Since yesterday was Remembrance Day, I am sharing a cake with history today. It’s an old recipe that comes from the war times. My grandma told me that for sure it was from the second world war but she was pretty sure they first came up with it in the first world war. It’s a recipe that comes from a time of less. There are no eggs and no milk in the cake recipe. When my grandma was a little girl her parents would make this cake and she thought it was really special. She even remembers her mom making it without any raisins in it. Then as time went on and cream was more available the icing was added to the recipe. I think most cakes taste better with icing!
Canada War Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups raisins
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 2 tbsp lard
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups hot water
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
Icing
- 2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 2/3 cup milk or cream
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Bring raisins, brown sugar, lard, pisces and water to a rolling boil and take off heat and let cool.
- Add flour and baking soda and mix well.
- Pour into greased 9x13 cake pan or a cookie sheet (will be more like bars).
- Bake at 350˚F oven for 20-24 minutes or until tested done.
Icing For Cake
- Bring ingredients to boil and boil until the softball stage.
- Beat until creamy and add butter and vanilla.
- Spread on cake or bars and allow to set.
This is a gingerbread-ish kind of taste and it totally reminds me of bars (that’s how my grandma likes to make this) I would find sitting on my grandma’s counter when I was a kid.
