Jan D'Atri

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vanilla instant pudding

Ice Water Cake

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Ice water. Would you ever believe that ice water is a main ingredient to a beyond-heavenly-homemade angel food cake? (Oh, there is a cake god!) Rather, there is a family—a three-generation Arizona family that turned water into…well, greatness! The story is so sweet and here it is in Arizona native Marta Owens’ words.

“Jan, my Mom Dorothy Millsaps made this cake during WWII.  We lived deep in the Superstition Mountains while my father, Rollie Olson, worked as a cowboy. (Dad was one of the last original Arizona cowboys.) My mother was a city girl but was brave and innovative and adapted to ranch life living without electricity and indoor plumbing. Cooking was a challenge. Although we had no milk, the spring produced cold water. My mother made her own cake flour during those days using cornstarch and whole flour. We raised chickens for the eggs. She beat the egg whites with a fork and a pie pan and I loved the way she kept that pie pan spinning while she whipped up those eggs.  Sugar was rationed and she used it sparingly. Mom came up with this recipe using angel food as a guide.  It has been the Olson family birthday cake for the past 70 years as we pass it down from one generation to the other. (It is a bit tricky but has become easier with the use of electric mixers. My mother used a large wooden spoon.)  We are long time Arizona natives and proud of the fact and our history is centered in the Payson area and the Superstition Mountains where we raised cattle in the Reeves Ranch, Tortilla Flat, J/F Ranch and Hewitt Station area. Life for us was full of adventure and love. I’m just glad that the security we shared was never based on money. Just a family of six doing the best we could in the wilds of Arizona. Mom left us in 1991 and is missed.”

Marta, now thousands more of us will happily keep your Mom’s memory alive with a Rescued Recipe that is absolutely heaven sent!

Harvey Wallbanger Cake

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The Story

Could it be that it lost it’s popularity in just one generation?

The cake that was one of our mother’s “no fail, absolute go-to” recipes?

The brilliant yellow moist miracle in a bundt pan?

I presented a group of millennials (you know, those 20-30 somethings!) with a certain rich and flavorful cake this week. While they all gobbled it up in short order, they had never even heard of the classic Harvey Wallbanger Cake. It had been years since I’d thought of this delightful treat myself – and what a shame, because it’s so easy to make!

The Harvey Wallbanger Cake grabs it’s rich flavor from the vodka, Galliano liqueur, and orange juice that you find in the classic Harvey Wallbanger cocktail. Add some eggs, cake mix, and pudding, and this special treat backs up like a brilliant yellow sunflower, and absolutely melts in your mouth. A little sprinkling of powdered sugar, or better yet, a drizzle of glaze, and that’s all you need to relive the kitchen memories from the 60’s and 70’s.

I was just a little girl when my momma started giving the Harvey Wallbanger Cake equal time with her classic Italian rum cakes. I remember the giant, long, thin bottle coming out of the cabinet. My father was the bartender at our restaurant, and so his beverage suppliers would, during the holidays, gift him with the extra, extra giant bottle of the liqueur. Back then, from where I was standing, I estimated that bottle to be 500 feet tall and not an inch less!

I remember that the flavor of the cake (whenever I could sneak some) was just as large. Who knows, perhaps, with the resurgence in the popularity of classic cocktails like the Side Car, Manhattan, and Dirty Martini, the Harvey Wallbanger and it’s companion cake will find it’s sweet spot once again!