According to my mother, who grew up in Iowa, Willis Norton & Co flour was pretty much all that was sold up until after World War 2. The different names 'Soothsayer', "White Loaf" and one she can't remember the name of, but had the picture of a dutch windmill as the logo weren't per-say brands as the grades of flour. White Loaf was what we'd consider bread flour, Soothsayer was cake flour and the windmill was all purpose. We have what could be generously called the 'remains' of one of these binders that has both Soothsayer and White Loaf branded pages mixed together; but the graphic on the cover is completely worn away. From the handwriting on some of the pages, we're pretty sure it originally belonged to her Aunt Wessie (poor woman) who was a school teacher and the school's cook for over 50 years and that she used the cookbook at school since several of the recipes had been reworked for much larger quantities.
There is a little information about the company on Topeka and Kansas historical society pages. Willis Norton was also associated with Inter Ocean Mills, White Loaf Flour etc. A digital copy of the cookbook is also hosted on the Internet Archive page. Glen might be able to help them out, one of their pages is partially missing (the page beginning with Amber Pie), perhaps he has the same page. Fun topic to research.
I know this as campfire cake. You premix the dry ingredients at home. We used egg, yoghurt and water for the wet, and trail mix for the nut meats (the written recipe called for sour milk and nut meats). Whip it up in a cast iron dutch oven and bake in the coals. Eat half hot just before bed and the left overs (or make two) with coffee while making breakfast. Only pull a mugs worth of dry mix for the crumb top, not half. Can make griddle cakes out of the same mix. This is a pac NW back country staple, that every old school mountaineer knew. You can sub in rehydrated applesauce and dried milk for the wet ingredients if actually backpacking.
Made the cake and learned the hard way that half the mix for the strusel topping was excessive. Tasted great though, and work colleagues loved it. More to make I guess 😂
Mrs FM Fagan then became Mrs Lillian Grimmett Davis when Mr Fagan died. Lillian lived from 1910 till 2nd Dac 2000. She was succeeded by daughters Patrica and Alice and step children. She lived for 90 years.
Oh dear....I thought I was the only one who searched for the ladies who donated their recipes to cookbooks. For one lady, I found her house for sale on Zillow. It seems her family owned it until the mid-1960s.
German Kansan here - growing up, my grandma (from Salina) would always use a loaf pan (9 and 1/2 by 5) for a similar kind of coffee cake type recipe. Shed serve a slice on a tea saucer with butter with coffee after Sunday mass with coffee
As has been noted a few times, "oh no you saved too much crumble topping." Which is another reminder of something Glen tells us on the regular. IT WILL BE FINE.
The recipe calls for saving out 1/2 CUP of the crumble mixture NOT 1/2 of the crumble mixture for the topping. I imagine that is one reason why your cake was so moist. Thanks for sharing what looks like a nice and simple cake recipe!
This sounds so much like the Cowboy Coffee Cake in the Better Homes and Gardens New cookbook from 1976, just looked it up, almost identical except baked at 375 in two 8” round cake pans.
Yes, that is what I heard. Someone told me the first thing they ever made from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook as a teenager was the Cowboy Coffee Cake! I came here to the comments to see if anyone mentioned this. Thanks for leaving this comment!
I knew immediately pecans would be involved, and I support that wholeheartedly. Love that nutmeg is part of the recipe, so will be making it. Thanks Glen, Mrs. Fagan and especially the viewer who sent it in!
Hello, here in Germany we use loaf cake pans for marble cake for example. It is not straight like a pan for bread but the bottom side is slightly smaller, so that the side looks more like a trapozoid not a square. So you can either leave the cake bottom up or have more space for toppings to put on.
Came here to tell about the cake loaf pans in the Netherlands, which are the same as you describe. It has always amazed me to see Glen bake square cakes, as I'm used to the loaf shaped ones!
Julie saying what all of us were thinking as she wonders, “does this have cowboy candy in it?” Glen going to turn this into a cowboy foods channel (and by that, I mean everything will either be called “Cowboy (Something)” and/or have cowboy candy (or a byproduct of) in it). This reminds me of the cinnamon crumble coffee cake video that came out a couple months ago. I made that and it was delicious. I wonder how this one stacks up to it.
I love how Julie pensively asked if there was Cowboy Candy in it. Honestly, that's probably not a bad idea Jules, especially if wanting to change things up, add maybe a tablespoon of the Cowboy candy liquid to the buttermilk mix and maybe a tablespoon or two of minced cowboy candy. Maybe mix in a little bit of home made bacon bits as well... Who said cake had to be all sweet.
This looks so tasty; I love this type of really simple cake with a crumble topping! Some thoughts on the cake pan conundrum: Perhaps your first guess was correct and this cake really was originally meant to be baked in a loaf tin? Here’s my thinking: Here in Germany, it’s very common for plain cakes like this to be baked in loaf tins - we call them "Kastenformen" (literally "box tin" or "chest tin"). You mentioned that many of the recipes in this book are from the Midwest, and if I’m not mistaken, the Midwest was historically one of the regions with the largest German immigrant communities. So, I wonder if using a loaf pan could be a nod to that heritage and tradition?
