This great 1950s Pineapple Marshmallow Dessert recipe captures the essence of summer perfectly

Hard as it is to believe, August is coming to an end (*shudders*). The Labour Day long weekend is here and I, like many folks, love to use it as a great excuse to get in at least one more big, festive, fabulous seasonal feast.

While I am looking forward to autumn and its rich harvest, I'm not ready to wave buh-bye to summer and its sensational culinary offerings either, which is why I've been crazy for this super fun vintage recipe for Pineapple Marshmallow Dessert as of late.

It's dead simple to make, is fairly budget friendly, can be made gluten-free in a snap (just use GF graham crackers, such as those from Kinnikinnick, which are also egg-free to boot, and ensure that your marshmallows are GF, too - Kraft's always are, so that's the brand I stick with), and is such an enjoyable medley of tastes and textures.



{Sweet with a hint of appealing tang from the pineapple, crunchy, gooey and warm all at the same time, this fun 1950s dessert recipe is so evocative of the era it hails from and will be a welcome treat on any table this Labour Day long weekend (or any other time of the year!). Vintage recipe image source.}


This fun vintage pineapple dessert recipe is somewhat redolent of s'mores sans chocolate, which makes me adore it all the more (I’m a die-hard s’mores fan!), and would also be sensational for any sort of tiki, Hawaiian, or South Pacific themed dinner and/or party.

The walnuts are nice, but not necessary, and can easily be left out or swapped for another nut of your choice. Though they do tend to burn easily, Brazil and macadamia nuts would both be great choices here that would up the tropical treat factor all the more.

It's also really enjoyable served warm from oven with a generous scope of vanilla, berry, peach, caramel, coconut, or white chocolate ice cream (dairy or non-dairy, as desired) on top. If you only have canned pineapple chunks or tidbits, you can easily use those here, too, though full rings do look especially pretty and really channel a great mid-century vibe that can't help but make one think of pineapple upside down cake.

Quick, delicious, festive and fun, this charming 1950s pineapple marshmallow dessert is just the thing to help capture all that's wonderful about the last few weeks of summertime eating and is sure to become as a firm a favourite with your family as it already has with mine.

Have a stellar, sunny, beautiful last weekend of August, everyone! (I'm off to do some end-of-the-season yard saling while I still can!)

15 of my favourite desserts ever (with vintage recipes for many of them)

With my birthday less than two weeks (yippee!), my thoughts have already started shifting towards how I'm going to spend it and what I'm going to serve up on the menu to celebrate it (sooo many possibilities!).

I've covered such things in various posts here over the years before, so I won't veer into broken record territory here again, but just to recap, between the fact that my diet is wildly restricted due to many of my chronic illnesses that are seriously affected by what I eat, that I'm a card carrying member of team Celiac Disease, have a nasty egg allergy, and, oh, you know, have eaten low carb at least 95% of the time for more than 3.5 years now (doing so is not only helpful in managing my weight, which some of my meds wreck havoc with at the best of times, but which is extremely beneficial, I find, for some of my conditions), planning the feast - very much including the sweet treat - for a special occasion is not something I take lightly.

As touched on in this vintage recipe post last December, if dining with a good number of my family members, I also happily have to keep their own dietary needs and preferences in mind, too, though for my birthday, I'll sometimes make multiple desserts so that everyone is safely covered and then just ensure that the one I'm tucking into is safe for me to consume sans awful repercussions.

Though I've always been more of a "salty tooth" than a sweet too, like most folks, I'm not adverse something on the saccharine side of things every now than then, especially when celebrating an event as marvelously exciting as a birthday.



{Just a few days stand between me and my 31st birthday, so as it rounds the bend again, I've suddenly got my favourite desserts on the brain! Image via Etsy seller Veetzy Innovations.}


The world of desserts is an incredibly diverse and exciting one, which has long been amongst the most voluminous in terms of its scope in the whole wide world. Each culture across time has created anywhere from a handful to hundreds (if not thousands, is some cases) of sugary treats that would set nearly anyone's tummy rumbling at the mere thought. In recent year the hybrid dessert (a mashup of two or more traditionally separate desserts - such as cookie cupcakes, red velvet cake s'mores, or the doughnut croissant lovechild that is cronuts) has caught on like wildfire.

