Tag Archives: cake

Snow Whirl Chocolate Roll from the 1930s

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By Ariane Gauthier

Alberta Sugar Makes Delicious Things to Eat is a booklet created by Canadian Sugar Factories some time in the 1930s to promote its production of “pure” Alberta beet sugar. This sugar is refined from thousands of sugar beet farms in the province, and the booklet includes a two-page exposé on the nuances of this farming culture. A great emphasis is put on what was then the most modern of mass-farming technology, likely to legitimize sugar beet farming, which was new and in fierce competition with the very popular (and largely preferred) cane sugar.

Booklet cover with image of a woman pouring sugar in a spoon over a pot. Three mason jars surround the pot on a counter and a bag of sugar is at the front of the image.

The booklet cover of Alberta Sugar Makes Delicious Things to Eat. (OCLC 1007785982)

This booklet is available in Library and Archives Canada’s published collections catalogue Aurora: OCLC 1007785982.

While the history of sugar in Alberta is quite interesting, what attracted me to this booklet was the historical context surrounding the publication of this book: the Great Depression. The booklet mentions that Canadian Sugar Factories started business in 1925, which means they only had about five years before the economic collapse derailed production and profitability. Perhaps this is why there is such a sense of desperation or defensiveness in dispelling misconceptions surrounding beet sugar at the end of its biographical exposé:

Page of booklet with seven points explaining why “beet sugar is the same as cane sugar” and two drawings of a train and a factory.

The cropped second page of The Story of Alberta Sugar, specifically the subsection “Beet sugar is the same as cane sugar,” from the booklet Alberta Sugar Makes Delicious Things to Eat. This is the note on which this corporate “biography” leaves the reader. Notice how points 1, 3, 4 and 7 essentially argue the same thing: that it is impossible to distinguish beet sugar from other types of sugar. (OCLC 1007785982)

Like many cookbooks published during the Great Depression, the recipes have an important emphasis on affordability and longevity: food had to be cheap, and it had to last. However, with this booklet emphasizing Alberta sugar, most of the recipes reflect sweets and pastries, which are decidedly neither of those things.

Nevertheless, I chose this booklet for its aesthetics and because the snow whirl chocolate roll recipe seemed tasty!

The image lists the ingredients and steps to follow for the snow whirl chocolate roll recipe.

The recipe for the snow whirl chocolate roll from Alberta Sugar Makes Delicious Things to Eat. Remarkably, it lists the oven temperature and cooking duration! (OCLC 1007785982)

As I flipped through the pages of the booklet, I noticed there was a section on frosting and icing. In keeping with the spirit of vintage cooking, I decided to pick one of each to pair with the cake: I chose the mountain cream icing for the filling and the fudge frosting for the exterior.

A blue outline indicates the mountain cream icing and fudge frosting recipes that were used for the snow whirl chocolate roll.

Frostings and Icings page from Alberta Sugar Makes Delicious Things to Eat. (OCLC 1007785982)

In both instances I was pleasantly surprised by the number of details that would guide the recipes I planned to undertake. Not only was I given oven temperatures, I was also given cooking times! The only thing I was truly missing was a Fahrenheit or Celsius indication of the “soft-ball” stage, but my handy-dandy candy thermometer filled in the blanks (the answer is about 240 ⁰F or 115 ⁰C). I was then off to the races!

I started by gathering all my ingredients.

Three side-by-side photos of the ingredients from all three recipes, including sugar, flour, cocoa, eggs, milk, etc.

All the required ingredients for the snow whirl chocolate roll (image on the left), the fudge frosting (image in the middle) and the mountain cream icing (image on the right). Photo credit: Ariane Gauthier.

I decided to begin with the snow whirl chocolate roll as it required time to cool down, during which time I would work on the frosting and icing. The first step was sifting all dry ingredients thrice. After, I separated the egg yolks and whites, whipping the whites into soft peaks. Here’s where I went a little rogue: rather than fold the sugar into the egg whites after whipping, I incorporated it during whipping, as this helps to give them more volume.

Four photos of the steps to follow to make the snow whirl chocolate roll.

I carefully cracked all four eggs and used the eggshells to separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Once this was done, I used an electric beater to whip the egg whites with the sugar until it formed soft peaks. Photo credit: Dylan Roy.

I then made a little mistake: I mixed the egg yolks and vanilla with the dry ingredients rather than the egg white mixture. This ultimately negated the sifting of the dry ingredients, but here’s how I fixed it: I added about half of the egg white mixture and mixed it all together vigorously until no clumps remained. What this effectively did was somewhat defeat the whole point of whipping the egg whites, which was to have an airy and light cake mixture. However, since I only used some of the egg white mixture, I was able to gently fold in what remained and maintain some of the lightness I had previously built.

