Ask the Past: sadness
I'm feeling kind of sad at the moment. Can you suggest anything that will cheer me up?
I think the best place to start when need cheering up is cake, and possibly the best kind of cake to make for sadness would be Sad Cake. Sad cake is a traditional cake in Yorkshire and Lancashire, and although I couldn't find any authentically vintage recipes for it, I found several old books and newspapers that said a sad cake was basically a larger version of a Chorley cake, which I did find recipes for (although not many). Here's a recipe from the October 1929 issue of the Radio Times:
Chorley cakes are equally good to eat, and are made in a similar way; tho currant filling is the same, only that the candied peel and spice are omitted: Short crust is used for these, and I will give the recipe for this as it is not a long one. Use 1/2lb flour (not self-raising) 1/4. home rendered lard, a pinch of salt and cold water to mix a paste. Put the dry ingredients into a bowl and rub the lard into the flour with the tips of the fingers, then mix to a stiff paste, (not sticky, but certainly not dry) with the cold water. Turn this onto a floured board, roll out thinly, and then proceed as for Eccles cakes.
It will be found impossible to roll the short crust out as thinly as the puff paste, and Chorley cakes are bigger, so a larger-sized cutter must be used, but they must be packed just as full as possible of currants if they are to be good. They must be baked in a fairly sharp oven, and they will take longer than the Eccles cakes to cook, also they must not be allowed to brown much; indeed they ought to look quite white when cooked. Put them on to a wire tray, and when cold dredge with caster sugar.
And here's one from the 3 April 1929 edition of the London Daily News:
For the pastry: 4oz. dough. 4oz. flour, 3oz. lard, pinch salt. 1 teaspoonful sugar, 1 tablespoonful milk: Rub the lard into the flour, add salt and sugar and milk. Then work in the dough with the hands until the whole is well mixed. (This takes at least five minutes.) For the filling: 1/2 lb. currants. 8oz. butter. 2oz. syrup, 1/4oz. brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoonful spice.
Melt the butter and mix in the other ingredients. Divide the dough Into 6—roll out In rounds about 3/8 inch thick. Place the filling on the top of each, pinch the edges of the pastry together, turn the cake over and roll out about 1/2 inch thick. Place on a greased tin, and bake about half an hour in a moderately hot oven. When cold dredge over with a little castor sugar.—
If you're wondering how Sad Cake ended up with such an unfortunate name, here's the 1916 edition of Webster's Collegiate Dictionary:
sad (sad), a. ; sad'der (-er) ; sad'dest. [AS. saed satisfied, sated.] 1. a Heavy ; soggy ; as, sad cake. Obs. or Dial, b Dense ; solid ; — now only in sadiron. 2. Faithful ; steadfast. Obs. 3. Dull ; dark ; somber ; — said of colors. 4. Affected with grief ; downcast ; mournful. 5. Inspiring melancholy or mournfulness ; as, the sad light of the moon. 6. Causing sorrow; grievous. 7. Bad. Chiefly Intensive; often Jocular.
If you feel like you're progressing beyond sadness to depression, there's a cake for that too. I've found two different recipes for Depression Cake. There's this one, which was printed several times in Papers Past (this particular one is from the 15 August 1934 issue of the Hutt News):
DEPRESSION CAKE Take 1 cup each of clarified dripping, sugar, currants, sultanas and hot water. To these add 1/2 packet spice, 1/2 teaspoon ginger and lemon peel to taste. Put all ingredients into a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. When mixture has cooled add 2 1/2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda dissolved in boiling water. Mix well and put into a tin with three layers of greased paper. Bake in moderate oven from 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Makes a rich, dark cake. Will keep for weeks in an air tight tin.
And on a more desperately cheerful note, there's this recipe from the 17 August 1935 issue of the Wairarapa Daily Times (this recipe only appears in NZ papers once, but I checked Chronicling America, which is the US newspaper archive, and it appears there too):
The following recipe, some call “Depression Cake,” but as we didn’t like the name “Depression,” we call it “Oh, So Good.”
It is made without eggs or milk, and very economical: Mix together 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cups water, 2 squares chocolate or 6 tablespoons cocoa, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 cup raisins. Stir over fire until it boils. Let cool and add 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, salt, vanilla. Bake in a shallow loaf pan in a moderate oven 350 deg. F. It needs no frosting.
If none of those cakes feels suitable, there are more modern alternatives out there, including this depression cake recipe from the 80s (you'll find a lot of versions of this online, but I'm linking to this one because it includes the original recipe card, and as a bonus it gives a recipe for aggression cookies, which some of you may find useful), and a Belgian cake called Miserable.
I'm sure that will help.