This lovely 1940s cake is really peachy keen

Awwww, you gals...you always know how to make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. Thank you deeply for the many wonderful, cheery comments you left on my last post about the fact that I'll soon be jumping coastlines, saying farewell to Ontario and nestling back into my home province of British Columbia.

I absolutely loved getting to share that wonderful piece of news with all of you all, and look forward to keeping you in the loop as things progress on that exciting front.

In celebration of how sweet you all are, and the fact that I'll soon be calling B.C.'s Okanagan Valley home again, I thought it would be oodles of fun to feature one of the area's finest fruits in this week's vintage recipe.

Though the Okanagan produces more fruit than you can shake a stick at (apples, pears, nectarines, apricots, grapes, and cherries to name but a few, the later of which I recalled some of my memories of last spring in this post), few are quite a delicious or memorable as its fantastically good summertime peaches.

Given however, that we're in the thick of winter, fresh peaches are not in abundance or at the their finest right now (at least not in the western hemisphere), so instead in this delightful Peaches 'n' Cream Cake one can easily use canned sliced peaches, as the recipe itself suggests.

 

{There are few tastes that personify the spirit of summer better than peaches, the star ingredient of this lovely 1940s cake recipe, which comes by way of Look Homeward, Harlot on Flickr. Click here for a larger version of this simple, but oh-so-tasty peach stuffed dessert recipe.}

This cake is just plain pretty. No matter how stingingly cold the temperature, or sombrely grey the sky during January, this dessert will help bring a much needed jolt of summertime flavour and beauty to any table.

Come the steamy, exhilarating warm days of July and August, when peaches are at their finest peak, you can (and should!) whip out this recipe again and make it the star of your vintage recipe filled picnic, barbeque or cozy al fresco meal for two.

I certainly will be next summer, bushels of soft, golden hued peaches always ready and within arm's reach for terrific dessert recipes like this scrumptious whipped cream topped cake. I can hardly wait!

Super quick and easy 1940s Chocolate Peppermint Parfaits

✯ Day 334 of Vintage 365 ✯

Vintage gloved hands up if, like me, you're starting to feel that sense that there is no where near enough time left before Christmas to get everything you want/need/have sworn a sacred oath to get done actually done!

Most of us are familiar with this feeling, which can range from momentary to virtually constant from about mid-November onward. I suppose in a way it's slightly endearing, as it's a sensation that is usually only attached to Christmas time and thus helps remind of us season that we're experiencing and the memories that the countdown to December 25th conjures up.

As we sit here on the very last day of November however, I know that a great many of us will only find ourselves more and more pressed for time, boggled down with festive activities, and up to our elbows in "must do" holiday baking and cooking in the coming weeks.

Thus today's vintage recipe from 1942 for Chocolate Peppermint Pudding Parfaits is so incredibly, ridiculously easy that I almost hesitate to call it a recipe. One simply alternates layers of instant pudding with whipped cream (or you could use Cool Whip, if you prefer), to which peppermint extract and green food colouring has been added, in a pretty serving dish.

That's it. In under 15 minutes (and that's allotting if you need to whip the cream yourself from scratch) you have a rather delicious, inexpensive, beautiful looking dessert that's instantly - thanks to the inclusion of mint - fit for the holiday table.

 

In addition to the mint variety mentioned above, this inviting looking Jell-O ad from 1942 (which comes by way of alsis35 on Flickr) also includes an equally simple to make, time crunch-friendly recipe for Chocolate Coffee Creams (chocolate pudding that sees 1/2 a cup of the usual milk replaced with coffee).

You could of course jazz up today's vintage pudding recipe further, serving it perhaps with ladyfinger biscuits, garnished with toasted nuts (pistachios or almonds would be lovely), or even as the jumping off point for a holiday season trifle.

However, should you wish to allot yourself a few more minutes in the day during which to cross another activity of your must do Christmas prep list, then grant yourself a favour and prepare these parfaits just the recipe suggests.

They're sweet, creamy, delightful proof that holiday season desserts can be both quick and completely yummy in one fell swoop!