1950s Springtime Fancy Cake is the perfect April dessert

The days are getting longer, the air is alive with a thousand and one fresh, earthy scents, and the skies are, well, if not blue quite yet, than at least less likely to be chocked full of snowflakes.

For many north of the equator, spring has sprung and for those who are still wrestling with the final days of wintry weather, it soon will. Though we may have a ways to go before we're in the mood to sport an air conditioner as a hat or eschew any type of footwear that isn't a sandal, the warmth of spring is slowly emerging and before long, we're be into the thick of the hottest months of the year.

Before we hit that point though, let's take full advantage of our ovens and put them to good use in whipping up this super simple, budget-friend Springtime Fancy Cake recipe from 1953.

As with just about all vintage recipes that call for it, if shortening isn't your cup of tea, then by all means swap in your favourite butter, margarine or vegan cooking fat substitute instead.



{Sweet, fun and super easy to make, this delightful mid-century cake calls mainly for ingredients that most of us have to hand already and telegraphs a sense of spring as marvelously as the first blooms of the season. 1950s cake recipe ad image source.}


At its heart, this is a very basic white layer cake, but with the addition of sprightly mint green frosting and some really pretty daisies made from slices of white marshmallows and yellow gumdrops, it becomes a splendidly festive dessert offering that would easily see you through a myriad of spring and summer events, as well as lovely everyday meals alike.

For those, like myself, who are gluten-free, a cake like this is a total cinch still, too. Just put your favourite white or golden cake recipe to work or use a GF boxed mix for either.

You could change the frosting colour and/or candies used here as well, but I personally like it exactly as it stands now. This cake radiates with the spirit of spring, is pretty as a picture, and could easily be turned into cupcakes (with one candy topped flower on each cupcake), if so desired.

I’m elated that that spring is here again and love that vintage recipes like this help to capture to the elegance and joy of this season alike.

Today’s charming 1950s layer cake is bound to be a hit all throughout April and May, then clear through to June and summertime itself, where its adorable candy daisies will be every bit as at home then as they are right now while spring finds its sea legs once again.

A quick, delicious recipe for vintage Easter Sunday Pie

As you may have gathered over the years, if you're a long time Chronically Vintage reader, I have such a thing for cute and/or uber festive vintage recipes. This love extends just beyond my menu however, and I absolutely adore celebrating these special occasions in general, too.

I'm not alone here in the slightest and know that the same rings true for many of you as well. As vintage fans, I think we're especially well attuned to the importance of celebrating the positive events in life. We honour and celebrate the past with our wardrobe, decor, vehicle, music, etc choices and we usually take time to appreciate traditions, customs, and other elements that go hand-in-hand with holidays and special occasions.

Easter, falling on Sunday April 5th this year, is certainly one of the highlights of spring and well worth celebrating through and through! If you don't want to or can't celebrate Easter for whatever reason, than simply use this day as the perfect excuse to welcome spring back into your life with the most open of arms!

This day helps us to usher in spring after winter's seemingly endless visit, reminds of the power of rebirth and new life, and is chocked full of countless beautiful - and delicious - things from daffodils to Easter bonnets, chocolate eggs to the all that sublimely lovely fresh produce that is hitting the grocery store and farmer's market's displays again.

Naturally, being a holiday associated with sweetness - which I can't help but think stands as a very apt representation of how very sweet springtime itself is - Easter lends itself particularly well to sugary desserts and today's vintage recipe for Easter Sunday Pie is certainly no exception (plus, you've got to love the bonus Butterscotch Jewel Parfait and Coconut Party Pudding recipes that are included on this charming 1951 recipe ad that originally hailed from pages of Good Housekeeping Magazine).



{Crunchy coconut, lush vanilla pudding, and splendidly sweet candies combine in this quick, fun and very pretty Easter dessert that is sure to have guests asking for seconds and the recipe! Image source.}


This recipe is uber simple and relatively budge-friendly. You can use either a store bought or homemade 9-inch pie crust for the base, whichever you fancy. Alternatively a graham cracker crust would be really nice here and if I went that route, I might make this a frozen pie to help the crust and pudding filling stay put all the better.