I love your Old Cookbook Show. I have been making a cake from a1941 cookbook that my aunt used to make. I did notice that there were no cake pan sizes. I cooked it in 2 cake pans just as my aunt did. It came out great but did have to keep an eye on it since it did cook faster than suggested
I had to look that up. Once I did, I immediately recognized what they are but I've never heard that name for them (and I don't think I grew up with a specific name for that type of notebook).
@@jppurves7837in Canada a three-ring binder has the metal rings you pull open then click shut. A duotang (which is a truly weird word) has the little metal tabs you fold up to add paper then fold open to secure the paper. Are both called the same thing (3-ring binder) where you live?
Oddly enough, reading “Cowboy Cake” immediately brought the signature tune to The Magnificent Seven to these European ears, and watching the video dispelled none of that. Cowboy cake will grace the table soon - maybe I’ll serve the coffee in tin mugs to extend the rustic feeling 🤗
Kansas baker here! Lots of local mills out here, and naturally a lot of cookbooks issued by them. I have had a version of this cake made by one of my Okie great-aunts but she made it in a bread loaf pan and it was served sliced like a quick bread. Good stuff!
I grew up in WV and one of my grandmothers sometimes made this cake. The cake bread pan that she used was the same as one currently sold on Amazon that is 10.2" x 7.5" x 2.4" and made by the MUXHEL company. It's a carbon steel pan, as hers was.
This is exactly the same cake that my mother made from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (Meredith Publishing, Des Moines, Iowa). It was a favorite, and one of the recipes that I took with me when I left home! That recipe calls for two 8" round pans, but Mom used a 9 " square. Both of these configurations are, according to the charts, 8 cups. The square pan is better for cutting smaller squares if you needed to make the cake "stretch". Elizabeth, now in Oslo, Norway
I don’t even think this is meant in this recipe, but to add to the cake pan confusion: in germany the standard cake pan, to which we just say cake pan without any further specification, is what you would call a loaf pan. :)
I was the cashier at a elementary school for many years. The ladies that cooked made Cowboy Bread fresh once I’m a while. It was very similar to your recipe and the whole school smelled heavenly while it cooked. Usual enough for about 300 servings.
Northeast MA - We would have used an 8x11 pan as the "loaf cake" pan. My mom taught me in the 70's when a recipe called for a loaf cake pan what they wanted was a shallow rectangle cake pan shaped like a tall bread loaf pan but as wide as a small cake pan.
Love watching you cook from very old books, so very informative and I love reading the comments and the lovely people researching and adding their family history. Just adds more flavour.
When I was young, they used to send newsletters that way. Extra- innings which was pre- Sabermetrics board game would send newsletters and my older brother would put them in duotangs.
In one of Glens videos he discussed a catalog/cookbook put out by a company who made bake and cookware. I wonder if that might illustrate a "cake loaf pan".
Adding the spice to the cake when there’s a streusel top, is interesting. I must say - people above the age of 50 - as I am - do find volume measurements absolutely daunting to follow lol less employ - not to mention, how they had been measured or scooped by- I.e. - for the initial recipe, shall continue to be a mystery. One could only try making it and hope for the best. Glen appears to have approved of his which should produce a bit of confidence in ourselves in trying to make it too
@@GlenAndFriendsCooking Which is very reassuring -- both that you made a mistake similar to what most of us have AND that it turned out so well anyway! I made a similar mistake after creating a spice mix using your recipe for cajun spice. I wasn't paying attention and almost put the whole mix into the dish, then suddenly realized I was supposed to put only a few teaspoons. It turned out very spicy but it was good!
I found a newspaper ad from The Arthur Graphic- Clarion 1935 from Arthur Illinois. It’s from the Stock Brothets grocery store featuring Sayers flower. It shows a drawing of a bag of flour that has a mystical looking lady in front of a crystal ball. The bottom edge of the bag indicates it’s from the Willis Norton company Topeka Kansas. I saw another ad that proudly proclaimed they use turkey wheat. I found another ad from 1937 where if you bought a certain size bag of flour, you could get a cookbook. I wish I could share photos here! Pretty consistently the flower company, sponsors, cooking demonstrations, frequently in conjunction with the “Dorcas society” 11:19
The recipe of Cowboy Coffee Cake that I remember, came from my mom's 1950's Better Homes and Gardens Red and White cookbook. The topping amount differs and there's no pecans. Sounds like they ripped it off from the cookbook you used for your video. Lol Luv, luv, luv that coffee cake!! Thank you for doing that recipe.
I enjoy your video here in Pennsylvania. The name of the recipe caught my attention. My family has a recipe for Cowboy Cookies. It is said that the cookies where carried by cowboys while out on the range. It really isn't anything like the cake. It has walnuts, raisins, chocolate chips, coconut (no kitchen sink). A popular holiday cookie.
The phrase loaf cake brings to mind a deeper pan with smaller footprint like a meatloaf pan. Amazon has this: USA Pan Bakeware Aluminized Steel Loaf Pan, 5"D x 10"W x 3"H, 1.5 Pound
On the day of unboxing I did a quick search and mentioned that it was a subscription recipe book and it looked like the company was based in Kansas. It will be fun to dig deeper.
