Helen's General Foods Butterscotch Pecan Cake

This recipe is from General Foods, 1938, and was in an ad that Helen had cut out of a magazine and paper-clipped  in her cook book. There was a picture of the cake in color, and I found a copy of this ad on the web in an old Life magazine dated September 19, 1938. I cannot get it to post properly so if you search the recipe, minus Helen's name, the link will come up and you can see what it looks like. I wrote the recipe down verbatim as it was in the ad I found that Helen had saved.

Helen's General Foods Butterscotch Pecan Cake

2 cups sifted Swan's Down cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
3 squares unsweetened Baker's chocolate, melted
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift flour, measure, and add soda and sift three times. cream butter thoroughly; add sugar gradually and cream together till light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; then add melted chocolate. Add flour, alterantely with milk, a small amount at a time, beating well till smooth. Add vanilla. Bake in two greased 9" round cake pans or three greased 8" pans in moderate oven* 25-30 minutes. Cool. SpreadButterscotch Fudge Frosting between layers and on tops and sides. Double recipe for three 10" layers. *350 degrees is a moderate oven

Butterscotch Fudge Frosting

2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup top milk*
1/2 cup water

Add 2 cups firmly packed brown sugar to 1/2 cup butter and cok over low flame, stirring constantly, until mixture darkens slightly (5-6 minutes). Remove from fire and add 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, 3/4 cup top milk*, and 1/2 cup water. Return to fire and cook to 232 degrees, without stirring, or until small amount of mixture forms a very soft ball in cold water. Remove from fire. Cool to lukewarm (110 degrees), then beat until of right consistency to spread. If necessary, place over hot water to keep soft while spreading. Makes enough frosting to vover tops and sides of two 9" layers. Double for three 10" layers.
If desired, add 1/2 cup chopped pecans to part of the frosting and use as filling. Spread remaining frosting on tops and sides of cake and decorate top with pecan halves.
*Top milk is milk that rises to the top with the cream with fresh milk. You may want to use half and half in this recipe for a richer cake unless you are lucky enough to have your own fresh milk supply.

Helen's Hickory Nut Cake With Caramel Icing

Helen probably had a hickory nut tree in her yard or close enough so she could go foraging for them when she wanted to make this cake. I used to go foraging for hickory nuts when I was in my teens and lived in Outville, Ohio. My then mother-in-law used to watch my kids for me so I could go across the street to the neighbor's yard and pick up nuts. Once, when I was picking nuts, I went to move  a branch out of the way and it moved! I about jumped out of my skin. It was not a branch, but a garter snake. You can bet I was always more careful in the future when I foraged for nuts!
Hickory nuts are not as hard as black walnuts to crack, but they do take time to extract the meats from the shell. I remember it taking me a good hour to hull about a cup of nuts one time. Very time intensive. But they are so delicious! I haven't lived in Outville on over 30 years, and I haven't been foraging for hickory nuts in nearly as long, but this cake makes me think perhaps this year I may go out looking for these delicious nuts!

Helen's Hickory Nut Cake

2 cups sugar
2/3 cup margarine*
3 eggs, separated
1 cup milk
3 cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped hickory nuts

Cream sugar and margarine* together well. Add egg yolks and beat well. Add flour, baking soda, and nuts alternately with milk to creamed mixture. beat egg whites with vanilla until stiff and fold into batter. Turn into loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or till cake tests done. Frost with caramel icing.
*Margarine was used in this recipe but is not good for you so replace butter for the margarine.
*Make sure you grease the pan before adding batter.

Helen's Caramel Icing

1 stick margarine*
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup milk
1 3/4- 2 cups xxx sugar*

Melt margarine in skillet and add brown sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add milk and stir till mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and cool. Slowly blend in powdered sugar, beat well after each addition until spreading consistency is reached.
*Use real butter as margarine is not good for you!!!
* xxx sugar is powdered sugar
**Use a heavy skillet, such as an iron skillet, so that your sugar does not burn.

Helen's Orange Cake

Dear Helen must have made many of these recipes on a regular basis as she only wrote down the ingredients and didn't bother to write down the directions. I will endeavor to give directions to the best of my knwoledge based on the wording. If you want to be brave and try your own way, go for it. The filling is obviously cooked and goes in the middle.

Helen's Orange Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon
1/8 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups sifted flour, sift 3 times
3 eggs, separated, add whites last
3 tsp baking powder

No directions given. These are mine. Sift flour 3 times, then sift again with baking powder and salt; set aside. Beat egg whites until stiff and will hold peaks, but not dry; set aside. Cream sugar and butter till light and fluffy. Add egg yolks; blend well. Mix in vanilla and lemon extracts. Add milk alterantely with the flour, blend well after each addition. Carefullt fold in egg whites. Pour into well-greased and floured 8" or 9" cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto cooling racks. Cool completely before adding filling in the middle.

