From the Vault

Lucille Williams' "Never Fail" Cake

1/2 c cocoa powder

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c water

1/2 c butter

1 c sugar

3 egg yolks
1/2 c milk

2 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

add egg whites beaten dry

This recipe was among the hand-written cards in the metal White King Flour recipe box given to me by my grandmother on a recent visit. This box, and the other boxes and binder that came with it, are a treasure to me. Some of the recipes in the box are my grandmother's, some my great-grandmother's (my grandfather's mother). Others are from their friends, neighbors, newspapers and advertisements collected over many years.

When I volunteered to bring dessert to some friends' house for dinner today, I thought it would be fun to pull one from the vault and try it. Looking through the neatly filed cards, I thought of all of the women who had carefully written, typed, taped and glued the recipes together.

Lucille Williams' cake may have been "Never Fail" because she knew the recipe so well, or because back in the 30s or 40s or 50s or even 60s, whenever this recipe was placed in the box, everyone knew how to make a cake from scratch. The recipe consisted only of ingredients. No directions, not even an oven temperature. The only thing that was indicated (thank goodness) was that the first three ingredients should be cooked together.

I had all of the ingredients already without having to make a trip to the store, and I was intrigued to find out if the cake's name would hold true, so I guessed at the method and went for it.

Here is what I did: (Preheat oven to 325º)

1. Cook brown sugar, cocoa and water over low heat, stirring until smooth and melted

2. Cream butter and sugar, separate eggs and set aside whites, add yolks one at a time

3. Add chocolate mixture

4. Add dry ingredients (flour sifted and bp, bs and salt mixed in), alternating with milk

5. Beat egg whites until dry, fold into batter

6. I lightly sprayed and greased a 9" straight-sided cake pan and had a second at the ready.

Once filled, it didn't look like I could fill another whole cake pan, so I filled two 4" porcelain ramekins. This worked well for post-bake testing of the cake to make sure I didn't need to punt with a last-minute apple pie in case of cake failure.

7. Bake at 325º for approximately 50 minutes, or until a sharp knife comes out clean.

The cake was fairly moist, cocoa-y and not too sweet. I did feel that it needed a glaze or icing, so I chose one from the box as well, which I will post later.