wacky cake

By request, here's the recipe for the WWII-era ration cake recipe I used for the s'mores mini-cakes; it's called "wacky cake" and if you google that phrase you'll actually find the recipe all over the place. However, I'm using a version that was reworked slightly by the America's Test Kitchen people for their Cook's Country magazine (which, btw, I love). You can see the usual version here; according to the research in the Cook's Country article, it was first published in 1949 in a collection of reader recipes and was submitted by one Mrs. Donald Adam of Detroit. I think their ingredient changes are worth following:

1 1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 t vanilla
1 T vinegar
5 T vegetable oil
1 c cold water

the directions in all recipes are almost all exactly the same: Preheat oven to 350° F; sift dry ingredients into an 8x8 baking pan (I actually dump them all in and whisk together); make one large hole and two small in the mixture, pouring the oil into the large hole and the vanilla and vinegar into the small ones -- then, pour the water over the whole thing, mix quickly until moistened (do not beat) and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. I have never frosted this cake, just eaten it straight or sprinkled powdered sugar on before serving. ALSO: don't try this the first time if company's coming! My first one was a disaster (I was nervous about overmixing and there were huge streaks of flour through it!) and while hopefully yours won't be, it is slightly weird so play it safe! Some recipes say to mix in a bowl and then pour into a pan, but according to Cook's Country you risk having it not rise as well.

This cake is seriously quick and easy, cheap, vegan and really good if you like chocolate cake!

WHOAH! STOP THE PRESSES! Astute reader Melanie caught a typo in the recipe (I sent her a scan of the original), which I've just fixed. The amounts on the vanilla and vinegar were switched -- oops!! What you see now is correct. Sorry!

s'mores mini-cakes!

Sort of in the cupcake tradition, but really far enough removed that I'm just going to call them "mini-cakes". These are the cakes I made for Emily's half-birthday party (which was just the three of us!) -- graham cracker squares, topped with little slabs of chocolate cake, with mini-marshmallows broiled on top of the whole thing. Extra-exciting was that I finally used my broiler for the first time -- I don't know why I've been so nervous about it! The crackers were like little edible plates, and surprisinly softened up enough in the few moments in the oven to eat as part of the cake; the cake itself is from scratch and is a WWII ration cake recipe that I love -- no eggs or milk!; and the marshmallows I stuck on by brushing the cake tops with water and then just placing them on. I then broiled them all until they looked like this (maybe 2-3 minutes?). And they were delicious. (I actually liked the broiled marshmallows as a topping a lot -- I'm not really that big a fan of frosting.) A definite to-make-again!

happy half birthday!

Today is Emily's half-birthday, which we decided we'd celebrate every year since her birthday is in the middle of the holidays. She spent the morning at the zoo -- hopefully some animal photos came out well, and if they did I'll add them later. She then got lunch at a swanky Japanese restaurant. Right now she's out cold, but when she's up it's present time! She's getting more haba blocks for her (small) set; a really swell wooden Totoro puzzle (up close here and here); and what might be my new obsession, some Holztiger animals. I am loving these things as kid's toys, and plan to give her a couple animals for every occasion. And in case you were wondering, no, she's not getting presents twice, these are her presents for the year (although one plush polar bear was put away for her actual birthday).

In other news, things are horrifically hectic around here, but a break is in sight, thank goodness! More then!

more rose cupcakes

I didn't make these, they're from the new issue of Family Fun, but aren't they cute? And certainly going to be easier than what I did. Although, after my experience with the sushi cupcakes, I personally don't think I want to deal with fruit roll-ups on anything ever again. Kids would probably love them though.

(not much of a) MoCCA report

So the MoCCA Art Fest was last weekend, something we really look forward to every year -- so much so that we've already bought our table for 2007! (June 23rd-24th - mark your calendars!) Emily and I just went on Saturday (that exhausted her -- and me -- plenty). And we were pretty busy so as usual, didn't get to see a whole lot, but the show was really busy and everyone was pretty up. It's always nice to go to a show where everyone seems to be in a good mood.

Evan already posted a couple of the sketches we got in Emily's book -- we're pretty slack about getting sketches but we've got some cute ones. Besides the Gahan WIlson and Brian Lee O'Malley he posted, we got excellent drawings for her from Christine Norrie ad Todd Webb. Todd, btw, gave me some new comics that were all awesome. I didn't get any other comics myself, but Evan brought home some stuff. Haven't had a chance to look through it though.

The one disappointment of the show -- I saw Tara McPherson sitting at a table, and thought she was there for the show -- I desperately wanted to get a sketch from her in Emily's book -- not only am I a big fan, but so is Emily! At least, I think that's why she's always trying to steal my Tara McPherson Dunny from the desk. But, she was only sitting for a couple hours, by the time one of us was able to get up again she was gone. (And Evan was so swamped on Sunday he barely left the table and missed her Sunday session too!) Oh well, I doubt she does convention sketches anyway, but phooey!

Anyway, MoCCA rules as usual, at least what little we saw of it. Here's to going both day next year!

cute kid's aprons

How cute is that little puppet theater apron? It reminds me of a similar apron I saw a while back in a Japanese craft book -- that one was for the parent, and had a puppet theater up on the chest area, I guess so you could play with the puppets while sitting down. It was so cute I wanted to buy the book! (But I didn't -- can't buy everything...) Also really cute for kids are these aprons from Furnis:



Besides the goose and mushroom, there are also cheese and egg as well. Goose is my favorite, though.

a wiki meme!

I was tagged by Thien-Kim with this one; it's pretty fun!!

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. In the Search box, type your birth month and day (but not year).
3. List three events that happened on your birthday.
4. List two important birthdays and one interesting death.
5. One holiday or observance (if any).

Events:
1767 - Mason-Dixon line, survey separating Maryland from Pennsylvania is completed.
1851 - Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.
1985 - Nintendo releases the Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States.
There were too many to choose from! So I picked one from each of the last 3 centuries.

Births:
1898 - Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (d. 1981)
1919 - Anita O'Day, American singer

Death(s):
2000 - Julie London, American singer and actress (b. 1926)
2000 - Gwen Verdon, American dancer and actress (b. 1925)
Okay, I cheated, but Julie London and Gwen Verdon on the same day?!

Holiday:
French Republican Calendar - Piment (Chili Pepper) Day, twenty-seventh day in the Month of Vendemiaire

I'm tagging Christopher, (who I just discovered is way into OTR like Evan is! Which is irrelevant but...) Also Mary and Cate, who I know haven't done this one.