I don't bake any goodies for myself at all. I do enjoy them, but just never bother to make any for myself. I absolutely love this post and that is beautiful and looks delicious. Thank you so much for sharing. :)

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  3. what a lovely cake, and perfect for valentines day too. in my family, we always like to make pretty sweets and things for a nice family meal. we were raised with valentines day being about all love, not just the romantic kind. sure mom and dad go out and do special things, but i never understood the discontentment of not having a significant other that is so often heard among single people. to me, valentines day has always been about expressing love to others, like family, in ways such as making a nice meal, giving candy or baking a beautiful cake like this one!

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    1. I am with you 110%, sweet dear, and was raised to look at this day in the same kind of way. Love is such a magnificent, diverse thing that can be celebrated and embraced in countless ways - not just romantically by any stretch of the imagination.

      Wishing you and your family a splendid Valentine's week,
      ♥ Jessica

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  4. This cake looks as charming as it sounds delicious! Happy week of Valentine's Day!

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    1. Thank you very much, honey!

      Have a fabulous Valentine's week, too!
      ♥ Jessica

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  5. Is the recipe listed anywhere where the print is a little bigger? Even the image source is a little too small for me to see the measurements.

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    1. Hi Stacey, that can be a problem with online ad scans for sure sometimes. Here is a link to the largest version of the scan that the person who posted it on Flickr provided (it's a fair bit bigger and easier to read): https://www.flickr.com/photos/beeskneesdaily/12263069224/sizes/o/

      I hope this helps. Happy baking and Valentine's Day!

      ♥ Jessica

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  6. i love me a simple to make but stunning looking in the end recipe!
    and especially on valentines day no one will look totally exhausted from kitchen work. i really can imaging you in a cute dress and frilly apron serving that pretty pink cake to tony - and his joy :-)
    wish you a romantic week!!! xxxxxxxx

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  7. I had given some thought to making a heart shaped cake but wasn't sure quite what flavor to make, I think you've just solved that for me!
    I couldn't agree more concerning how high the bar has been set by television and sites like pinterest. There is a beauty in simplicity and I plan to appreciate that beauty to the fullest!

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    1. Hi sweet gal, how awesome to see a comment from you here again this week. I'm delighted to know that this fun vintage cake recipe helped to solve your baking dilemma.

      I'm also very glad to know that I'm not the only one who feels that way about such media channels. It's all to easy to forget, when we see constant images of "perfection", that an earnest, heartfelt (and heart shaped in this case! :)), classic dish can be every bit as amazing as one that looks like it just walked off of the cover of most-mind-blowingly-new-stunningly-beautiful recipe magazine.

      Have a joyful, fabulous Valentine's week!
      ♥ Jessica

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  8. *sigh* I'm not a baker but I love how vintage cake recipes, even kitchy ones, remind me of my youth. My young mother would bake these exact cakes for my family on every birthday or other occasion. What innocent, lovely times those were. You bring me back to their memory and I deeply appreciate that, Jessica.

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    1. You're very welcome, Ally. I stir similar feelings in myself when I write such posts. Both of my grandmas baked and cooked a plethora of 40s - 70s recipes during my youth in the 80s and 90s, many of which my mom prepared, too, having picked them up from these ladies and other older friends and relatives. Perhaps not surprisingly, I now make some of them myself and love sharing those recipes and others of their ilk with all of fabulous friends and readers here. There's fun, love, and good flavour, naturally, in them and they deserve to be remembered and enjoyed to this day, no matter what food or diet is trending at the moment.

      Have an awesome Valentine's week!
      ♥ Jessica

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  9. Mmmm, looks simply too cute to eat though.

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    1. True - perhaps the solution would be to make one to admire and another to dig into? :D

      Happiest Valentine's week wishes to you and your family, my dear friend!
      ♥ Jessica

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  10. That cake is so cute! I'm not much of a cake artist either - to be honest, I usually get so impatient and excited to put the icing on that I do it too soon, and the cake gets kind of torn up on top - but some pretty, fluffy pink frosting seems like something anyone could make a go of.
    The idea of a cake improver marketed to a home baker seems so odd nowdays - I'm sure does a great job, um, improving the cake, but can you imagine how many eyebrows would be raised at the thought of purposely putting an an artificial additive into a home baked good?

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    1. I've been guilty of that a time or two, myself. I usually use an offset spatula, and that does help a bit, but let's face it, lots of homemade cakes by non-super skilled cake artists end up with bits of the top and side layers in the frosting. :)

      Wishing you and your honey a stellar Valentine's week!
      ♥ Jessica

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  11. What a gorgeously delicious looking cake! I will unfortunately be sans-oven on Valentines Day (camping), but otherwise I would definitely be trying to re-create this!

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    1. Camping on Valentine's Day sounds like a blast (I'm a huge camping fan!). I hope that you have a super fun, safe, enjoyable time. Perhaps you could make some Valentine's Day s'mores on your camping trip with pink marshmallows? :)

      Have a fantastic time!
      ♥ Jessica

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  12. That cake looks lovely and delicious, what a wonderful blog post as I adore old cake recipes presented like this x

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    1. Thank you very much, sweet gal. Ooohh, I just love vintage dessert recipes like this as well. They're cute, a little kitsch, and usually not tricky to prepare at all (if one likes baking/cooking, that is). I suspect that new ones will pop up here on my blog from time-to-time for as long as it's alive and kicking! :)

      Have a marvelous Valentine's celebration!
      ♥ Jessica

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  13. I have never baked a pink cake, but why not. I think I will make a Pinterest board with all your vintage recipes. It is so much easier to save them. But what is cake-improver? Have a lovely day, dear. :)

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    1. That is such a touchingly lovely thing to do, sweet Sanne. Thank you for even putting the idea of such out there (aww!). I do adore vintage recipes so - chances are they will always appear here, especially around the different holidays.

      You know, I wonder myself, too. Perhaps some kind of leavening agent, though I suspect that would be hard to keep active and able to do its job in a tub of lard like this. I'd venture to guess that it was very likely some kind of chemical ingredient, but am not sure. I've never seen lard or shortening with that listed on it in my lifetime. If I find out what exactly it was, I will be sure to let you know.

      Tons of hugs & happy Valentine's week wishes,
      ♥ Jessica

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  14. Wow! That is a kitschy cake indeed. I kind of like it though it may be a little too sweet for me. Happy Valentine's weekend.

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  15. I baked the cake today, and subsituted almonds for the walnuts the recipe called for. Walnuts just aren't in my pantry. I did use the technique to decorate with the dragees, and also put a few roses on top. Can't wait for my hubby to see his cake!

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    1. That sounds really delicious! Cherries and almonds, being of similar flavour notes, are arguably an even better choice for this recipe. I hope yours turned out splendidly and that your husband loved it to bits - and that you both had a truly beautiful Valentine's celebration!

      Big hugs,
      ♥ Jessica

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