Elizabeth Clark, the Julia Child of Keokuk and much of nearby Iowa and Illinois, loves to share with cooking students tales of her girlhood on the family farm.
She recalls her mother butchering chickens, 70 a week, and removing their feathers; the chickens were to be sold in town. There also was hog meat to cure and butter to churn; there were vegetables to preserve and eggs to collect.
Clark admits she secretly was pleased whenever there were extra dairy products and eggs because her mother would use them to prepare a treat for the family. High on Clark’s list of favorites was spice cake, a fixture on dessert tables at countless church suppers throughout the Midwest.
“My mother used really tasty applesauce to moisten it,” Clark adds. “We had about 100 apple trees on the farm and there was always fresh applesauce on hand. The spices were available, too–standbys of English bakers such as cinnamon and nutmeg, allspice and cloves. They were bought to use in fruitcakes and mincemeat for Christmas and needed to be used up before they faded and began to smell like talcum powder.”
At this season, when it came time to prepare dessert for the 4th of July supper or picnic, Clark’s mother was able to use the first ripe apples of the season, called “early transparents.” The feast also would include “real” fried chicken (pan-fried in lard), ham, Waldorf (another use for apples) and potato salads, various slaws and equally real lemonade.
Another effective way of enticing the young to consume applesauce in the now-distant era following World War II was to flavor it with a vast quantity of tiny red cinnamon candies known as “Red Hots.”
“We called it `neon apples,’ Clark recalls, “because there was so much red food coloring that the dish almost glowed. I ate it for breakfast, with roast pork for dinner, with turkey at Thanksgiving. Or I would find a pan of it on the stove to snack from when I came home from school. Everybody’s mom made it, but no one wrote down a recipe. So I had to test until I found the right amount of candy to use. It was a real nostalgia trip.”
Take the trip yourself during the upcoming holiday weekend by making the Clark family spice cake recipe that follows or the neon apples.
Clark teaches classes in baking and other aspects of cooking, and caters dinners in her home overlooking the Mississippi River. For information call 319-524-4716 or access www.lizclark.com.
4TH OF JULY APPLE SPICE CAKE
Twelve servings
1/2 cup butter, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
2 extra large eggs
1 cup applesauce
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each ground cloves, allspice, ginger and nutmeg
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup raisins
1 cup hickory nuts or pecans, toasted for 15 minutes in a 300-degree oven and coarsely chopped
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until completely incorporated. Add the applesauce and combine. (The mixture will appear slightly curdled at this point.)
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices and cocoa.
4. Using a rubber spatula, alternately fold the dry ingredients and the buttermilk into the applesauce mixture. Stir in the raisins and nuts.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and level the top with the spatula. Transfer to the center rack of the oven and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
6. Cool cake on a rack for about 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and leave it on the rack until completely cool. Top with caramel glaze (recipe follows).
CARAMEL GLAZE FOR SPICE CAKE
Makes about two cups
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter, unsalted preferred
1/2 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan (enameled cast-iron recommended) over medium-high heat, bring the brown sugar and butter to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the milk. (Take care, it will spatter.) Return pan to the heat and bring milk to a boil. Add powdered sugar and stir constantly until it is completely incorporated. Off from the heat, stir in the vanilla.
2. Drizzle this sauce over the cooled applesauce cake.
LIZ CLARK’S CINNAMON CANDY STEWED APPLES
Eight servings
8 large, firm apples cored, peeled and cut into wedges
1 1/2 cups water
9 ounces red cinnamon-flavored candies
1. Place the apple wedges into a large enameled cast-iron pot or Dutch oven. Add the water and cinnamon candies.
2. Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
3. Reduce heat to medium and continue to stir until candies are dissolved and apples are soft but not mushy. (If too much liquid remains in the pot, raise the heat and boil until only 1/2 cup remains. The more concentrated the liquid, the more intense the color and flavor of the apples.) Serve warm or at room temperature.