What a cake loaf pan was from what I can remember from my grandmother on my dad's side of the family was a pan that measured 6 to 7 inches wide by 10 to 12 inches long by 4 to 5 inches tall with a flat bottom and wavy sides patterned similar to bundt cake pan my grandmother only had 2 of them and I've haven't seen many of them around of late I wish I would have snagged them up when she passed away a few years ago she would use them when she would make pineapple upside down cake.
It's easy to get buttermilk here (Germany), but would'nt be some yoghurt mixed with milk a good substitute, flavourwise? And btw: We bake cakes in what you call loafpans all the time ;)
This looks very similar to something our school caffeteria served called "cowboy bread". It wasnt quite as dark or dense as yours so I'd wager the recipe was based on something similar albeit calling for far less sugar to keep school hildren from bouncing off the walls lol
As a “soothsayer” myself I now have to find this recipe book 😂❤ First of all the Art Deco like printing is my jam and the book cover is awesome(although the Canadian word duotang is probably puzzling the non canucks) I def get FOMO sometimes when people send you cool stuff so I always go out and try to find them on my own at thrift shops and church sales but I suspect this one will be a fun find
Holy crap I see why Glen can’t find much. One listing for 88 cdn plus shipping 😢 Too steep for this single mom but there is an internet archive which has one year of rhe pages❤
Hi Glen, When you showed the recipe on the screen it said to save 1/2 cup of the butter flour mixture, not half of the total ,and that's how you've written the recipe in the notes under the recipe. Have you tried it again as written? Thanks!
Here is what I was able to find out about "loaf cake pans". Note that I had to use AI to find out even this much. The term "loaf cake pan" in 1930s recipes typically refers to a pan that combines features of both cake pans and loaf pans. It was often used for making cakes with a denser texture, like pound cakes or fruitcakes, that needed a slower bake to cook evenly. The "loaf cake pan" was similar to modern loaf pans in shape-rectangular, deeper than a standard cake pan, but slightly wider than typical bread loaf pans to accommodate a more cake-like batter. Common dimensions for these pans were around 9 to 10 inches in length, 6 to 7 inches in width, and 3 inches in height. This design allowed for a balance between the slow baking needed for denser cake textures and the shape that lent itself to easy slicing, like a loaf.
re loaf cake pan.. my mom had oddball pans that might qualify. They were as tall as a loaf pan but square. There were 3 of them, different sizes. She used them to make wedding cakes and would slice them in half for fillings. They were relatively small.. I want to guess 6 - 8 and 10 inches.. maybe 6 - 10 and 12.
Around a quarter of the total mass of that cake as raw ingredients is the brown sugar. Yowza! Back in the day, i would have inhaled that, but not now. Just a small slice with a cup of coffee of hot tea. Or maybe make it to have straight out of the oven with vanilla ice cream as a dessert.
Yeah a lot of people have said the same. This recipe predates the BHG by almost 30 years and I can trace it back almost another 40 to an even earlier cookbook
I live in a fairly large city in the middle of Missouri and I can’t ever find full fat buttermilk! I’ve been looking for years, every time I go to the stores! ALL the stores including all the natural food stores!!!
Originally milk was churned to split into butter/fat & remainder was buttermilk (watery liquid with the odd escaped fat globule). Today’s buttermilk is cultured skim milk.
Is it possible the "loaf cake pan" is just a misnomer? Or perhaps it is a supposed to be a metal tin type pan as opposed to a ceramic type? A 9.5 loaf pan can hold quite a bit. I very much enjoy these old cookbook recipes.
It appears that Soothsayer was one of three flour brands produced by the Willis, Norton Co., of Wichita, KS. There's currently (10/27/24) an eBay listing for a vintage mechanical pencil with these names printed on the sides.
Someone else commented that they weren't so much brands as flour grades. I think he said White was bread flour, Soothsayer was cake flour (which makes sense for cake recipes) and the other was general purpose.
For another interesting thing about "loaf cake pans", Rumford's Common Sense Cookbook, page 31, in the Maple Syrup Cake, calls for a "loaf cake pan, preferably of the tube variety" which I'm even more baffled by.
The acid in the buttermilk (soured milk) also helps boost the baking soda and powder. I'm super-curious about the Orange Cake in that cookbook that calls for grinding a whole orange "peel and all" which makes me wonder whether there's an assumption that the pith would be removed from the peel.
I have the White Loaf flour Duo Tang. I checked every recipe and no cowboy cake. I was a little disappointed, I have always wondered if the same recipes ended up in both subscriptions. They both are published by Willis Norton & Co. They both have the same Duo Tang, and they even have the same logo "Bakes Everything Right". I appreciate the comments about each name is a different flour type but from the same company. It is very good information, with all that said I have always appreciated my White Loaf Flour subscription book. I do not know who put the effort and money into making the collection, but as I looked through it again, it has always felt like a piece of history. Subscriptions are not done like this anymore. Printing off paper with a few illustrations then typing over it with a typewriter. The red ink required another ribbon, and at times the page is slanted, or the type is not in a perfect straight line, some letters are taller or bolder than the rest. We just don't see publications like that anymore. You had to cut the stamp off the bag of flour, get your envelope ready, find your penny for post, go down to the post office visit with Sue Anne for 45 minutes, and finally send off your subscription.