Six side-by-side photos of all the ingredients being incorporated into a bowl to make a snow whirl chocolate roll.

Negating the whole point of sifting the dry ingredients by prematurely mixing in some of the wet ingredients. The steps in order from left to right of how I mixed the dry and wet ingredients together. The last two images show how I salvaged the mix: I used half of the egg white mixture and vigorously mixed it with the dry ingredients until no clumps remained, and then I gently folded in what remained. Photo credit: Ariane Gauthier.

Once this step is done, a cooking sheet with edges is required to cook the cake. This may appear a little thin at first, but you must remember that the cake will eventually be rolled. And so off it went into a 400 ⁰F oven for 13 minutes. Now, it was time for filling and garnish!

Every vintage cooking recipe is a new experience where I’ve at least done one thing I’ve never done before. In this case, I’d never used a candy thermometer, despite owning one for many years. It’s complex and stressful, but in times like these it’s best to just trust the process and believe that Canadian Sugar Factories knew what it was doing in the 1930s!

Two side-by-side images of a thermometer being used while making the mountain cream icing and the fudge frosting. A third image shows the fudge frosting being mixed with a whisk.

Using a candy thermometer to make mountain cream icing and fudge frosting. The candy thermometer had to be held in both instances as the end could not touch the bottom of the pan; otherwise, it would provide a false reading of the temperature. In both cases, the steam produced by both mixtures obscured the reading of the thermometer, making what was already a difficult step even harder. Photo credit: Dylan Roy.

I regret to say that I didn’t do great with the mountain cream icing. I’m unsure whether I pulled it from the heat too early or if I simply let too much water evaporate, but I was ultimately left with a dry and crumbly icing that did not spread well. However, it did taste fairly good on its own.

Comparatively, the fudge frosting fared much better, as I had learned from my mistakes. Though I admit to having been unpleasantly surprised with two unlisted ingredients: butter and vanilla. I advise that any who attempt this recipe have both measured and on hand.

Thirteen minutes later, the cake sheet was ready. Here, again, I must admit to having strayed from the instructions. I’ve made Yule logs before for the holidays and the instructions are very clear: immediately roll the cake sheet tightly in a clean dish cloth sprinkled with powdered sugar and wait for it to cool. Do not add your frosting immediately as the heat of the cake will cause it to melt. You will be left with a gooey mess! I heeded my previous experience and waited for the cake to cool down before frosting.

Seven photos of the steps to roll the cake, add the icing and add the frosting.

Cake rolling and cake frosting. Rolling the cake is easier than one might think; the challenge is knowing how long to let it cool down. While I let it get a tad too dry, the beauty of frosting is that it hides the cracks! Photo credit: Dylan Roy.

The trick with these kinds of cakes is that they have to cool enough to not melt the icing but not so much that they dry out. Unfortunately for me, I waited a little too long, and the cake cracked when I unrolled it. I was able to smear some icing to patch the cracks and was fortunately able to cover the rest up with the fudge frosting. As we say in French: ni vu, ni connu (literally: unseen, unknown)!

Two side-by-side photos of a cross-section of the snow whirl chocolate roll.

Cross-section of the snow whirl chocolate roll cake. As you can see, I didn’t quite have enough icing to fill out the inside completely. Photo credit: Ariane Gauthier.

What do you think?

The cake, icing and frosting were delicious! I brought it into the office and my colleagues were pleasantly surprised. Everyone was more or less in agreement that the best part was the fudge frosting—it could almost have been a dessert on its own!

If you try this recipe, please share pictures of your results with us using the hashtag #CookingWithLAC and tagging our social media: Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube, Flickr and LinkedIn.

For more content on historical cooking, please consider the following links:

Ariane Gauthier is a Reference Archivist in the Access and Services Branch at Library and Archives Canada.

Dutch Apple Cake from 1943

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Cooking with Library and Archives Canada bannerBy Ariane Gauthier

The Cook’s Recipe Manual is a collection of 300 recipes designed for military personnel who were part of the navy, army, air force munitions plants, camps, and schools. Printed in 1943, the goal of this cookbook was to make the most of army rations through simple recipes. Each recipe makes 100 or 125 servings, taking care to specify how many ounces should comprise a single serving. The recipes themselves were fitted for modest kitchens, meaning that the cook should still be able to successfully complete the recipe even if they don’t have electric cooking implements at their disposal.

This book is available online on Library and Archives Canada’s published collections catalogue Aurora: OCLC 3231635.

At the time that I picked up this book and undertook this latest challenge, we were well into autumn, and I had just returned home from apple picking with more apples than I could eat myself. I was flipping through the index of the cookbook, hoping to find an attractive recipe in which to funnel most of my apples, when I stumbled upon a recipe for “Dutch apple cake”.

