History of Sugar
Yesterday, I was lucky enough to hear the wonderful talk “America’s Sweet Tooth” about the history of sugar by food historian Francine Segan. It was a great mix of facts and anecdotes, along with some interesting ads. It really helped to confirm many of the areas I have researched for my book about the history of newspaper food editors.
When it came to sugar, several of the newspaper food editors noted that readers never seemed to tire of recipes for cakes.
The New York Herald Tribune food editor Clementine Paddleford helped her home cooks deal with the challenges of World War II and the limits on sugar. She encouraged her readers to try the new cake mixes because “war puts premium on leisure.”
In 1948, the Chicago Tribune food editor Ruth Ellen Church (writing under the pen name “Mary Meade”) introduced the recipe feature “Cake of the Week.” Church was quoted: “My staff and I have known for a long time that women love cakes, but we were somewhat surprised at the popularity of this weekly cake presentation.”
As proof, Church noted that 200 women called the newspaper on the day that the recipe for Orange Lemon Sunshine Cake appeared too blurry to read. (This noted on pages 70-71 in Laura Shapiro’s book Something From the Oven.)
In 1950, Church wrote the 52 Weeks of Cake cookbook.
In 1956, the New York Times food writer Jane Nickerson wrote about the history of the elaborate cakes originally from Vienna. Like many of her stories, this article also included recipes and several pictures of the dessert.
In a 1973 story in the L.A. Times, Jeanne Voltz described Italian desserts, writing: “Zuppa Inglese is a delectable paradox. The literal translation from Italian is English soup, but actually it is one of the world’s most splendid desserts. Sponge cake is cut into layers; then with a fine Italian hand, it’s filled with liqueur-flavored custard and berry jam.”
In honor of the talk and the return of Mad Men tonight, the toddler and I are making “Bomb Shelter Chocolate-Cherry Delight Cake” from 1969 Better Homes & Garden’s recipe.
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