Also there is a "Vintage" loaf cake pan for sale on an action site ... it is 12.75 x 8 but I'm still not sure that would be big enough for this recipe.
A loaf cake is smaller than a bread loaf, but the shape of the pan is similar but smaller. You can even buy aluminum versions, at least at my Safeway in Calgary.
I think that the baking time is an indication for the pan suggested. Longer baking time makes me guess that it’s a smaller pan with higher edges like a loaf. Edit: Read the comment about the amount of crumble and it makes sense now since 1/2 a cup is just enough to cover a loaf. Bit as Glen says: “It doesn’t matter, it will be fine.”
Is that a different mixer paddle attachment than you normally use? I want to buy one that has the scrapers on the ends and was thinking about the one a viewer sent in to promote their company. Couldn't remember the name.
I’m using the paddle that came with the mixer - nothing wrong with the paddle I was sent by the other company, it works way better than the KitchenAid model. I just haven’t been able to work out a deal with manufacturer of that other paddle. I feel like they’ve used my good will to profit. *Edited to correct auto correct
@@GlenAndFriendsCooking That's a shame. Seems to me that it would really benefit them to work with you. I keep thinking about buying a KitchenAid stand mixer (likely used) and would definitely get the other company's paddle based on your rec.
Given the time period and the fact that it's from West Virginia, I'm going to guess that that was very much a holiday and special occasion cake. I'm kind of having flashbacks to my family's farm in Appalachia on that one
According to my mother, who grew up in Iowa, Willis Norton & Co flour was pretty much all that was sold up until after World War 2. The different names 'Soothsayer', "White Loaf" and one she can't remember the name of, but had the picture of a dutch windmill as the logo weren't per-say brands as the grades of flour. White Loaf was what we'd consider bread flour, Soothsayer was cake flour and the windmill was all purpose. We have what could be generously called the 'remains' of one of these binders that has both Soothsayer and White Loaf branded pages mixed together; but the graphic on the cover is completely worn away. From the handwriting on some of the pages, we're pretty sure it originally belonged to her Aunt Wessie (poor woman) who was a school teacher and the school's cook for over 50 years and that she used the cookbook at school since several of the recipes had been reworked for much larger quantities.
Thank you for sharing, it answers a few questions I've always had.
There is a little information about the company on Topeka and Kansas historical society pages. Willis Norton was also associated with Inter Ocean Mills, White Loaf Flour etc. A digital copy of the cookbook is also hosted on the Internet Archive page. Glen might be able to help them out, one of their pages is partially missing (the page beginning with Amber Pie), perhaps he has the same page. Fun topic to research.
Thank you for your research, just downloaded me a copy. 😀
Thanks for sharing this information! ❤
❤
What is the website?
@@debrachewning1311 just google the company name and cookbook.
I know this as campfire cake. You premix the dry ingredients at home. We used egg, yoghurt and water for the wet, and trail mix for the nut meats (the written recipe called for sour milk and nut meats). Whip it up in a cast iron dutch oven and bake in the coals. Eat half hot just before bed and the left overs (or make two) with coffee while making breakfast.
Only pull a mugs worth of dry mix for the crumb top, not half.
Can make griddle cakes out of the same mix.
This is a pac NW back country staple, that every old school mountaineer knew. You can sub in rehydrated applesauce and dried milk for the wet ingredients if actually backpacking.
Interesting
I have also had nice results from using yogurt in baking and have had to add in some water to get the right "crumb". it definitely adds more flavor
Made the cake and learned the hard way that half the mix for the strusel topping was excessive. Tasted great though, and work colleagues loved it. More to make I guess 😂
Mrs FM Fagan then became Mrs Lillian Grimmett Davis when Mr Fagan died. Lillian lived from 1910 till 2nd Dac 2000. She was succeeded by daughters Patrica and Alice and step children. She lived for 90 years.
But who was the cowboy?
Oh dear....I thought I was the only one who searched for the ladies who donated their recipes to cookbooks. For one lady, I found her house for sale on Zillow. It seems her family owned it until the mid-1960s.
Wow -- that's amazing! Is there a way you know you've gotten the correct FM Fagan?
German Kansan here - growing up, my grandma (from Salina) would always use a loaf pan (9 and 1/2 by 5) for a similar kind of coffee cake type recipe. Shed serve a slice on a tea saucer with butter with coffee after Sunday mass with coffee
I expect with that size of loaf tin you'd need to cook it for the prescribed 45 minutes, too
As has been noted a few times, "oh no you saved too much crumble topping."
Which is another reminder of something Glen tells us on the regular. IT WILL BE FINE.
I hope Glen writes a cookbook book at some point, he's compiled so much history on different kinds of cook books I would love to read more.
A book of methods 😊
"Methods" actually would be a great name. I'd buy it
A book of everything 😊
The recipe calls for saving out 1/2 CUP of the crumble mixture NOT 1/2 of the crumble mixture for the topping. I imagine that is one reason why your cake was so moist. Thanks for sharing what looks like a nice and simple cake recipe!
