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Poor Man’s Cake with Sarah & Dylan
         

Sarah’s family has been in Colorado for four or five generations. Originally from Eastern Europe, Sarah says that her grandparents and great-grandparents who first arrived in the U.S. “kind of turned their back on family recipes” in an effort to leave the “Old World” behind. But this is one dish that has been passed down for generations. Sarah’s great-grandmother used to make Poor Man’s Cake for birthdays. Sarah’s grandmother taught it to her sister, and Sarah’s sister taught it to her. Her mom may have been the first to write it down, as Sarah found this recipe in her mother’s old recipe book too.

Poor Man’s Cake is a recipe born out of necessity. During the Great Depression, Sarah’s ancestors took a cake recipe they may have brought over from Europe and adjusted it to meet the moment. Eggs are replaced by baking soda, and instead of white sugar, the cake contains brown sugar and apple sauce. Along with the recipe for this cake, which helped Sarah’s family celebrate special occasions even when resources were limited, the family has passed down stories from that era of Sarah’s great-grandmother caring for unhoused people as best she could with the resources she had.

Today the family can access other ingredients for birthday cakes, and Sarah’s son Dyan often makes elaborate ones. But Sarah says this is still her “favorite cake.” Asked whether it is important for her children to learn how to make it, she explains that “I want them to just know how to make food and have a happy relationship with it. It doesn't have to be this recipe. I just think it's important to find the love of cooking and baking, whatever that is. And to have healthy, happy relationship with food.” Sarah and her husband model that by cooking and eating together often, and she says that her husband is an excellent cook.


Poor Man's Cake Recipe

Servings: 10-12
Time: 60-90 minutes


Ingredients:

  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup butter
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ cup apple sauce
  • 1 tsp of vanilla
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsps ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tsp salt


Instructions:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch casserole dish or cake pan.
  • Place a saucepan with the water and raisins on the stove. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes (they should look plump/rehydrated). Remove from heat and let cool. Reserve raisin water.
  • Cream together melted butter and sugar using a fork or electric mixer. To the creamed butter mixture add applesauce, eggs and vanilla. Mix until it is combined.
  • Remove raisins from their water, reserving the water.
  • Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, salt and the raisin water in a large bowl.
  • Mix together the raisins with the wet ingredients. Once combined add the dry ingredients until combined.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for 30 or 40 minutes. Do not overbake or it will be too dry. Test after 30 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean.
  • Top with a chocolate ganache or frosting and serve with coffee!