For my fellow gluten-free friends, in terms of store bought gluten-free pie crusts, I've had the most luck so far over the years with Glutino's Perfect Pie Crust. There is a bit of prep and chill time involved (so I'd suggest making the crust a day or two in advance of when you plan to assemble the pie), but it creates very, very good pie crust that I've used for everything from pumpkin to strawberry to pudding pieces with zero troubles to date.

As this classic mid-century vintage pie recipe is so straightforward and includes a mere handful of ingredients, I wouldn't be apt to tweak it too much (aside from assuming it was GF, if I was going to have a slice). That said, if coconut is not your cup of tea, I would imagine that sliced toasted almonds would work fabulously here as well (if I went that route, I'd probably use pistachio, white chocolate, or milk chocolate pudding instead). You could also swap out the Easter candies used on top for any that you and/or your guests would like. Festively shaped and coloured gummy candies, jujubes or chocolates would be super lovely atop this fun 1950s dish.

Though Easter may no longer mean rooting around the house for foil covered eggs and checking to see if the Easter bunny nibbled the carrots we left out for him (he always did - thank you for that, mom! :)), it still fills me with excitement and joy and is a special day that I can't wait to celebrate with my wardrobe, home decor, and vintage recipe choices each spring.

Join me, won't you, in whipping up this easy-as-pie (pun intended), wonderfully tasty coconut and pudding dessert for a sweet treat that is sure to bring joy to everyone who gathers 'round your table to honour the gorgeous return of spring and all the grand things that this season brings back in our lives once more.

This adorable vintage Easter Egg Cake recipe is sure to please everybunny! :)

✯ Day 110 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Without a doubt, I think it's safe to say that one of the best parts of nearly any major holiday is the food! Indeed, there's a reason why these special celebrations were so often called fest days in years gone by, for it was through an abundance of food that one shared with their family and friends in the merriment of a certain date.

While in some households Easter might not quite produce quite as huge an array of meals, baked goods, and sweet treats as Christmas, for many it does (or at least comes immensely close). An Easter menu may call to mind roast meats (ham, lamb, turkey, duck, etc), oodles of fresh vegetable dishes (made all the more spectacular if they were cultivated from one's own budding spring garden), warm, yeasty breads piping hot from the oven, and plenty of candy in every nook and cranny of the house, however I can't imagine letting Easter come and go without one especially lovely standout dessert, too.

Each year I like to change things up, always seeking something festive, cheerful, and - whenever possible - vintage in origin. Today recipe, which harkens back to 1953, fits absolutely all of those points to a tee!

Dubbed, rather appropriately (given its appearance), the Easter Egg Cake, this marvelous dessert marries yellow cake (in this instance from a cake mix, but you could just as easily use homemade) - that is cut into the shape of half an egg - with layers of rich Baker's Chocolate frosting. This Peter Cottontail approved cake is then given a further boost of sugar care of piped decretive white frosting and jelly beans, to help complete the final Easter egg look.

{Click here for a larger version of this scrumptiously festive vintage Easter Egg Cake recipe.}

One of things that appeals to be about this great Easter dessert (which comes via saltycotton’s terrific Flickr stream) is that's a shaped cake that doesn't require a specialty pan. The egg form comes to life thanks to a little trimming and creative stacking, which is held in place with chocolate frosting (the most natural of icing flavours for this time of year).

If you like, you could easily play around with recipe to your heart's content. Varying the type of cake and/or frosting colours to match your Easter menu, table decor, household decorations, or even your mood.

If you’re feeling creative, why not reverse the colours and create a chocolate cake with white frosting (white looking even more like an eggshell!), or create a white chocolate cake with buttercream frosting that you tinted pastel pink, purple, yellow, green, or blue - just like a real home-dyed Easter egg.

Whichever direction you take this cheerful vintage cake in, it's bound to be a hit with all the bunnies (aka, guests) at your Easter table this year!