After adding much of the reserved crumb back to the mixer I was left with about 1 cup of crumb for the topping. I’d probably do it this way again.
This sounds so much like the Cowboy Coffee Cake in the Better Homes and Gardens New cookbook from 1976, just looked it up, almost identical except baked at 375 in two 8” round cake pans.
Yes, that is what I heard. Someone told me the first thing they ever made from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook as a teenager was the Cowboy Coffee Cake! I came here to the comments to see if anyone mentioned this. Thanks for leaving this comment!
So it produces two cakes or are they supposed to be layers?
@@TamarLitvot 2 separate cakes.
My 1973 version has it also. It calls for sour milk, not buttermilk and no nuts. May try making it again with nuts.
I love that recipe. I’ve been making it for 50 years and it’s great every time.
I agree Glen, you can never have too much crumble or too moist a cake.
I knew this from the old Cowboy Coffee cake from Better Homes and Gardens. I took have the 1976 edition but it is in my mom’s 1952 edition too. Yum!
That cookbook looks like it has a recipe for summoning the undead on the page next to the recipe for coffee cake 😂
I knew immediately pecans would be involved, and I support that wholeheartedly. Love that nutmeg is part of the recipe, so will be making it. Thanks Glen, Mrs. Fagan and especially the viewer who sent it in!
Agree! I love pecans!
Hello, here in Germany we use loaf cake pans for marble cake for example. It is not straight like a pan for bread but the bottom side is slightly smaller, so that the side looks more like a trapozoid not a square. So you can either leave the cake bottom up or have more space for toppings to put on.
Came here to tell about the cake loaf pans in the Netherlands, which are the same as you describe. It has always amazed me to see Glen bake square cakes, as I'm used to the loaf shaped ones!
Julie saying what all of us were thinking as she wonders, “does this have cowboy candy in it?”
Glen going to turn this into a cowboy foods channel (and by that, I mean everything will either be called “Cowboy (Something)” and/or have cowboy candy (or a byproduct of) in it).
This reminds me of the cinnamon crumble coffee cake video that came out a couple months ago. I made that and it was delicious. I wonder how this one stacks up to it.
I love how Julie pensively asked if there was Cowboy Candy in it. Honestly, that's probably not a bad idea Jules, especially if wanting to change things up, add maybe a tablespoon of the Cowboy candy liquid to the buttermilk mix and maybe a tablespoon or two of minced cowboy candy. Maybe mix in a little bit of home made bacon bits as well... Who said cake had to be all sweet.
Bacon, what a great idea, sweet and savory, you make me drool
Julie’s question was the first thought I had when I saw the title of this 🙂
oh yeah!
No.
That is quite the ominous looking cookbook. Like a witch's grimoire.
Oh god, now that you've said it, I'm imagining my character in Final Fantasy 14 wielding it as a Scholar.
This looks so tasty; I love this type of really simple cake with a crumble topping!
Some thoughts on the cake pan conundrum: Perhaps your first guess was correct and this cake really was originally meant to be baked in a loaf tin? Here’s my thinking: Here in Germany, it’s very common for plain cakes like this to be baked in loaf tins - we call them "Kastenformen" (literally "box tin" or "chest tin"). You mentioned that many of the recipes in this book are from the Midwest, and if I’m not mistaken, the Midwest was historically one of the regions with the largest German immigrant communities. So, I wonder if using a loaf pan could be a nod to that heritage and tradition?
Could be - but volume wise this cake would fill 3 of my largest loaf tins.
I love your Old Cookbook Show.
I have been making a cake from a1941 cookbook that my aunt used to make. I did notice that there were no cake pan sizes. I cooked it in 2 cake pans just as my aunt did. It came out great but did have to keep an eye on it since it did cook faster than suggested
Thanks Glen! People watching will help fill in gaps.
lol duotang ... how canadian -- love it
I am of a similar age as Glen, but was educated in New York and Florida. I knew immediately to what he referred! 😂
I never heard of this. Most strange
I had to look that up. Once I did, I immediately recognized what they are but I've never heard that name for them (and I don't think I grew up with a specific name for that type of notebook).
I figured it must be a Canadian name for that kind of notebook. I"m from the western U.S. and would call it a 3-ring binder.
@@jppurves7837in Canada a three-ring binder has the metal rings you pull open then click shut.
A duotang (which is a truly weird word) has the little metal tabs you fold up to add paper then fold open to secure the paper.
Are both called the same thing (3-ring binder) where you live?
Very interesting recipe, my reflex would be to cut on the sugar, at least by half a cup ? Having nutmeg there sounds awesome !
Glen, good morning! Love the show! I found an archived copy of Southsayer flour recipes on line at internet archive? Great find!
Oddly enough, reading “Cowboy Cake” immediately brought the signature tune to The Magnificent Seven to these European ears, and watching the video dispelled none of that. Cowboy cake will grace the table soon - maybe I’ll serve the coffee in tin mugs to extend the rustic feeling 🤗
😄
Saving this one, definitely a coffee or brunch cake
Thanks Julie, now I want cornbread with cowboy candy!
Kansas baker here! Lots of local mills out here, and naturally a lot of cookbooks issued by them. I have had a version of this cake made by one of my Okie great-aunts but she made it in a bread loaf pan and it was served sliced like a quick bread. Good stuff!
