Variations on a theme of War Cake.

I have a short and simple post for you today – I was having so much fun in Sydney at the weekend that I forgot that I had forgotten to write anything for Monday.

Today’s gleanings are from several WW I recipe sources. All are for ‘war cake’ – the way that patriotic Americans to satisfy the sweet tooth while abiding by the government’s request to reduce wheat and sugar consumption.

WAR CAKE
1 cup molasses
1 cup corn sirup
1½ cups water
1 package raisins
2 tablespoons fat
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups flour
½ teaspoon soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Boil together for 5 minutes the first nine ingredients. Cool, add the sifted dry ingredients and bake in two loaves for 45 minutes in a moderate oven.
This cake should be kept several days before using. It makes about 20-25 servings. If desired 1 cup of oatmeal may be used in place of ⅞ cup of flour.
U.S Food Administration; in Daily Menus for War Service (1918), by Thetta Quay Franks.

WAR CAKE
Brown sugar, 1 cup
Water, 1 ⅓ cups
Fat, 2 tablespoons
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon, 1 teaspoon
Cloves, ½ teaspoon
Raisins, 1 cup
Citron, ¼ cup
Barley flour, 1 cup
Rye flour, 1 cup
Soda ½ teaspoon
Boil all of the ingredients, except the flour and soda, five minutes after they begin to bubble. When cold add soda and flour sifted together. Bake slowly one hour and fifteen minutes.
2 cups barley may be used instead of 1 cup barley flour and 1 cup rye flour.
Yield: 1 loaf, 8″x 5″ x 2″
United States Food Administration; pamphlet on wheatless cooking, issued May 23, 1918

WAR CAKE
2 c sugar (white or brown)
2 tbsp fat
2 c water
Boil 5 minutes. Cool and add.
3 c flour
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp clove
1 tsp salt
½ tsp soda.
Bake one hour. Two loaves.
Two hundred and seventy-five war-time recipes (1918)