Spice cake request yields close option

Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Elizabeth Covington shares this recipe in response to a request for spice cake from Kay Gurley.

“It doesn’t have ginger in it, but otherwise it matches her description pretty well, and it’s from approximately the right era,” Covington writes.

“It tastes more like a spice cake than like bar cookies.” The recipe is from Best Recipes From the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars by Ceil Dyer.

Applesauce Bars

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons salt

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon allspice

½ cup shortening

½ cup water

1 (16-ounce) jar applesauce

1 egg

½ cup chopped nuts

1 cup chopped raisins

Caramel Frosting (recipe follows)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour a 15-by-10-by-1-inch jelly-roll pan.

Sift all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add the shortening, water, applesauce and egg. Beat 4 minutes with electric mixer on medium speed. Gently fold in nuts and raisins. Pour into prepared pan and bake 30 minutes. Cool in pan. Frost cake in pan and cut into bars.

Makes about 48 bars.

Caramel Frosting

¼ cup butter or margarine

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons milk

About 1 ½ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

Melt butter, add brown sugar; boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Cool slightly.

Stir in milk. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and beat until of spreading consistency.

Toni Locke shares this rich potato dish.

“This easy meatless dish paired with a salad makes a perfect Friday night meal during Lent,” Locke writes.

Gourmet Potatoes

4 large baking potatoes

¼ cup butter

1 bunch green onions

1 ½ cups sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Microwave potatoes until tender. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

Melt butter in a large microwave-safe bowl; set aside.

Clean and slice green onions, using white and tender green parts. Add green onion to melted butter and microwave 1 minute or until softened. Peel potatoes and add to bowl. Mash lightly, leaving some chunks.

Stir in sour cream, cheese, salt and pepper. Spread mixture in 8-inch square glass baking dish and bake 30 minutes.

REQUEST

Wacky cake like the kind served in school cafeterias for Marilyn Ledbetter. “[It was] a dark chocolate cake with a seven minute-like icing. While there are recipes available for Wacky Cake which call for vinegar and chocolate, this cake was very different. It must have had extra leavening agents in it because the cake itself had lots of air pockets in it, making it a really light cake plus the top of the cake was very crisp and had a surface that had the appearance of holes where perhaps the leavening agents had caused bubbles enough to come to the top of the cake.”Send recipe requests, contributions and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; email:

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