Just seeing the title and thumbnail makes me want to see Cowboy Kent Rollins make this in his outdoor kitchen. 🤠
Cowboy cake or not, it sure looks more like a coffee cake type that would be very good with a cup of coffee or tea midmorning snack.
Yeah, I'm not a huge tea drinker, but looking at that? I downright crave a cup of good tea and a piece of that cake lol
I grew up in WV and one of my grandmothers sometimes made this cake. The cake bread pan that she used was the same as one currently sold on Amazon that is 10.2" x 7.5" x 2.4" and made by the MUXHEL company. It's a carbon steel pan, as hers was.
This is exactly the same cake that my mother made from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (Meredith Publishing, Des Moines, Iowa). It was a favorite, and one of the recipes that I took with me when I left home! That recipe calls for two 8" round pans, but Mom used a 9 " square. Both of these configurations are, according to the charts, 8 cups. The square pan is better for cutting smaller squares if you needed to make the cake "stretch".
Elizabeth, now in Oslo, Norway
Interesting cookbook. Nice addition to your collection.
I don’t even think this is meant in this recipe, but to add to the cake pan confusion: in germany the standard cake pan, to which we just say cake pan without any further specification, is what you would call a loaf pan. :)
I was the cashier at a elementary school for many years. The ladies that cooked made Cowboy Bread fresh once I’m a while. It was very similar to your recipe and the whole school smelled heavenly while it cooked. Usual enough for about 300 servings.
Northeast MA - We would have used an 8x11 pan as the "loaf cake" pan. My mom taught me in the 70's when a recipe called for a loaf cake pan what they wanted was a shallow rectangle cake pan shaped like a tall bread loaf pan but as wide as a small cake pan.
Hunh, I know loaf pan as the bread loaf pan. about 9" long x 5" wide x 4 or 5 tall. From New England.
Julie asked the question I wondered right away!
Looks tasty, thanks for sharing! Love such old 'simple' recipes.
Love watching you cook from very old books, so very informative and I love reading the comments and the lovely people researching and adding their family history. Just adds more flavour.
When I was young, they used to send newsletters that way. Extra- innings which was pre- Sabermetrics board game would send newsletters and my older brother would put them in duotangs.
Glen, loaf cake pan brings to mind something used to make a pound cake.
A nice, simple coffee cake. Looks delicious!
Make that with your maple sugar. I bet that would be amazing. I'd put some chocolate chips on top as well.
Sounds like a delicious recipe all around!
Thanks for the "fleur de lys" friend!!
I can't help but think that with a cooking time of 45 minutes, they might mean a loaf pan, the sort one uses for quick breads.
In one of Glens videos he discussed a catalog/cookbook put out by a company who made bake and cookware. I wonder if that might illustrate a "cake loaf pan".
That was my thought as well. He does say on answer to another comment that volume-wise it would have been enough batter for three pans.
Looks like you picked the right size pan to bake it in.
I have to try this recipe ! Great video glen ⭐
What a pretty cake! It looks good, I might have to try this one. It seems like a coffee cake.
wow cool we used to get that minus the nuts with our chili at school! 😮
Without checking the recipe box, this reminds me of our Shoofly Cake.
Adding the spice to the cake when there’s a streusel top, is interesting. I must say - people above the age of 50 - as I am - do find volume measurements absolutely daunting to follow lol less employ - not to mention, how they had been measured or scooped by- I.e. - for the initial recipe, shall continue to be a mystery. One could only try making it and hope for the best. Glen appears to have approved of his which should produce a bit of confidence in ourselves in trying to make it too
I even mis-read the recipe and messed it up… but the cake was still excellent.
Volume measurements are quick and convenient when precision isn't important. "It'll be fine" is an unofficial motto of this show for a good reason.
@@GlenAndFriendsCooking Which is very reassuring -- both that you made a mistake similar to what most of us have AND that it turned out so well anyway! I made a similar mistake after creating a spice mix using your recipe for cajun spice. I wasn't paying attention and almost put the whole mix into the dish, then suddenly realized I was supposed to put only a few teaspoons. It turned out very spicy but it was good!
Less shugar, more (wal)nuts and it's perfect.
Thanks for the vid.
Cowboy Cake; not to be confused with Cowboy Candy. 😀
I found a newspaper ad from The Arthur Graphic- Clarion 1935 from Arthur Illinois. It’s from the Stock Brothets grocery store featuring Sayers flower. It shows a drawing of a bag of flour that has a mystical looking lady in front of a crystal ball. The bottom edge of the bag indicates it’s from the Willis Norton company Topeka Kansas. I saw another ad that proudly proclaimed they use turkey wheat. I found another ad from 1937 where if you bought a certain size bag of flour, you could get a cookbook. I wish I could share photos here! Pretty consistently the flower company, sponsors, cooking demonstrations, frequently in conjunction with the “Dorcas society” 11:19
That was fun! Thank you!
The recipe of Cowboy Coffee Cake that I remember, came from my mom's 1950's Better Homes and Gardens Red and White cookbook. The topping amount differs and there's no pecans. Sounds like they ripped it off from the cookbook you used for your video. Lol
Luv, luv, luv that coffee cake!! Thank you for doing that recipe.