Though there are some such exciting combination desserts I can eat, as I usually have to adapt dessert recipes quite heavily at the best of times to make them safe for me to tuck into, this isn't an area I've been able to explore to its fullest when cooking or baking for myself. Again, though, I do delight in those that I can and always keep my eyes open for desserts that look like they might work well on that front.

With the literal sweetest part of any celebratory meal at the forefront of my mind as my birthday rounds the bend again, I though that it would be rather fun on this last Sunday in June to shine the spotlight on a list of 15 of my favourite desserts of all-time.

I need to state emphatically before we proceed with this list that I cannot safely eat all of these things any more. Some of them have not graced my lips in over thirteen years now, and others have to be heavily modified (ditching the eggs, gluten, alcohol, caffeine, and other ingredients that massacre me ) before I can even contemplate sticking my fork, knife or spoon into them.

Much as I never stopped reading and adoring cookbooks when my diet was forced to make drastic changes though, I haven’t ceased loving these desserts either and just because I might not be able to eat them or consume them in their original form, doesn't mean that they don't still hold a special spot in my heart and memories. The latter of which is something I find always goes hand-in-hand with birthday celebrations, so that strikes me as all the more reason to highlight them here.

As some of these desserts are newer inventions and/or were not common in North America or the UK during the mid-twentieth century (or earlier), I haven't been able to find recipe pages (from cookbooks, magazines, ads, newspapers, etc) online for all of them, so when one wasn't forthcoming in my search, I tried to find an image that related to it in some capacity instead.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the desserts I enjoy (nor is it in any kind of "top favourite" order; the entries here are all completely random), but it does certainly shine the spotlight on some of my all-time favourites and I hope that you'll find some of your own most beloved sweet treats amongst them as well.




1. Dessert pizza: I'll never forget the first time I had dessert pizza. The setting was a Pizza Hut restaurant and I was maybe all of six years old. It was cherry, with crumbly, fantastic streusel topping and oodles of white icing piped across the top. It pretty much blew my young mind and I've been a devoted fan of all kinds of dessert pizzas ever since (the first time I had the apple cinnamon one from them, it did the same thing, too). You can easily make your own at home with any number of toppings, ranging from fresh or canned fruit to s'mores ingredients to ice cream, and each one will have you coming back for seconds for sure!




2. Ice cream cake: This - in the form of Dairy Queen's classic offering - was one of two staple birthday desserts for me when I was growing up (the other being homemade chocolate cake topped with mountains of seven-minute frosting), especially during the first ten or so years of my life, so it is impossible for my b-day to roll around with my mind racing straight to ice cream cake no matter how old I get.




3. Cherry Pie: I'm a huge fan of pies in general, but with the glorious abundance of cherries that are grown in Okanagan and which are in season at this time of the year, a cherry pie becomes a very natural fit for any July celebration (ditto for peaches and peach pie as the summer rolls on).




4. Nanaimo Bars: Canada has given the world many incredibly tasty recipes over the course of the few centuries, but few - if any - top the chocolate + coconut + custard filling heaven-on-your-tongue that is the mighty Nanaimo Bar.




5. Rice Pudding: File rice pudding under one of those foods that I could happily eat every single day for the rest of my life without growing tired of it. The creamier, the better, but rarely have I met a rice pudding I didn't adore and am always game to try new versions (plus, I love that most are GF right off and bat and many can be made sans eggs no problem).




6. Strawberry or raspberry trifle: Hands down the best English trifle I've ever had comes by way of my paternal Grandma, who would make one or more every summer with fresh picked raspberries from her thriving garden and generous amounts of rich custard sandwiched between the layers of fruit and cake. It, along with potato chip coated chicken and her delicious hamburger pie, were the tastes of summer at my grandparents house when I was a youngster.




7. Millionaire's Shortbread: A rich, crumbly shortbread base combine with tongue pleasing caramel (usually made with condensed milk) and alluring chocolate in this endlessly delicious treat that's served up in bars or wedges and for which anyone you make it for, will beg you for the recipe. I first discovered Millionaire's Shortbread while living in Ireland and have been hooked ever since.




