Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #16 - Foods Named After People

Challenge 16.  Foods Named After People (July 29 - August 11)  Beef Wellington?  Charlotte Russe?  Choose a dish named after a person (either fictional or real) to create.  Bonus points if you tell us about the link between the person and the dish!

Fisher Velvet Cake

For all the Historical Food Fortnightly Challenges for 2016 I have been using the book Twenty Lessons in Domestic Science.  Copyrighted in 1916 this was a condensed home study course.  It was compiled and printed for the Calumet Baking Powder Company and presented with its compliments.  The author is Marian Cole Fisher formerly of the St. Paul Institute of Arts and Science, Chautauqua Lecturer.

Although the book itself is still available, no amount of internet research has led me to discover anything about the author.  I'm still looking.

Lesson Number Three is entitled Carbohydrates.  It includes a recipe for Fisher Velvet Cake.

Thinking that this a favorite recipe of Marian Cole Fisher, I am baking the cake today in the author's honor.

Love working with these simple ingredients!

 

Sifted flour and baking powder combined and sifted 3 times.

Butter and sugar...

...creamed until frothy.

Eggs separated.  Yokes beat until thick and lemon colored.

Beaten yolks added to creamed butter and sugar.

Yokes beaten into butter/sugar mixture.

2 egg whites...

....beaten until stiff.  Well, not exactly.  I don't know if it was the heat of the kitchen, the high humidity, or if my eggs were at the wrong temperature, but the stiffness was refusing to happen.  They are thick, but not stiff.

The "thick not stiff" egg whites whipped into the mixture.

Milk and water ready.

Milk and water added.  Flour sifted in, extracts added, and all beat until smooth.

Prepared loaf pan.

 All these pretty pictures of everything just so.  Thought you might enjoy this picture of what it really looks like in the kitchen right now.........it's a mess!!

The mess!

Ready for a 350 degree oven.

After 41 minutes the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Smells heavenly!  I want to dress this up with an icing recipe the author might have used and find this one just a page turn away in the book.

Orange icing.  Sounds wonderful!  And possibly even more wonderful as a lemon flavor on this lemon/vanilla flavored cake.

Simple.

Grated lemon rind and juice of half a lemon.

One separated egg.

Sugar added.

Grated lemon rind and juice added.

Beaten until ready to spread.  Well....not really.  Again the heat of the kitchen.  But it's wonderful to taste and a nice consistency to drip over the cake.

A simple decoration.

Ready to serve.  Look at that beautiful consistency!

Oh yum!

Patrick is home, so that's cake for two!

We both take our first forkful, look into each other's eyes, and say  "Wow!".  This cake is incredible!  We have put the recipe into our files to save.  This is a keeper!

Come for a visit!

We're serving Fisher Velvet Cake!

 

Jeanette