I enjoy your video here in Pennsylvania. The name of the recipe caught my attention. My family has a recipe for Cowboy Cookies. It is said that the cookies where carried by cowboys while out on the range. It really isn't anything like the cake. It has walnuts, raisins, chocolate chips, coconut (no kitchen sink). A popular holiday cookie.
Definitely trying that one!
The phrase loaf cake brings to mind a deeper pan with smaller footprint like a meatloaf pan.
Amazon has this: USA Pan Bakeware Aluminized Steel Loaf Pan, 5"D x 10"W x 3"H, 1.5 Pound
This recipe would fill 3 of those pans, which makes me think they are asking for something else.
As my great great granddaddy, Buckaroo Baxter used to say, "Yeehaaa!"😉
I feel like a loaf cake pan is those ling pans you often see pound cakes cooked in. They sometimes are a bit shorter than loaf pans.
On the day of unboxing I did a quick search and mentioned that it was a subscription recipe book and it looked like the company was based in Kansas. It will be fun to dig deeper.
Maybe you can find a loaf cake pan in an old Sears Roebuck catalog. Good luck.
"Cowboy candy?"😂
When I saw the title, I assumed that he Cowboy Candy was going to show up again.
Essentially pickled jalapeno slices.
@@Kinkajou1015sweet pickled. Thus, candy 😂
Love the hat!
What a cake loaf pan was from what I can remember from my grandmother on my dad's side of the family was a pan that measured 6 to 7 inches wide by 10 to 12 inches long by 4 to 5 inches tall with a flat bottom and wavy sides patterned similar to bundt cake pan my grandmother only had 2 of them and I've haven't seen many of them around of late I wish I would have snagged them up when she passed away a few years ago she would use them when she would make pineapple upside down cake.
I know there are a lot of 8x12 enamel pans, at least here in Australia in antique shops.
It's easy to get buttermilk here (Germany), but would'nt be some yoghurt mixed with milk a good substitute, flavourwise? And btw: We bake cakes in what you call loafpans all the time ;)
Yes - perfect substitute. Another great substitute is Kefir.
If in Germany you back in loaf pans what is that size
@@maureenhargrave3568 typical would be 30cm length, 10 cm width, 8 cm height
Yes, I always have plain yogurt on hand, and used it all the time in place of buttermilk. Sour cream works well, too.
You could have mixed in some cowboy candy. 😂
There is a shortcut recipe using Bisquik's buttermilk baking mix. Should be on the back of the box. My dad made it frequently.
This looks very similar to something our school caffeteria served called "cowboy bread". It wasnt quite as dark or dense as yours so I'd wager the recipe was based on something similar albeit calling for far less sugar to keep school hildren from bouncing off the walls lol
As a “soothsayer” myself I now have to find this recipe book 😂❤ First of all the Art Deco like printing is my jam and the book cover is awesome(although the Canadian word duotang is probably puzzling the non canucks) I def get FOMO sometimes when people send you cool stuff so I always go out and try to find them on my own at thrift shops and church sales but I suspect this one will be a fun find
Holy crap I see why Glen can’t find much. One listing for 88 cdn plus shipping 😢 Too steep for this single mom but there is an internet archive which has one year of rhe pages❤
@@MamaStylesIf it doesn’t sell, the price may come down or be open to offers.
Duo-Tang was the manufacturer in Chicago, now part of Esselte. It's probably not used as a generic name much in the US anymore though.
Hi Glen, When you showed the recipe on the screen it said to save 1/2 cup of the butter flour mixture, not half of the total ,and that's how you've written the recipe in the notes under the recipe. Have you tried it again as written? Thanks!
I completely misread the recipe, but the cake turned out great in the end.
@@GlenAndFriendsCooking Like oneof your Canadian Forces hats says "We shall not fail or falter" Carry On Mr. Glen
It looks yummy
Here is what I was able to find out about "loaf cake pans". Note that I had to use AI to find out even this much. The term "loaf cake pan" in 1930s recipes typically refers to a pan that combines features of both cake pans and loaf pans. It was often used for making cakes with a denser texture, like pound cakes or fruitcakes, that needed a slower bake to cook evenly.
The "loaf cake pan" was similar to modern loaf pans in shape-rectangular, deeper than a standard cake pan, but slightly wider than typical bread loaf pans to accommodate a more cake-like batter. Common dimensions for these pans were around 9 to 10 inches in length, 6 to 7 inches in width, and 3 inches in height. This design allowed for a balance between the slow baking needed for denser cake textures and the shape that lent itself to easy slicing, like a loaf.
re loaf cake pan.. my mom had oddball pans that might qualify.
They were as tall as a loaf pan but square.
There were 3 of them, different sizes. She used them to make wedding cakes and would slice them in half for fillings.
They were relatively small.. I want to guess 6 - 8 and 10 inches.. maybe 6 - 10 and 12.
With a bit of research you could create a conversion from cups of flour to pan size.
Around a quarter of the total mass of that cake as raw ingredients is the brown sugar. Yowza! Back in the day, i would have inhaled that, but not now.
