August 22: Virginia Hall's Date Cake

As I have been working non-stop on costumes for Calendar Girls, I wanted to bake a simple cake this week.  I chose Virginia Hall's Date Cake prepared in a tube pan with a simple glaze, instead of a layer cake with frosting.

The recipe is from Our Favorites, a cookbook published by the Woman's Society of Christian Service, East Lake Methodist Church in 1958.  East Lake is a section of Atlanta which is most notable for the East Lake Golf Club where Bobby Jones starting playing as a young boy.  East Lake contains many lovely homes some dating back as far as the 19th century.  The neighborhood is now a thriving, family-friendly, in-town enclave.

Similar to the Opti-Mrs cookbook I used for the Mocha Loaf Cake (July 25), this cookbook was locally published and contains advertisements from area businesses, long-since shuttered.  It also contains occasional helpful hints and poems.  One such poem appears on the same page as the Date Cake recipe;

Do you wish the world were better?
let me tell you what to do;
Set a watch upon your actions,
Keep them always straight and true;
Rid your mind of selfish motives,
Let your thoughts be clear and high,
You can make a little Eden,
Of the sphere you occupy. 

-- Ellis Wheeler Wilcox

Good advice on the same page as a good recipe.  Plus, later in the chapter on cakes is a "Fool-Proof Caramel Frosting" recipe that I might need to consult for a final attempt at a caramel cake in the coming months.

The date cake turned out very well.  it is made with chopped dates, chopped pecans, orange juice, zest, and buttermilk.  The flavors are well balanced, and no one component overwhelms.   I will need to use more flour to dredge the dates and nuts next time, because they sank a little in the batter.  The buttermilk makes this cake very moist.  In addition, a glaze of sugar, orange juice and zest is drizzled over the cake while it is still warm.

Right now, the sphere I occupy is full of costumes (more on that in my next post), so the Eden I make will have to be very little indeed...

Next Saturday: The Women's Institute Centenary Celebration Cake