Filling

1 egg
6 Tbls. sugar
2 1/2 Tbls. cornstarch
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp. grated rind*
1 Tbls. butter

No directions are given so I am giving my own. Combine sugar and cornstarch in top of double boiler. Stir in orange juice and water and cook until thickened. Pour a little in a bowl, carefully add beaten egg and mix back into the double boiler; continue to cook until thickened. Stir in grated orange rind and butter. Cool before filling cake.

Helen's Delicate White Cake With Orange Icing

This sounds like a delicious and light cake. There is no designated flavoring in this cake so either make it vanilla or orange extract for this cake. The good thing about this recipe is you can change the flavor to anything you want it to be by just changing the extract flavor to whatever you like. But in keeping with the name of this cake I will write the recipe out exactly as written. What you choose to do with your own imagination is up to you. As for the icing, there are no directions and so I hoofed it on my own. I think Helen knew it was such a basic recipe that she didn't need to waste her time writing down directions.

Helen's Delicate White Cake With Orange Icing

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups sifted flour
5 egg whites
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup thin milk*
1 1/4 tsp. flavoring

Cream shortening; add sugar gradually; cream thoroughly. Sift flour, salt, baing powder. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Blend in flavoring. Fold in egg whites. Bake in greased and floured pans. Bake 30-35 minutes at 350 degree moderate oven.
*Thin milk is most likely 2%, though any milk would do.

Orange Icing

5 Tbls. butter
3 cups xxxx sugar
2 Tbls. lemon juice
2 Tbls. orange juice
1 tsp. orange rind

There were no directions given for making this icing. I will give you my own.
Sift the sugar into a bowl, add butter and juices and beat until smooth and creamy. To make it a bit more thick, add more sugar, a bit at a time until desired consistency.

Helen's Whipped Cream Cake With Lemon Frosting

This sounds like an easy and delicious cake. The lemon frosting also sounds light and refreshing. If you don't like almond extract do not be afraid to change this to vanilla. In years back powdered sugarm also known as confectioner's sugar was often referred to as "xxxx' and so I wrote this out exactly as Helen had written this recipe in her book, including the x's, which she uses in other recipes also. Even today you will often find x's on packages of powdered sugar. I can remember seeing this even as a child, and I bet you do, too, if you think about it. This is definitely a cake I will have to try in the very near future, and when I do, I will post a picture of it here for you to see. In the meantime, perhaps you will be inspired to make your own.

Helen's Whipped Cream Cake With Lemon Frosting

3 egg whites
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt

Carefully fold whipped cream into stiffly beaten egg whites. Gradually fold in cold water and flavoring. Sift flour; measure; sift with sugar, baking powder, and salt. Carefully fold into creamed mixture. Pour into cake pan lined with waxed paper. Bake in moderate oven 30-35 minutes.
*A moderate oven is 350 degrees.

Lemon Frosting

Melt 4 Tabls. butter; add 1 Tbls grated lemon rind. Sift 3 cups xxxx sugar, add alternately with 3 Tbls. lemon juice, beating thoroughly after each addition. Dash of salt.
*The xxxx sugar is powdered sugar.

Helen's Fruit Cake

It seems fruit cake has gotten a bad rap. People make fun of it all the time, yet tens of thousands are sold every Christmas and millions are made at home with traditional family recipes. I don't care for citron, otherwise, this one sounds good. This is also another recipe with few directions. I will improvise.

Helen's Fruit Cake

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup sour cream
3 cups Swan's Down flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. allspice
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 pound white raisins
1/4 pound dates, chopped
1/4 pound currants
2 ounces orange peel
1 ounce lemon peel
1 ounce citron
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 pound candied cherries
1/2 pound candied pineapple
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder

Roll all candied fruits and nuts in flour. Bake in a roaster on rack for 3 hours. Slow fire 275 degrees.
I would combine the flour, spices, soda and baking powder; set aside. Combine all fruits and nuts; set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and sour cream; blend well. stir in extracts to blend. Fold in fruit/nut/flour mixture. Pour into greased pan and bake in a roaster as directed.

Helen's Black Walnut Cake

This is another recipe that did not have any directions except for the most vaguest, which says, "Cook till thick", which I believe is for the filling. I will try my best to make this recipe work.
Helen's Black Walnut Cake

2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cloves
1 Tbls. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 cups sifted flour with spices
1/2 cup black walnuts

Filling: 1 cup sugar
            2 eggs
            2 heaping Tbls. cornstarch
            1 cup black walnuts
            1 pint boiling milk

Sift flour with spices, as directed; set aside. cream brown sugar with room temperature butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beat well. Stir soda in with the sour cream and add to creamed mixture; blend well. Remove 1/4 cup of flour and blend with walnuts.  Add flour mixture to creamed mixture and blend well. Fold in walnut/flour mixture. Pour into two greased 8" or 9" pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or till tests done with a toothpick.  Rmove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks. Cool completely before adding cooled filling.
For filling: Scald milk. In top of double boiler combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in milk and cook until thickened. Beat two eggs in a bowl and add a bit of the hot custard to temper the eggs and then add them to the milk mixture. Cook until incorporated and thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add black walnuts. Place between layers of cake.