Ah Ha! Cake Mystery Solved

I was wrong.  Well, I was 1/2 wrong.  The cake recipe we've been baking all these years did come from Aunt Vena.  That's the 1/2 right part.  However, there was a similar recipe that belonged to Grandmother (Rowena Hayden Dunn).  That's the 1/2 wrong part.  I had no idea she had a Chocolate Spice Cake recipe.  And it appears that over the years, Mama had somewhat combined the two, using ingredients and techniques from each.

I've struggled through the years with the Aunt Vena cake.  It rises nicely, but there's not enough structure to the cake to support the center.  As a result, the it always sags a bit.  Frustrating (although still incredibly delicious)



The sagging could be caused by too much leavening, or by too much shortening, or by too much sugar.  Or all of the above.  (When I talked with Aunt Vena last week, she did tell me she does not use an electric mixer.  She stirs with a wooden spoon only. That's a good tip.)

So here's Grandmother's recipe.  It uses all purpose flour, a little less shortening, a little less sugar, and additional spices.


As soon as our stomachs recover from wolfing down Aunt Vena's Chocolate Cake I baked last week, I'm going to try this one.


Chocolate Spice Cake (Grandmother Rowena Dunn's recipe)

3/4 cup Crisco
1 2/3 cup Sugar
3 eggs
2 heaping tablespoons cocoa
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon each:
     cinnamon
     nutmeg
     allspice
     cloves
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream together sugar and Crisco. Add eggs and beat.  Sift flour, cocoa and spices together.  Mix soda in buttermilk.  To the sugar and egg mixture, alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk mixture.

Bake in 3 (greased and floured) 9" pans about 30 minutes at 350 degrees or in a 9 x 13 pan for about 40-45 minutes.

Many thanks to Aunt Katherine for giving me Grandmother's recipe!