In recent years, multi-coloured, intricately layered cakes have been all the rage (and for good reason), but it might fascinate you to know that such culinary works of skill and art are anything but new.
They may have grown more complex in recent decades, but their history stretches back for many years and those who are not uber talented professional cake arts (myself included!) might find that they have better luck with vintage versions that are less apt to result in one's next Pinterest Fail.
Hard as it is to believe, we're more than 2/3rds of the through the beautiful month of July and that means that the August long weekend is just around the corner. With it, for those in my town, will come the return of our annual Peach Festival, which always include a big square dancing event with participants from far and wide visiting Penticton to take part.
In the spirit of such, I knew the moment that I spotted today's vintage recipe for a two-tone checkered dessert called Square Dance Party Cake that I wanted to share it with all of you (which greatly resembles a classic Battenberg cake).
Though I haven't made it yet myself, I definitely hope to whip up a GF version come the early days of August (interestingly, while putting this post together, I discovered that I'm not the only one there who wanted to give it a spin; Amanda from the blog Amanda's Cooking did just that, complete with photos, back in 2014 and shared her results in this recipe post).
This is one of those marvelous mid-century cakes that looks like it might be complicated, but actually really isn't. A few simple steps are all it takes to achieve the compliment inducing checkered pattern - plus this beautiful vintage dessert is quite budget-friendly, making it amply well suited to weeknight meals and special events/holidays alike.
{Hailing from 1950, this beautiful vintage cake utilizes two different colours of batter, a classic white frosting, and yummy squares of chocolate to create a dish worthy of any square dancing, summertime, or otherwise noteworthy event. Vintage recipe ad via Click America.}
I know, I know, I've probably said it a dozen or more times now over the years, but as folks tend to comment and ask for alternatives if I don’t mention as much, I'm all the more happy to say again that if shortening isn't your cup of tea, then by all means substitute in your favourite cooking fat, such as butter, margarine, vegan margarine, or coconut oil, here instead.
As pretty and pristine looking as the white icing shown here is, I'd be rather tempted to jazz it up a bit. Perhaps opting for a chocolate or fudge frosting, though that would of course alter the taste of the cake. Caramel, coconut, lemon, orange, cherry, strawberry, pineapple, raspberry, blueberry, mocha, mint, almond, walnut, peanut butter, cotton candy, and seven-minute frosting would all be awesome choices here, too.
And to keep the checkered theme going all the more, you could even use two different types and/or colours of icing on this cake, if you wanted - perhaps one on the inside and different version on the outside.
The chocolate squares on the top are a fun touch, but certainly not a requirement. You could swap them out for chocolate curls, fresh or candied fruit, nuts, sugared rose petals or citrus peel, any candy you please (given the Southwestern connections that square dancing has, I can't help but think how cool a choice these classic prickly pear cactus candies would be), marshmallows, sprinkles, pralines, chocolate covered coffee beans, or anything else that you felt would suit this beautiful pink and white cake nicely.
I'm not able attend our to our town’s fun annual square dance event each year, but I can whip up this charming mid-century cake cake anytime my heart desires – as can you – and that alone is worth doing dancing a few happy steps over! :)
Have an absolutely fantastic weekend, my sweet friends!
*PS* In case you missed yesterday's post about it, I wanted to let you all know that I'm currently holding a 25% off storewide Christmas in July sale in my Etsy shop until the end of this month.