The recipe for Dutch apple cake, including a list of ingredients and the instructions.

A photo of the recipe for Dutch apple cake from The Cook’s Recipe Manual (OCLC 3231635). Please note the breakdown of recipe ingredients into categories A, B, and C, as well as the yield of 100 four-ounce servings.

Beyond the exorbitant amount of apples required, part of what attracted me to this recipe was that I did not know what a Dutch apple cake was. While it isn’t too difficult to put together, I had no visual image of its modern equivalent to keep in mind as I assembled this recipe and so, unlike the previous two recipes I tried, I went into this challenge ignorant of the expected result. Nevertheless, the first step was to assemble the ingredients.

The ingredients for the recipe: apples, eggs, butter, baking powder, salt, flour, sugar, milk, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

Ingredients used by the author to make the Dutch apple cake recipe from The Cook’s Recipe Manual. Courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

The next step was to do a bit of math, as I was not about to make a cake serving 100 portions. Instead, I settled on 10 portions and used the following quantities:

Biscuit dough
  • 2.6 cups of flour
  • 25 ml baking powder
  • 4.5 ml salt
  • 50 ml butter
  • 50 ml sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 150 ml (oat) milk
Apples
  • 900 g apples
Sugar and spice mix
  • 50 ml sugar
  • a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg
Butter
  • 50 ml butter

The ingredients comprising the dough of the Dutch apple cake are divided into three sections, A, B, and C, marking the order in which they will be incorporated. The first step is to mix the dry ingredients and the fat (in this case I opted for butter). The added instruction in the original recipe of “as in making tea biscuit dough” is unclear, so I opted to ignore it. The most it told me was that the recipe was written with a somewhat experienced reader in mind. Similarly, I didn’t quite understand why the sugar needed to be added separately, but I adhered to the order of things all the same.

Dry ingredients from the recipe being mixed with a whisk.

All the dry ingredients from sections A and B mixed with a whisk. Courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

The last part of the dough recipe called to mix all the wet ingredients (section C) before incorporating them to the dry mix (sections A and B). I do not recommend using a whisk, as I did, because it’s incompatible with the thickness of the dough. I started using my hands before remembering that the cookbook’s author strongly recommended the use of electronic kitchen appliances, which I did possess but neglected during this phase of the process.

Side-by-side photos of an egg being cracked into a pan and dough being kneaded by hand.

Mixing the wet ingredients from section C with the dry ingredients from sections A and B. While the author used her hands, it’s recommended that you use a stand mixer should you possess one. Courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

Once the dough was made, it needed to be put onto a baking sheet or baking tray lined with parchment paper. Then it was time to peel and slice 900 g of apples, cut them into eighths and insert them into the cake “thin edge” first. This frankly felt wrong as I was doing it, but I pushed through all the same.

Side-by-side photos of dough in a baking dish lined with parchment paper and the baking dish with slices of apples on top of the dough, with a bowl of melted butter and a bowl of sugar and spice mix next to it.

Setting the dough into a baking dish lined with parchment paper. The next step is to then insert the apples. Courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

The final step was to make the sugar and spice mix and sprinkle it onto the cake as evenly as I could. Then I melted 50 ml of butter, which I drizzled overtop before sending it to the oven for 25 minutes at 400 ⁰F.

Side-by-side photos of the sugar and spice mix being sprinkled on top of the apple slices and the melted butter being drizzled on top of the apples and the sugar and spice mix.

Adding the sugar and spice mix and the butter onto the apple cake. This is the element chiefly responsible for giving the cake any flavour. Courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

Having never made a Dutch apple cake before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I felt as though this might very well be my first failure of a recipe, especially when I initially pulled the cake from the oven. It bubbled with butter and apple juice in a way that resembled a classic Québécois dish known as pouding chômeur, which, I was fairly certain, was wrong. For those who are unfamiliar, pouding chômeur is essentially a cake boiled in sweet syrup. However, part of the pleasure of following older recipes is opening the door to failure, and so I brought it to work the next day all the same for my colleagues to try. Here was the final result:

Side-by-side photos of the baked Dutch apple cake and a view of the layers after cutting into the cake.

The final product with a view of the cross section. Courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

What do you think?

I was surprised by how well it turned out, all things considered! The cake was fully cooked through, and the apples became quite jammy. That helped to keep the cake somewhat moist and wasn’t too sweet. I brought it to the Reference Section for another tasting and showed that, once again, these recipes can withstand the test of time!

If you try this recipe, please share pictures of your results with us using the hashtag #CookingWithLAC and tagging our social media: Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube, Flickr and LinkedIn.

Additional resources

Ariane Gauthier is a Reference Archivist in the Access and Services Branch at Library and Archives Canada.