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!

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.