We’re seeing signs of spring in Kansas. In other words—we’re having longer days of sunshine and temperatures up to the 70’s, then a few days of a good old windy snow blizzard. Yep, that’s Kansas…

But we’re also seeing daffodils blooming, wheat fields turning green, and people like me already buying first pick of plants in the garden nurseries—even though that means they are enjoying time in my sun room for a few weeks before going outside permanently.

This year Easter makes its appearance in March, and that brings me to eggs, both to decorate and hide from kids and pets, and to bake with.

Spring for the pioneers meant hens starting to lay more eggs after the long winter so here are two of my favorite “egg recipes” from my old-time recipe cook book, Egg Gravy.

Angel Food Cake

Whites of 11 eggs, pinch of salt, 1½ cups sugar, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1 cup cake flour, 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Sift sugar and flour together 7 times. Put cream of tartar and salt in eggs and beat very light, fold in sugar and flour, add vanilla. Put in cold oven and bake slowly 1 hour.

Sunshine Cake

1 cup butter, 11 egg yolks (beaten light), 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour (sifted 3 times) with 2 teaspoons baking powder added to the flour, and  1 cup sweet milk.  (Make your own cake flour by sifting 4 cups of flour and 1 cup of cornstarch together four times.) Bake in tube pan 45 minutes.

(I know the cake recipes don’t have time and temperature on them, but every good cook knew her own wood stove, so they didn’t  record those on their recipes.)

Try your hand at baking like a pioneer and let me know how they turned out.

If you’d like more recipes that pioneer women used (or just like to read an old-fashioned cookbook), please enjoy my book Egg Gravy and the whole Butter in the Well series.

Today is my mom’s 88^th birthday so I made her favorite dessert, an angel food cake to enjoy for her celebration this evening. I just added a cup of water to a packet of dry mix out of a box, turn on the mixer for a minute, put the whipped mixture in a tube pan and slid it into the electric oven.

Then I thought of the old recipes I came across while researching my recipe book, Egg Gravy. Not only did the pioneer women make their cakes from scratch, they had to produce the ingredients first.

The old photo of cartons of eggs and big balls of butter was taken back in the early 1900’s, showing products ready to take into town for trade at the grocery store.

Enjoy reading these recipes, and Happy Birthday Mom!

Angel Food Cake
Whites of 11 eggs
pinch of salt
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon vanilla  

Sift sugar and flour together 7 times. Put cream of tartar and salt in eggs and beat very light, fold in sugar and flour, add vanilla. Put in cold oven and bake slowly 1 hour.  (Make your own cake flour by sifting 4 cups flour and 1 cup cornstarch together four times.)  

Sunshine Cake
1 cup butter
11 egg yolks, beaten light
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour, sifted 3 times with 2 tps. baking powder
1 cup sweet milk

Bake in tube pan 45 minutes. Use any flavoring desired.

Butter
Pour ripened cream into butter churn and churn for about 30 to 35 minutes until the butter is about the size of wheat grains. Draw off buttermilk and add cold water. Slowly churn for a few minutes, then draw off the water. Put the butter in a wooden bowl and mix in 2 tablespoons of salt per pound of butter. Let stand a few minutes, then work butter with wooden paddle to get the last of the liquid out and the salt in. Press in crocks or butter molds and store in a cool place.

(Excerpts and photo from Egg Gravy: Authentic Recipes from the Butter in the Well Series, © by Linda K. Hubalek.)