Recipes

Prune Cake

Recipe No. 69 from the U.S. Army's WWII cookbook — Cakes and Cookies. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Army TM10-412 · Cake · Desserts

Serves 14¾ pounds mixture, 100 servings, each 3⅓ by 3⅓ by 1¼ inches.
View source — TM 10-412 Army Recipes (War Department, 1944) ↗

Recipe No. 69 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Cakes and Cookies. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

  • Shortening — 1⅓ pounds (¾ No. 56 dipper)
  • Sugar, granulated — 3½ pounds (1¾ No. 56 dippers)
  • Eggs — 13 eggs (⅔ No. 56 dipper)
  • Flour, sifted — 4½ pounds (4½ No. 56 dippers)
  • Baking powder — 2½ ounces (6⅔ mess kit spoons)
  • Baking soda — ½ ounce (1 mess kit spoon)
  • Salt — ½ ounce (1 mess kit spoon)
  • Cloves, ground — ¼ ounce (1 mess kit spoon)
  • Allspice — ½ ounce (2 mess kit spoons)
  • Cinnamon — 1½ ounces (6 mess kit spoons)
  • Milk, evaporated — 1¾ — 14½-ounce cans

Water (for milk) — 1½ pints (¾ No. 56 dipper)

  • Prunes, cooked, chopped — 1⅓ quarts (1⅓ No. 56 dippers)

Directions

Key ingredients

Baking Soda & Baking Powder · Cinnamon · Evaporated Milk

  1. Stir shortening until soft and smooth.
  2. Add sugar gradually; mix thoroughly.
  3. Add unbeaten eggs, a few at a time, beating after each addition until well mixed. Continue beating until light and fluffy. Beat thoroughly at this stage to insure a light tender cake.
  4. Sift flour, baking powder, soda, and spices together twice.
  5. Mix milk and water; add vanilla.
  6. Add dry ingredients and milk alternately to egg and sugar mixture, first adding about one-third dry ingredients, then ½ milk, then another ⅓ dry ingredients and remaining milk and dry ingredients.
  7. Add prunes. Mix thoroughly but avoid overmixing.
  8. Place in greased sheet pans. Bake in moderate oven (350° F.) about 30 to 35 minutes.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Shortening — 1⅔ oz Sugar, granulated — 4½ oz Eggs — 1 eggs Flour, sifted — 5¾ oz Baking powder — about 1¼ tsp Baking soda — a pinch Salt — a pinch Cloves, ground — a pinch Allspice — a pinch Cinnamon — about ¾ tsp Milk, evaporated — ½ can (14½ oz) Water (for milk) — 3¾ tbsp Prunes, cooked, chopped — 6¾ tbsp

This recipe makes two sheet pans (18 by 26 by 1 inches) or eight loaf pans (9⅞ by 4¼ by 2¾ inches) or 200 individual cakes each 3 inches in diameter.

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 69, Cakes and Cookies. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.