8. Cheesecake: Oh silken, luxurious cheesecake, how I melt for you! Perhaps because I've had such good luck with both baked and no-bake GF, EF versions of cheesecake, it is one of the most common desserts I bake, very much including for my birthday (two years ago I made a strawberry + raspberry version was the after dinner star of my birthday bash).




9. Baklava: Honey, walnuts and/or pistachios, countless layers of pastry - oh my word, what's not to madly love about this classic Greek desserts? Though GF versions somewhat pale in comparison to the real deal, that doesn't stop me from trying my best to replicate this awesome Mediterranean dessert at least once a year (Nicole from the wonderful blog Gluten-Free on a Shoestring has a very good gluten-free phyllo dough recipe, should you be searching for one).




10. Spice Cake: Granted we just kicked off summer, but a great spice cake (likewise for pumpkin pie) is one of those awesome autumn favourites that I could happily tuck into any single day of the year (especially since one's birthday is the perfect excuse to indulge in any dessert you want, no matter what season it is most closely associated with).




11. Apple Crisp: Another fall time classic for sure, but one that can easily be whipped up any day of the year. I love to serve mine piping hot with straight-from-the-freezer vanilla ice cream or chilled with hefty wedges of sharp cheddar cheese (much like many folks enjoy their apple pie).




12. Bread Pudding: Comfort food par excellence! I love all kinds of bread puddings (also known as "bread and butter pudding") and have even come up with some great GF ones over the years, including a version that is a rife on a recipe I invented back in my teen years that marries classic bread pudding with fresh pears, cinnamon, and vanilla pudding (and in the same vein as bread pudding, I flat out adore a great Summer Pudding or Eve's Pudding, too).




13. Chocolate Brownie Pie: If you thought hybrid desserts were a new craze, guess again! Clever cooks and bakers have been fusing two or more sweet treats together for ages now, as this seriously delicious Chocolate Brownie Pie recipe attests to (this is the very same recipe I base my own version off of and can attest that it is immensely tasty!).




14. Pineapple Upside-Down Cake: Not only is this a massive mid-century dessert staple, but I find that it's surprisingly easy to make a GF and EF version that tastes strikingly similar to original versions we all know and love. Were I planning a tiki or tropical themed party, this would be one of the first things in the oven!

15. Cinnamon Buns: Bar none the best of which I've ever had are my mom's. You know Cinnabon's offerings - those sublimely scented temptations that make malls smell like pure dessert heaven? Yah, they smoke those out of the water. My mom is an amazing home cook and baker, but nothing, IMO, that she makes tops her cinnamon buns (note, the recipe above is not hers, but I think it looks pretty great, too). If I seriously had to plan my last meal, they would be a part of it (and it wouldn't matter that they have gluten in them, as, hello, last meal, gluten = mute point! ;)). Even the very modified gluten and egg-free version of it that I've been making for years now is still lip-lickingly fantastic.

{To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.}

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Tell me you aren't hungry as a bear after reading all those? Or at least very, very in the mood for something sweet! Which are of these scrumptious eats land on your own roundup of favourite desserts?

I must admit, with having to cut certain foods out my diet entirely for so long now, my mind does tend to gravitate towards things that I know I can still eat and thus isn't as apt as it would have been to list the same things it might have had I penned this post fifteen years ago (back then you might have found entries like lemon meringue pie, creme brulee, chiffon cake, pavlova, root beer floats, doughnuts, angle food cake, tiramisu, baked Alaska, and canolli), but I did let myself branch out still a bit here, as touched on above and it was fun to think about certain foods that I don't often get a chance to any more, unless I'm cooking for others or pining them to one of my many (many!) food related Pinterest boards.

With a touch under two weeks to go until my 31st birthday rolls around on July 10th, I still have time to finalize my birthday dessert or desserts. As is so often the case, there's a few big contenders, but I rarely end up making the final decision until the proverbial 11th hour (and on a few occasions, the literal one, too, on the evening of the 9th). Plus, in the course of putting together this post I came across two great articles 50 of the Best Dessert Recipes of All Time from Huffington Post and 92 Top Rated Desserts from Southern Living Magazine, respectively, that added some new contenders to the list big time!

