Historical dinners, unique drinks and favorite desserts. Danville has it all. Over the last 70 years, groups from all over the River City have shared their favorite dishes through a variety of cookbooks.
The Danville Historical Society has collected a number of those cookbooks, as part of the mission to preserve the city’s history. From now through Christmas, we’ll be sharing a number of these recipes and mention who submitted them in the original cookbooks.
Reminder: For anyone who wants to stop by the Society’s headquarters and check out some of the other cookbooks on hand, you can make an appointment by clicking here.
Recipes in this segment came from Big “D” Kitchen, a cookbook from the Luncheon Business & Professional Women’s Club in 1972.
1.Hot Milk Cake — this was submitted in 1972 by Mrs. E.W. Adkins
Ingredients: 1 stick of margarine, 4 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 2 cups of self-rising flour, 1 cup of milk, 2 cups of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt margarine, in milk, in saucepan. Beat eggs and sugar together for five minutes. Mix salt in flour. Put flour slowly in egg mixture. Pour the hot milk and margarine over this and mix well. Have two 9-inch pans ready, greased and floured. This cake needs to be put in the oven as soon as mixing is completed or it will not rise properly. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Frost as desired.
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2. Chocolate Potato Cake — this was submitted in 1972 by Rachel Gammon
Ingredients: 1 cup of margarine, 2 cups of sugar, 4 beaten egg yolks, 1 1/2 cups of plain flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/2 cup of milk, 3/4 of a cup of mashed potatoes, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 4 beaten egg whites and 3 ounces of melted unsweetened chocolate. Add 3/4 of a cup of pecans if desired.
Add the yolks to creamed margarine and sugar. Add dry sifted ingredients and milk. Then add cooled chocolate, potatoes and vanilla. Add pecans if desired and then fold in egg whites. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes in two 9-inch pans.
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3. Hermit Cake — this was submitted in 1972 by Thelma Moss
Ingredients: Six eggs, 1 pound of butter, 1 pound of brown sugar, 1 pound of dates, 1 pound of raisins, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 2 “heaping” teaspoons of baking powder, 5 cups of plain flour, 1 cup of sweet milk, juice from 1 lemon and a 1/2 pound of English walnuts.
Combine and bake in tube pan at 250 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.
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4. The $300 Chocolate Cake -this was submitted in 1972 by Jean Collins
Ingredients: 2 cups of self-rising flour, 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of Wesson oil, 1 stick of margarine, 1 cup of water, 4 teaspoons of cocoa, 1/2 cup of buttermilk and 2 eggs. (For icing, add 1 stick of margarine, 4 teaspoons of milk, 4 teaspoons of cocoa, 1 teaspoon of vanilla.)
Mix the flour and sugar together. While that’s happening, boil the Wesson oil, margarine, water and cocoa for one minute. Pour all of that together and beat well, before adding the buttermilk and eggs. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees in either 2 layer pans or a 13-by-9 two-inch pan. (Boil the icing ingredients for one minute, then pour one box of 10-X sugar into the mixture. Beat and pour it all over the hot cake.)
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5. $3,000 Banana Split Pie — no name with submission
Ingredients: 1/2 cup of butter or margarine, 1 1/2 cups of sifted 10-X sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 2 bananas, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 2 lemon slices, 1 ounce of chocolate and 1/4 cup of walnuts.
Cream the 1/2 cup of butter or margarine, then gradually add in the sugar. Add the two eggs, one at a time, beating for three minutes after each addition. Blend in the vanilla and sprinkle with the lemon juice. Slice the two bananas, setting aside two slices. They’ll be used on the garnish.
Grate the chocolate, then fold the grated chocolate and bananas into the sugar mixture. Turn into cooled, baked pie shell or graham cracker crust. Garnish with the walnuts and the two banana slices. Serve pie the same day it is made.
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6. Blackbottom Pie — this was submitted in 1972 by Mrs. James Johnson
Ingredients: 1 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 2 cups of scalded milk, 4 beaten egg yolks, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 6-ounce package of semi-sweet chocolate pieces, 1 9-inch baked crust, 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin, 1/4 cup of cold water and 4 egg whites.
Combine 1/2 cup of sugar and cornstarch. Slowly add milk to egg yolks and stir in sugar mixture. Cook and stir in top of double boiler over hot (not boiling) water til custard coats a spoon. Then remove from heat and add vanilla.
To 1 cup of custard, add the chocolate and stir until melted. Pour into bottom of cooled shell and let it chill. Soften the gelatin in cold water and add remaining hot custard. Stir until dissolved and then chill until thick. Beat egg whites and gradually add 1/2 cup of sugar. Fold in custard-gelatin mixture and pile over the chocolate layer. Chill until set.
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7. Hawaiian Pie — this was submitted in 1972 by Barbara Humphries.
Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups of sugar, 5 tablespoons of flour, 1 large can of crushed pineapple, 4 bananas, either 2 baked pie shells or 2 graham cracker crusts, 1 package of coconut and 1 package of chopped nuts. 1 package of Cool Whip and cherries, if desired.
Cook the sugar, pineapple and flour together on low heat until very thick. Use a heavy saucepan. Then cut four bananas into two baked pie shells or two graham cracker crusts, placing two bananas in each one. Cover the bananas with the pineapple mixture, also sprinkling in coconut and chopped nuts (use as much or as little as you desire).
Cover all this with Cool Whip, sprinkling again with coconut and chopped nuts. Garnish with cherries.
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8. Surprise Cake — this was submitted in 1972 by Emma Hensley
Ingredients: 1 package of yellow cake mix, 3/4 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of margarine, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup of flaked coconut, 1/2 cup of chopped nuts, 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate. For the filling: 1/2 cup of flaked coconut, 1/2 cup of chopped nuts, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. For the glaze: 1 cup of 10-X sugar, 1 tablespoon of margarine, 2 tablespoons of milk.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour tube pan. Blend the yellow cake mix, the milk, margarine and eggs. Stir in coconut and nuts. Marble chocolate through the batter, then pour half of the batter in pan. Combine filling ingredients and sprinkle 3/4 over batter. Cover with remaining batter; sprinkle remaining filling. Bake 45 to 55 minutes and let it cool in pan for 30 minutes. Then blend the glaze ingredients and apply.
Have questions for us?
Just email us at danvillehistorical@gmail.com. You can also send us snail mail at P.O. Box 6, Danville VA 24543.
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