A fabulously easy, festively fun 1950s Easter Cake recipe

With such a hectic whirlwind of activity going on recently due to the move/unpacking/sudden return to having more of a social life, it feels like Easter really snuck up on me this year (or perhaps, more aptly, silently hopped into town like a darling little bunny).

Fortunately however, I didn't forget about it entirely, and have a small but rather enjoyable collection of vintage Easter recipes I've collected (be it in real life online) over the years to turn from, no matter how last minute a meal, dessert, or sweet snack I might need to whip up just happens to be.

Though I don't have the slightest bit of talent (at all!) when it comes to cake decorating, one does not have to a TV reality show in which they run a cake shop to be able to put together today's thoroughly adorable 1950s Easter themed dessert. So long as you can find your way to the shredded coconut and jelly bean aisles at the grocery store, you'll likely come out in top form.

Hailing originally from the April 1953 edition of Household magazine, this festively charming Easter Glory Cake is made all the more simple and quick by the use of a cake mix. Though of course you can always create a white or golden cake from scratch as well, if you like (and for an extra fun Eastertime idea, you could also try making this recipe with carrot cake - something Peter Cottontail would no doubt thoroughly approve of!).

{Colourful jelly beans mimic the look of candy eggs in this cheerful double layer Easter cake from the 1950s, while the shredded coconut calls to mind the ultra soft fur of an April born baby rabbit. Vintage recipe image via saltycotton on Flickr.}

There's nothing stopping you either from tinting the coconut, frosting and/or cake itself any number of pastel hues. I think that a pale pink or robin's egg blue, either inside or out, would look so sweetly pretty and also really help drive home the 1950s vibe of this terrific dessert.

While tried-and-true treats like hot cross buns and chocolate eggs are springtime classics that will never go out of style, I think a springy, lightheartedly cute cake - like today's vintage example - is every bit as much a Easter staple, too - and one that all of your holiday guests are bound to be thrilled with.

Though time may be winding down, luckily I have a box of Betty Crocker's gluten-free yellow cake mix in the cupboard (the mister and I both agree that it's the best GF cake mix we've tried yet here in Canada - by far!), as well as plenty of coconut on hand. All I need then is some jelly beans and come this weekend, we'll be tucking into sweet, smile-inducingly fun slices of this wonderful vintage Easter cake.

Delightfully decorated 1950s Christmas Cake Recipe

✯ Day 341 of Vintage 365 ✯

With just eighteen days left until Christmas morn, the time to start really filling in any gaps in your holiday season menu is fast approaching. Before long it will be time to shop for every last delicious ingredient you'll need to procure a winning holiday feast, be it for two or fifty-two, and that means knowing what you're going to serve is a must before venturing out to the shops.

Like many people, I tend to stick with several of the classics each Christmas, varying some of the side dishes, but generally adhering closely to my mother's home cooked Christmas meal (which, at the risk of sounding biased, was indescribably good), with the addition of various Italian culinary treats for my beloved husband, Tony.

In the dessert department I certainly have many tried-and-tree recipes as well (some of which have been handed down to me by my parents and grandparents, as well as others I've discovered or created myself over the years), but am always on the prowl for a new dish or spin on a classic to try.

Swayed, no doubt, by the immense cuteness of today's wonderfully festive Candle-Light Cake from the 1950s, I knew the moment I saw this charming vintage white cake recipe, that it would be perfect for a holiday recipe post this year.

{A timeless white cake is festively jazzed up thanks to green frosting, citron peel "leaves", and maraschino cherry "holly berries" in this terrific Christmas recipe from 1951. Image via sugarpie honeybunch on Flickr.}

 

Even if you're not a fan of using shortening in your cakes, or upping the kitsch factor by sticking a large glowing candle in the middle of them, I hope that you'll find Christmas dessert inspiration in the darling white, red and green icing and decorations of this lovely holiday cake (which you could always make with your favourite , butter or oil based white cake recipe).

If one large cake wasn't quite what you had in mind for your next event this season, why not opt for delicious little white cake cupcakes instead, which you could just as easily ice (frost) and decorate in much the same way, topping each with the sweet, completely edible holly leaves and berries in todays recipe.

Undoubtedly one of this cake's strongest appeals is the fact that it looks so splendidly well suited to December, yet really don't require much skill (cake decorating, after all, is an art and talent that not all of us are blessed with by any means). Indeed, this white cake is so marvellously simple to create that you could easily let your kids help out by tinting the icing (frosting) and cutting up the decorations, if they're old enough.

So cheerfully fun in this great recipe, that you might just be tempted to forego the cookies and leave out a slice of this festive cake for jolly old St. Nick come Christmas Eve.