It's been an age and half since I last had an ice cream cake, so that is well and truly up there, as is trifle, and a classic chocolate cake. We'll see. It will likely come down to my plans and menu for the rest of the day and what I'm in the mood for as I enter the second year of my thirties.

Whatever I make, it will be a treat of the sweetest caliber and one that will satisfy me on the sugar front if not until my next birthday, at least until Halloween rolls around again in just four months (what, I swear I'm not planning every last detail of that day already - nooo, it being my favourite holiday of all time, I'd never do that. Tee-hee-hee :D)

It doesn't get more classic - or springtime perfect - than this 1930s strawberry shortcake recipe

My word, is this year barreling along quickly! We're nearly 5.5 months into it already and in just two months time (to the day), it will be my 31st birthday. Wow! Before then though, we get to savour what is arguably one of the most pleasant and appealing times of the year, late spring. Gone, for nearly all of us north of the equator, are the snowmen and parkas, and yet we haven't hit the point of needing to sleep with a fan mere inches from our faces yet either.

These days, brief, bold, fleeting, and undeniably beautiful bring with them an abundance of perks, very much including all of the awesome fresh produce that is hitting the farmer's market and grocery store shelves again. Our local farmer's market (which I blogged about here back in 2012) kicks off once more this month and I'm sure you'll spot Tony and I down there on many a Saturday morning in the coming months (when we're not out yard saling, that is! :)).

Today's featured vintage recipe calls on an ingredient that you can usually find being sold there, but which is farmed on far greater scale in the Lower Mainland (aka, Greater Vancouver Area) of our beautiful province, thanks to the lush climate, damp soil, and idea growing conditions for this beloved fruit in that neck of the urban woods: the humble, delicious strawberry.

Not only are strawberries one of my favourite fruits ever, they're also one of just a teeny, tiny handful of fruits and vegetables that (knock wood!) my various medical conditions that are strongly influenced by dietary factors has allowed me to continue to safely eat through thick and thin on the health front over the years. I love, love, love strawberries, so this is a very good thing and with locally and provincially grown options in the stores and market stalls again, I'm going to be chopping down on even more of them than usual during the balmy, sun-kissed days of the second half of spring.

The following vintage recipe, which dates back to 1939, is as classic as strawberries themselves. It's a snap to whip up and is quite budget-friendly, too, making it a great choice for a weekday dessert and/or if you need to feed a large crowd.



{Like lemonade, ice cream cones, and sweet tea, spring and summer just wouldn't be the same without strawberry shortcake and this great 1930s version is as classic as they come. It's ideal for Mother's Day, garden and tea parties, birthdays, picnics, BBQs, and everyday desserts alike. Vintage recipe image source. Click here for a larger, easier to read size of this vintage Spry shortening ad.}


Strawberry shortcake has to be, to my mind, one of the most springtime perfect desserts ever! It's also tasty as the day is long and generally adored by diners of all ages. For my fellow gluten-free folks, I would suggest making a GF white or yellow sheet cake either using your favourite mix or recipe and then employing a round cookie or biscuit cutter (or even a wide-mouthed drinking glass) to stamp out circles to use for the cake layers in this mouthwatering dessert.

If strawberries aren't your favourite, or you can't eat them for whatever reason, you can easily swap in another type of berry, such as raspberries, blackberries, red or white currents, boysenberries, huckleberries, or (my mom's favourite) blueberries. Peaches, nectarines, and apricots, especially when they're in season come July and August, are rather sublime here as well, and then as the weather gradually grows nippier again, I never say no to stewed or baked pears, apples, or plums used in towering shortcake stacks like this either.

As I always like to mention with vintage recipes that involve, as many of them (especially desserts) do, shortening, if it's not your first choice of cooking fat, by all means sub in butter, margarine, or a vegan margarine instead (you could even try using solid coconut oil, if desired).

Save for making them safe for me to eat, I don't usually alter my strawberry shortcake recipes much. I adore the classic combination of airy, soft cake, silken whipped cream, and juicy, plump berries precisely as they are. That said, if you'd not tried it before, I do recommend lighting toasting (a toaster oven or couple of minutes under the broiler work well there) your rounds of shortcake for a fabulously lovely twist every now and then. The subtle crunch that the cake takes on really adds an exciting layer to this timeless dessert.

