“Let them eat cake,” is a famous quote, but I do not believe it was ever actually said by the Queen of France.
But it has stuck around for generations, likely because cake is a staple in almost every celebration in life. I mean, her statement could have helped lead to a revolution; however, there is no better way to top off an event than with a fluffy sweet slice of cake.
For many years my mother-in-law would actually bake us one of her famous Italian Cream Cheese cakes for a birthday present. I don't recall there being any Italians in this family. And, Italian or not, in this family you never get a direct recipe when you ask. It is just a list of ingredients or a taste here or an addition to this there. In fact, most of the meals she taught me to cook were in one large pot, and it was more by smell that I thought I got it right. But that is cooking, not baking.
As all bakers know, when baking you can't just add this here and that there to have a successful result. So, I felt I had lost out getting some of the baked treats I was able enjoy over the years. However, recently cleaning out my mother-in-law's house I stumbled across an old recipe card box and there I found not one, but five old, yellowed cards with her Italian Cream Cake recipe scrawled on them in different handwriting. After further inspection they all had the same terminologies such as "soda" or "shortening."
I can only identify one of the cards with the printing "from the recipe file of Maxine Foreman." And here it is:
Cake
1 stick of butter, ½ cup vegetable oil, 2 cups sugar, 5 egg yolk, 2 cups flour, 1tsp. soda, 1 cup buttermilk, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 small can angel flake coconut, 1 cup of chopped nuts, and 5 egg whites stiffly beaten.
Cream butter and oil, add sugar and beat until mixture is smooth. Add egg yolks and beat well. Combine flour and soda and add to creamed mixture alternating with buttermilk. Stir in vanilla; add coconut and chopped nuts. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites and pour batter into three greased and floured 8-inch cake pans. Bake 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Frosting
1-8oz block of cream cheese, ½ block of oleo, 1 box powdered sugar, 1tsp. vanilla, and chopped nuts to sprinkle on top.
Although I do not see myself as a baker, I feel I have helped to retrieve a family recipe that can continue to be passed down for generations of daughters-in-law and granddaughters to come. With this number of cards containing this recipe who knows how or who originally came up with this cake to join every holiday over the decades, but hopefully it will continue. "Let them gather with songs of old and young," and let them eat cake.
