Cakes for Valentine’s Day (1930’s).

I am keeping it sweet and simple today with some sweet and simple (and not so simple) cakes for Valentine’s Day, because nothing says love better than a cake. Or chocolate. Or champagne.

Gingerbread Hearts for Valentine’s Day.

To 1 lb. 1½ oz. flour allow 1 lb. 1½ oz. honey, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 2 tablespoons brandy or rum, ½ teaspoon each of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, all finely ground to powder.

Heat the honey in a double boiler, but do not allow It to boil; add the flour and spirits. Mix to a smooth paste. Pour out on a pastry board, sprinkle the baking powder and the spices all over, and knead thoroughly on a floured board, then roll to half inch thickness. Have ready some heart shapes in cardboard, place on the dough, and cut out with a .sharp knife. Warm a baking tin slightly, grease it, and put in the hearts, pricking them here and there with a wooden toothpick to prevent bubbles forming. Bake slowly. When finished ice the hearts first with white icing, and then drop on little quantities of red icing, shaping them into small hearts. Or if liked, tiny red hearts may be cut out of paper and pasted on the white icing with white of egg.

Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Qld.) of 13 February 1938

Cupid Cake

Beat l oz. butter to a cream and add l oz. castor sugar. Beat the mixture until it is quite smooth and creamy. Beat together 1 oz. flour, a small ½ teaspoon baking powder and a pinch of salt, Separate the white from the yolk of an egg. Add the flour and beaten egg yolk alternately to the butter and sugar, then gradually stir in 1 tablespoon milk and the grated rind of ¼ lemon and ½  orange. Beat the egg yolk to a stiff froth, fold into the mixture and pour into a heart-shaped cake tin, which has been brushed with melted butter. Bake in a fairly hot oven for 15 minutes or until the cake is light and spongy. Leave still quite cold, then cut in two crosswise. Put halves together with a layer of jelly cut to the same shape. Cover cake with icing made by mixing icing sugar with orange and lemon juice, and when set decorate with an arrow made with sliver cachous. If no heart-shaped cake tin is available, make a heart-shape in cardboard and cut cake to shape.

Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Qld.) of 13 February 1938

Saint Valentine's Cake

This is something entirely new in cakes, and is suitable for a Valentine party or a birthday party which may happen to be on the same day, February 14. The decoration of pink hearts makes it very unique.

Take 7oz. castor, sugar,  ½ lb. sugar; 6oz. flour, 6oz. ground rice, 3 eggs; 2 teaspoons baking powder, vanilla flavoring, milk. Cream butter and sugar, stir in gradually all the dry ingredients sifted together; add well whisked eggs and a little milk, mix lightly, turn into a grease-lined tinand bake in a moderate oven till cooked.

For Almond Paste: 3oz. icing sugar, 2oz. ground almonds, 1 egg yolk, vanilla flavoring, cochineal. Sift icing sugar, and mix with the ground almonds; add a few drops of vanilla, and mix the sugar and almonds to a stiff paste with a little yolk of egg and water; lastly add sufficient cochineal to make the paste a deep pink shade; work it into a smooth lump, then roll it out, and cut into small hearts with a heart-shaped cutter.

To Make the Icing.-Take 1 lb. castor sugar, 1 gill hot water, 2 egg whites, vanilla flavoring, cochineal and a pinch of cream of tartar. Put the sugar and water in a saucepan, dissolve slowly and bring to the boil; add a good pinch of cream of tartar, and without stirring boil it to 240deg. F.(sugar boiler's thermometer), or until syrup forms a soft ball .when a small quantity is dropped in cold water. When ready pour gradually on to the slightly-whisked egg whites, keeping it well stirred; add a few drops of vanilla and color a pale pink with cochineal; stir until it thickens and begins to set then pour over the cake and coat evenly. Decorate the cake with the prepared hearts at intervals round it and place the bust of a doll in the centre. The doll should be of china, have a pink bodice to match the hearts, and can be purchased at any store, the cake has then the appearance of a dressed doll.

Sunday Times (Perth, WA) 10 February 1935.