It’s that time of year when our gardens are really starting to pay us back for the many hours we have spent tilling and watering, weeding and staking.  Blooms are turning into prized produce, and we are thankfully enjoying the fruits of our labor.  Even in you are not is a position to have a garden, the farmers markets are in full swing and the grocery stores have good pricing on mounds of beautiful fresh vegetables and fruits.  It is time to think about preserving some of these treasures for the cold winter months to come. 

Growing up on a farm in the mid-west my family always had a rather large garden, we were fortunate to have the land available to do so.  Being thirty miles from a store it was convenient to have our own produce all summer long, and saved my parents quite a lot of money.  My siblings and I spent many hours during summer vacation from school digging, planting, weeding and watering.  Each afternoon my mother would send one of us kids out to the garden to gather a list of produce for the dinner she was preparing, and I have spent many an hour helping with tasks like shelling peas and husking corn.

Canning always played an important part in our gardening, certain crops were planned especially with the idea of preserving part of them for the winter.  Green beans, beets, corn, tomatoes, and of course cucumbers where planted in large patches in order to have plenty on the table and enough to fill the shelves in the pantry.  As each crop was ready my mother would break out the jars, lids, and rings and get busy.  I am thankful to have had this experience as a child and the knowledge I gained has served me well over the years.

I am not sure where my mother acquired this promotional booklet from the Heinz Company, but I seem to remember it always being around.  I would guess she got it through the Cooperative Extension Service where she was actively involved as a 4-H leader and also worked with the W.I.C. program.  My mother gave this booklet to me years ago after she had given up canning and knew that I had an interest.  I have always had a great appreciation for the wonderful illustrations in this booklet and have always found the information very helpful, after all I would trust the people who make vinegar to know quite a bit about canning.

The booklet is filled with great recipes for all kinds of vegetables and fruits, as well as helpful tips and a good troubleshooting guide.  I have scanned all of the pages and made it available as a PDF that you can download or print if you prefer.

Chocolate ganache buttercream frosting is whipped until fluffy and then topped with a dark chocolate drip glaze in this 1960’s Bakers Chocolate recipe.  Using chocolate squares instead of cocoa powder, this frosting has an unparalleled deep rich chocolate flavor.  

A while back I came across this magazine clipping that my mother had saved many years ago.  I had acquired it along with numerous other recipes and kitchen items after my mothers passing.  I remember as a young boy watching my mom make this cake and just how elaborate I thought it was.

Lately I have found myself interested in retro recipes from the 50’s and 60’s.  People enjoyed hosting cocktail parties offering their company extravagantly decorated plates of finger foods and garnished drinks.  Invitations were sent, furniture was arranged, beautiful appetizers were strategically placed, and highballs were served.  With a stack of lp’s on the hifi changer, the well dressed guests tossed back a few cocktails, enjoyed a nibble or two, and had some laughs.  And of course no gathering would be complete without a dessert that looked as though it came right out of a magazine.

I will admit the cake turned out quite well but I did rush the glaze just a bit.  I was concerned that the chocolate was setting up too much in the pan.  While it seemed cool enough, a bit more ran off the cake than I would have liked.  I will certainly make this again, just allowing the glaze a bit more time to cool before pouring.

Print

Chocolate-on-Chocolate Frosting

Cocoa could never make a frosting like this because cocoa has most of its chocolate richness removed. Only Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate will do!

Course Cakes

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Temper chocolate 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Author Christoph

Ingredients

Creamy Chocolate Under-frosting

• ½ cup butter, 1 stick
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 pound un-sifted confectioners’ sugar, 4 ½ cups
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 squares Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate, melted over hot water
• ¼ cup milk

Deep Chocolate Over-Glaze

• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup water
• 2 squares Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate, melted over hot water
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 Tablespoon milk

Instructions

Under-frosting

• Cream butter until soft. Beat in the salt and about 1 ½ cups of the sugar.
• Then add egg, vanilla, and melted chocolate; blend well. Beat in remaining sugar alternately with the milk, beat after each addition until smooth.
• Use to fill and frost three 8-inch cake layers, spreading ½ cup between each layer and on top and the remaining frosting around the sides of the cake. Then top with chocolate glaze.

Over-Glaze

• In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil and boil ½ minute, stirring constantly. Slowly stir in chocolate, then stir in butter. Slowly beat in milk. Beat until of spreading consistency. While glaze is still warm, pour onto top of frosted cake. Spread to edges and drizzle over sides at intervals. Let stand until glaze is set before cutting.

Notes

Making this icing is a bit involved but well worth the time.  The over-glaze is a bit tricky. 

I was concerned that it was getting to stiff to pour however I should have let it cool just a bit more to get a better dripping effect.

Because of the time involved making the frosting I used a box cake.  If you are going to make a cake from scratch I would bake it the day before in the interest of time.

I enjoy looking at cookbooks. I don’t really know why since I rarely follow a recipe other than for baking, but something attracts me to them, especially vintage copies. It is so fun to see the suggestions for dishes, how the recipes were described, and what ingredients were listed. Many food companies like General Foods distributed small cookbooks to homemakers for free (those days are gone) in hopes that it would encourage the sale of their products. 1 teaspoon of Calumet baking powder, or 2 cups of Swans Down Cake Flour, what a great marketing tool.

I guess part of the reason I page through these fragile gems, is the idea of discovering an old favorite that lies waiting to be reborn. The other reason I am crazy about flipping through these classic beauties, is the images. I have seen some of the most interesting, curious, and even odd old photos and illustrations. It is often humorous to see how the styles and trends have changed. I am sure that 50 years from now, people will be having a similar reaction.

My sister Jennifer is a purveyor of relics. “Vintage Wares”, (located on Ceresco, booth #154) at the Aardvark Antique Mall in Lincoln Nebraska, features all kinds of reusable antiques for the home. Quite often sister comes across old cookbooks and shares them with me. I am not in the habit of collecting cookbooks, but I sure do enjoy seeing them before she finds a suitable owner.

Times really have changed………………………….or have they really?

For those of you out there that do not possess a copy of this book, you should immediately drop what you’re doing and run out the door to find one.  The Food Lovers Companion is a must have for anyone who loves to cook and entertain. The companion is not a cookbook but rather a dictionary with 775 pages of culinary terms, food, and drink definitions.

I was given a copy of this wonder by my long time friend Chef Mike and his charming wife Dani a few years ago. I could not begin to count the number of times this marvel has answered my questions or settled disputes. Even though it is possible to  Google your way to this information, I find nothing compares to having a copy of this treasure within easy reach in my kitchen.

“What’s Cooking” highly recommends  The Food Lover’s Companion.