And should you be so inclined, especially when the dog days of summer strike, even the most die-hard of strawberry shortcake purists will likely be on board if you'd like to add a bit of vanilla (or another flavour) of ice cream to the mix as well, either in lieu of, or along with, the whipped cream.

Strawberry season, like these near magically gorgeous days of May, won't be around forever, so while they're still here, why don't you join me in stocking up on fresh fruit and serving your family and friends plate after plate of lip-lickingly awesome strawberry shortcake this spring!

Celebrate Mother's Day with this delicious vintage strawberry cake recipe

Mother's Day just happens to fall in the midst of one of loveliest times of the year. Sandwiched as it between the chilly days of early spring and the sizzling heat that generally returns by the second half of June when summer rounds the bend again. Though May can be rainy at times, it's also prone to luminous bursts of sunshine, carefree breezes, and gardens that are beginning to swell to the breaking point with scrumptious produce once more.

Few flavours go hand-in-hand (or perhaps more fittingly, fork-in-mouth) with this beautiful time of the year than that of fresh strawberries. Ripe, juicy, gorgeously crimson and packed full of flavour and nutrients alike, strawberries are practically a must come May.

Unlike a great many fruits out there, strawberries are (knock wood!) one that my health still permits me to eat without running into any trouble. In fact, because I'm unable to have so many fruits (and vegetables, for that matter), I eat strawberries nearly every day year-round, even paying three times their springtime cost in the dead of winter (when you're lucky if one or two shops in our small town even brings them in). None however compare to those that one gets fresh, picked a wee bit south of us here in B.C. (in the Lower Mainland, which has been producing stellar strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries for ages), when possible, during the middle and tail end of spring.

You might think that eating strawberries so often, I'd grow tired of them, but (again, knock wood!) even after many years of consuming a bevy of these succulent little fruits, I haven't lost my passion for them iota, and continually enjoy coming up with new ways to safely incorporate them into my diet (if you've never partnered grilled strawberries and chicken breasts, give it a go, you'll love it!).

Though I may consume more strawberries per annum than many people, I'm by no means alone in my passion for these plump, pretty berries. Strawberries are a beloved food the world over and one lends itself especially well to springtime celebrations, such as wedding showers, Victoria Day weekend sweet treats, and of course Mother's Day desserts.

With today marking the marvelous celebration of moms and those who take on the role of being a mom (grandmas, aunts, foster parents, etc), it seems only fitting that this week's vintage recipe - called rather charmingly Strawberry Long-Cake - includes this much admired springtime fruit.

{One baking dish, some fresh fruit, and a few basic panty ingredients are all it takes to whip up this crowd pleasing strawberry cake. Image via Eudaemonius on Flickr.}


Many of us - myself included - prefer not to bake with lard most of the time (or at all), so by all means feel free to sub in butter or margarine here if you prefer. By the sake token, if you're not a fan of strawberries (or of course if you happen to be allergic to them, strawberries being a relatively common food allergen after all) then why not try the peach variation suggested at the bottom of the page? 

You could also use any other soft, juicy fruit here that you'd like. Blackberries and pears would be a fetching combination come late summer/early fall, new season raspberries would tantalize the taste buds in a few weeks, and apricots would be a fantastic summertime spin on this easy-to-make mid-century dessert.

For those like me who need to follow a gluten-free diet, I can report that this recipe works wonderfully when made with two boxes (a single box doesn't yield enough for to match the original recipe here) of Betty Crocker's Gluten-Free Golden Cake Mix, as well as just about any good, standard white or golden GF cake recipe.

Strawberries and whipping cream go together like robins and spring, so definitely don't hold back if you feel the urge to serve each slice of this lovely cake with a generous dollop on top. Lightly sweetened crème fraîche, a nice creme anglaise, or vanilla (all the better if it's French vanilla) ice cream would also be delectable accompaniments, too.

Mother's Day, much like this wonderful vintage cake recipe, should be sweet, enjoyable and fun, and that is precisely what I hope today will be for each and every one of you, dear ladies.