Just a small slice with a cup of coffee of hot tea. Or maybe make it to have straight out of the oven with vanilla ice cream as a dessert.
I can’t believe you made any video entitled “Cowboy X” and didn’t use your Cowboy Candy! 😂
In England we often cook loaf cakes in your standard 9x5 loaf tin
Cowboy Coffee Cake recipe from an old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Been making this for years.
Yeah a lot of people have said the same. This recipe predates the BHG by almost 30 years and I can trace it back almost another 40 to an even earlier cookbook
I live in a fairly large city in the middle of Missouri and I can’t ever find full fat buttermilk! I’ve been looking for years, every time I go to the stores! ALL the stores including all the natural food stores!!!
Originally milk was churned to split into butter/fat & remainder was buttermilk (watery liquid with the odd escaped fat globule). Today’s buttermilk is cultured skim milk.
Is it possible the "loaf cake pan" is just a misnomer? Or perhaps it is a supposed to be a metal tin type pan as opposed to a ceramic type? A 9.5 loaf pan can hold quite a bit. I very much enjoy these old cookbook recipes.
It appears that Soothsayer was one of three flour brands produced by the Willis, Norton Co., of Wichita, KS. There's currently (10/27/24) an eBay listing for a vintage mechanical pencil with these names printed on the sides.
Someone else commented that they weren't so much brands as flour grades. I think he said White was bread flour, Soothsayer was cake flour (which makes sense for cake recipes) and the other was general purpose.
Yah...double check on that Cowboy candy addition....
For another interesting thing about "loaf cake pans", Rumford's Common Sense Cookbook, page 31, in the Maple Syrup Cake, calls for a "loaf cake pan, preferably of the tube variety" which I'm even more baffled by.
The acid in the buttermilk (soured milk) also helps boost the baking soda and powder. I'm super-curious about the Orange Cake in that cookbook that calls for grinding a whole orange "peel and all" which makes me wonder whether there's an assumption that the pith would be removed from the peel.
The wife ALWAYS makes her banana, zucchini, cinnamon apple, cranberry "Cakes" in my bread loaf pans 4*8
How do you feel about powdered buttermilk?
Works fine, has all the flavour. When we lived in the North and didn’t have access to a lot of things, I used it all the time.
At school we had this, no nuts tho, as a desert.
Looks super good and EASY! I'm 100% going to try this. I wonder if it would turn out good using GF flour?
You're over thinking it. They meant a loaf pan. Two of them probably or vintage ones were larger.
I have the White Loaf flour Duo Tang. I checked every recipe and no cowboy cake. I was a little disappointed, I have always wondered if the same recipes ended up in both subscriptions. They both are published by Willis Norton & Co. They both have the same Duo Tang, and they even have the same logo "Bakes Everything Right".
I appreciate the comments about each name is a different flour type but from the same company. It is very good information, with all that said I have always appreciated my White Loaf Flour subscription book. I do not know who put the effort and money into making the collection, but as I looked through it again, it has always felt like a piece of history.
Subscriptions are not done like this anymore. Printing off paper with a few illustrations then typing over it with a typewriter. The red ink required another ribbon, and at times the page is slanted, or the type is not in a perfect straight line, some letters are taller or bolder than the rest. We just don't see publications like that anymore.
You had to cut the stamp off the bag of flour, get your envelope ready, find your penny for post, go down to the post office visit with Sue Anne for 45 minutes, and finally send off your subscription.
Also there is a "Vintage" loaf cake pan for sale on an action site ... it is 12.75 x 8 but I'm still not sure that would be big enough for this recipe.
I would think that a cake loaf pan is a bunt pan
Interesting- never heard it called that. The cake would definitely fit in a Bundt pan, but then the crumble would be upside down when serving.
A loaf cake is smaller than a bread loaf, but the shape of the pan is similar but smaller. You can even buy aluminum versions, at least at my Safeway in Calgary.
I guess where I run into a brick wall is this recipe would fill multiples of those loaf tins - yet the recipe clearly says one pan?
I think that the baking time is an indication for the pan suggested. Longer baking time makes me guess that it’s a smaller pan with higher edges like a loaf.
Edit: Read the comment about the amount of crumble and it makes sense now since 1/2 a cup is just enough to cover a loaf. Bit as Glen says: “It doesn’t matter, it will be fine.”
That book looks haunted
Is that a different mixer paddle attachment than you normally use? I want to buy one that has the scrapers on the ends and was thinking about the one a viewer sent in to promote their company. Couldn't remember the name.
I also noticed
Same. Curious about the change.
I’m using the paddle that came with the mixer - nothing wrong with the paddle I was sent by the other company, it works way better than the KitchenAid model. I just haven’t been able to work out a deal with manufacturer of that other paddle. I feel like they’ve used my good will to profit. *Edited to correct auto correct
@@GlenAndFriendsCooking That's a shame. Seems to me that it would really benefit them to work with you. I keep thinking about buying a KitchenAid stand mixer (likely used) and would definitely get the other company's paddle based on your rec.
Given the time period and the fact that it's from West Virginia, I'm going to guess that that was very much a holiday and special occasion cake. I'm kind of having flashbacks to my family's farm in Appalachia on that one