Posted on 08/02/2022 6:29:56 PM PDT by simpson96
Seventy years ago, when Arlene McCardle was a 19-year-old on the cusp of 20, she entered what later would be known as the Pillsbury Bake-Off, making the contest deadline just in time.
She became Wisconsin's sole junior finalist on the strength of her recipe. McCardle baked her Venetian Cocoanut Cake at the competition in December 1952 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York â a four-layer sponge cake with alternating layers of pudding-like vanilla and chocolate fillings, topped with toasted coconut. (Cocoanut was an old variation on coconut still in use into the midcentury.)
Pillsbury published the junior winner's recipe the next year in a booklet touting "100 Prize-Winning Recipes" from Pillsbury's fourth Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest (Bake-Off turned out to be a catchier contest name, Pillsbury later decided).
Pillsbury also decided that the cake would be called Venetian Cream-Filled Layers in the booklet.
The booklet cost consumers 25 cents; sold across the country, it assured McCardle a measure of national fame. Milwaukee-area newspapers had already written about her trip to New York; the yellowed clippings are framed and hang in her kitchen on Milwaukee's far north side, in the house where she's lived with her family since 1965.
She never baked the cake again, she said.
That is, until recently. She baked the legendary cake for the first time with her daughters, visiting from California and Nevada to mark her 90th birthday. McCardle, a mother of six, turned 90 on July 24. Her husband, Michael McCardle, a Milwaukee police detective, was killed in a car accident when their youngest was just nine days old.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
I love the pic.
My fondest memories are of cooking with my grandma and mom.
What I didn’t read was why she never made it again until now. Very odd to leave that out.
I love this! Thanks for posting.
In case you’re interested PING. :-)
Agreed,
Disgruntled over the
Name Change?
I wondered the same thing, although she DID go on to have six kids, and that’s a lot of work. The cake’s a lot of work, too. :-)
She Lost the recipe.
?
Someone left the cake out in the rain?
“My fondest memories are of cooking with my grandma and mom”
Just Grandma here. Mom. not so much
Grandma was a fantastic cook.
Many weekends I would help her make pasta and sausage from scratch. Great memories.
She also made wine from scratch but never was asked to help
with that!
If they would have said why most people would have stopped reading an missed all the advertisements.
She should of made sure those eggs were good.
Don’t make Elvis take out his frustration on the poor TV!! 📺
Exactly.
Very nice story, but the writer of this article could use a good editor. The article seems somehow out of sequence.
THE RECIPE
Venetian Cocoanut Cake, aka Venetian Cream-Filled Layers
Makes one 8- or 9-inch cake
¾ cup flour
¼ cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
5 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Venetian filling (recipe follows)
½ cup shredded, sweetened coconut, toasted
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two cake pans, 8 or 9 inches, by lightly greasing the bottoms and lining with parchment or waxed paper. Do not grease the sides, to help the sponge climb to its full height and stay there.
Sift the flour into a small bowl, measure it again and then sift the flour again with the cornstarch and the baking powder.
Beat egg whites until foamy in a large bowl; continue beating, at high speed, while gradually adding ½ cup of sugar, until the egg whites stand in stiff, glossy peaks.
In another large bowl, beat egg yolks until lightened. Gradually add in remaining ½ cup sugar while beating at high speed, until yolks are thickened and light yellow, at least 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla and salt.
Stir a dollop of whites into the yolks to lighten them, then carefully but thoroughly fold the yolk mixture into the whites, taking care not to deflate them.
Sift flour mixture a third at a time over the egg mix and carefully fold it in after each addition.
Divide batter evenly between the two pans and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a tester emerges clean from the center. Cool completely in pans on rack.
Meanwhile, prepare filling.
When cake is completely cool, run a thin knife blade between the cake and the pan to loosen, invert and remove paper. Split cooled layers horizontally.
Alternate spreading the vanilla and chocolate fillings between layers, starting with the vanilla for first layer and ending with chocolate on top. Garnish with toasted coconut.
Note: To toast coconut, place in medium skillet over medium-low heat. Stir frequently when it begins to toast, until the coconut is golden. Depending on skillet’s thickness, it might take only a few minutes.
Venetian Filling:
⅓ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon sifted flour
2 cups milk
½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
Combine granulated sugar, flour and milk in top of double boiler. Cook over but not touching simmering water, stirring the mixture constantly until thickened. Cover and let cook five minutes. Let cool off heat. Cream butter with vanilla in medium bowl and then cream with powdered sugar. Add cooled milk mixture gradually to butter mixture, combining well after each addition.
Place half of filling in small bowl; add melted chocolate and combine well.
Note: Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, if available, at medium to high speed will smooth curdling from butter that’s too cold, as the filling warms. If the filling is too warm and runny, chill it for a bit and whip filling again.
Thanks for letting me know - I love stories like this.
Here is the recipe (my husband would love this!):
Venetian Cocoanut Cake, aka Venetian Cream-Filled Layers
Makes one 8- or 9-inch cake
¾ cup flour
¼ cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
5 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Venetian filling (recipe follows)
½ cup shredded, sweetened coconut, toasted
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two cake pans, 8 or 9 inches, by lightly greasing the bottoms and lining with parchment or waxed paper. Do not grease the sides, to help the sponge climb to its full height and stay there.
Sift the flour into a small bowl, measure it again and then sift the flour again with the cornstarch and the baking powder.
Beat egg whites until foamy in a large bowl; continue beating, at high speed, while gradually adding ½ cup of sugar, until the egg whites stand in stiff, glossy peaks.
In another large bowl, beat egg yolks until lightened. Gradually add in remaining ½ cup sugar while beating at high speed, until yolks are thickened and light yellow, at least 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla and salt.
Stir a dollop of whites into the yolks to lighten them, then carefully but thoroughly fold the yolk mixture into the whites, taking care not to deflate them.
Sift flour mixture a third at a time over the egg mix and carefully fold it in after each addition.
Divide batter evenly between the two pans and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a tester emerges clean from the center. Cool completely in pans on rack.
Meanwhile, prepare filling.
When cake is completely cool, run a thin knife blade between the cake and the pan to loosen, invert and remove paper. Split cooled layers horizontally.
Alternate spreading the vanilla and chocolate fillings between layers, starting with the vanilla for first layer and ending with chocolate on top. Garnish with toasted coconut.
Note: To toast coconut, place in medium skillet over medium-low heat. Stir frequently when it begins to toast, until the coconut is golden. Depending on skillet’s thickness, it might take only a few minutes.
Venetian Filling:
⅓ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon sifted flour
2 cups milk
½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
Combine granulated sugar, flour and milk in top of double boiler. Cook over but not touching simmering water, stirring the mixture constantly until thickened. Cover and let cook five minutes. Let cool off heat. Cream butter with vanilla in medium bowl and then cream with powdered sugar. Add cooled milk mixture gradually to butter mixture, combining well after each addition.
Place half of filling in small bowl; add melted chocolate and combine well.
Note: Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, if available, at medium to high speed will smooth curdling from butter that’s too cold, as the filling warms. If the filling is too warm and runny, chill it for a bit and whip filling again.
Welcome to “journalism” 2022.
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