by Susan Marks
The love/food combination was a popular theme in Betty Crocker’s world.
Even more magnificent than the key recipes were those that had earned the Betty Crocker star. “Don’t miss the recipes marked with a ✩!” Betty coaxed. “They are special favorites with our Staff, and are served often in our own homes.” And “Favorite” was hardly a casual term thrown around Betty’s kitchens. A 1943 recipe for Golden Cottage Pudding—“We call it our vitamin dessert”—not only survived Betty’s rigorous triple test, but had a successful run in women’s magazines, finally earning its star. “Surprise! Guess what’s in it! Moist, goozly!” ran Big Red’s plug for the dessert’s secret ingredient, carrots.
Big Red’s palate is decidedly all-American, with some foreign influences. Not until the 1980s would Betty begin to diversify with Chinese, Indian, “International,” and Mexican cookbooks.
For the benefit of the bottom line, General Mills’ Gold Medal Flour and Softasilk Cake Flour anchor Betty’s ingredient lists for a sublime array of breads, cakes, frosting, cookies, pies, and other desserts. Cake options run the gamut from simple “butter” cakes to Pink Azalea Cake; Lord, Lady, and Baby Baltimore Cakes; Cherry Angel Food Cake; Brown-Eyed Susan Cake; Red Devil’s Food Cake; Creole Devil’s Food Cake; and Peppermint Chip Chiffon, to name just a few.
These recipes were the subject of Big Red’s penultimate chapter, “Cakes,” which bestows an honorific on homemakers one and all, provided they agree to follow Betty’s directions: “We now proclaim you a member of the Society of Cake Artists! And do hereby vest in you all the skills, knowledge, and secrets of the ‘gentle art’ of cake making.” Betty’s lesson plan centered on a side-by-side pictorial comparison of the “good old way to mix a ‘butter’ cake”—the creaming method—with the new “Double Quick” method—a one-bowl process introduced by Betty Crocker in 1944. Both methods were acceptable, though the creaming method is presented as “conventional” while Double Quick is the “modern way.” Either could be used to make Old-fashioned Yellow Cakes, Spice Cakes, Cocoa Cakes (“Dusky beauties you’ll like”), Simple Sponge Cakes, Cream Cakes, Fruit Cakes, Specialty Cakes of Distinction, Chocolate Cakes (“For the man who comes to dinner …”), Egg Yolk Cakes, Wedding Cakes, Angel Food Cake, and Chiffon Cake. “Little boys from eight to eighty go for” Betty’s Prize Fudge Cake. Some of Betty’s cakes were not even of this world. “Have you ever seen a pale pink or delicate green angel?” she introduced her Peppermint Angel Food. “Well, we have.”
So abundant were Betty Crocker’s cake recipes that a single chapter could not contain them all. “Desserts” showcases tempting recipes for “Elegant Cake Desserts” and “Spectacular Cake Desserts” among the tortes, soufflés, pudding, ice cream, and fruit desserts.
The icing on the cake was a chapter of recipes for frostings and fillings—uncooked as well as cooked. Twisting the tip of a spoon created a decorative “hobnail” or swirl effect. If Betty’s recipes for White Mountain, Lemon, Light Chocolate, Marshmallow, Comfort, Pineapple, Tutti-Frutti, or Satiny Beige frosting became too sugary, “All you have to do is beat in a little lemon juice.”
“A butter icing is like a favorite cotton dress … simple and easy to put on … cooked white frostings like a perky street ensemble … and the extra touches for tinted coconut, toasted nuts, or allegretti are the gay accessories that make a costume special.” Each of the twelve months of birthday cakes were dressed up in distinctive fashion.
What month is your birth date?
What star shines on you?
Here are jewels and flowers
And birthday cakes, too!
January birthday cakes call for white frosting with moist snowy coconut sprinkled on top and embellished with fresh red carnations. For May birthdays, frost the cake with tiny bouquets of Lilies of the Valley with an emerald green ribbon. And for July, “Tie up little bunches of sweet peas with satin ribbon. Place around cake and give to women guests.”
A “Hallowe’en” cake with Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting is topped with melted chocolate in the shape of a witch. Father’s Day is a time to establish family tradition—making Dad’s favorite cake, with frosting of his choosing; “Present with a kiss hug.” And any day is perfect for preparing Betty’s Prize Fudge frosting, making sure to save the mixing bowl and spoon for the children to enjoy.
Friends of Betty
In the culinary tradition of giving credit where credit is due, Betty shares much of the recipe glory. Staff members and “friends of Betty,” famous chefs, celebrities of the screen and airwaves, home recipe testers, and renowned hostesses, formed a dazzling array of contributors. Big Red’s recipe for Crème Brûlée dishes up a rich historical context:
Served at a lovely luncheon by a delightful hostess, Elizabeth Case, co-author of “Cook’s Away.” This elegant dish was a feature of the famous hospitality of Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia home, “Monticello.” He brought the recipe from France in 1790.
Eponymous recipes recall the folksy style of church cookbook collaborations. Elena Zelayeta’s Fresh Fruit Dessert is named for the creator, “whose courageous spirit is an inspiration to us all.” A recipe for White Christmas Pie begins, “Pure white heavenly concoction created by Ruby Livedalen Peterson of our staff … from an idea brought by Dixie Wilson of Mason City, Iowa.” A starred Egg Yolk Sponge Cake recipe is by one of Betty’s home recipe testers, Mrs. Ludwig Rice, a homemaker for twenty-three years. And Betty’s decadent Chocolate Joy Cake recipe begins, “A family favorite from Mrs. Samuel C. Gale, wife of our own Vice President.”
Thoroughly upbeat, the cookbook periodically waxes outright giddy. The recipes are punctuated by whimsical illustrations of happy homemakers and their husbands, a cake frosting itself, dancing peanuts, gleeful family picnics, pancakes in fancy dresses, vegetables lifting weights, and grinning gingerbread men. Betty’s rhymes and sayings spring up all over, such as this verse on egg freshness:
Their shells should look dull …
Not shiny or bright;
But it makes no difference
If they’re brown or if they’re white.
“Won’t you come into our kitchen and join us in our ‘Cooky Shines’?” Betty asked. “That used to mean tea parties, but it’s what we call our sessions of cooky baking.” Big Red’s “Cookies”—based on “Betty Crocker’s Picture Cooky Book,” a 1948 recipe booklet that was revised, expanded, and, in 1963, published in hardcover as Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book—was a primer on “saying it with cookies.” Rolled, refrigerated, pressed, molded, and bar varieties were the secret to uniting friends and family, easing homesickness, celebrating Christmas, and creating lifelong memories for the little ones. Every cookie imaginable is represented here, including such favorites as Chocolate Chip Cookies, Toffee-Nut Bars, Nut Sugar Cookies, and Chocolate Frosted Brownies. Under the heading “Beau-Catchers (and Husband-Keepers)” appeared a recipe for His Mother’s Oatmeal Cookies.
Betty Crocker’s Picture Cooky Book (1948) served as a prototype for Big Red’s cookie section.
All You Have to Do
Big Red is not just for dessert. Every major recipe category—the proverbial soup to nuts—is fully represented, with dishes to suit every taste and occasion: Red Cinnamon Apples with Tiny Sausages, Melon Ball Salad, Braised Lamb Shank, Mushroom Polenta, Kaedjere, Lumberjack Macaroni, Hot Tamale Pie, Chicken Tetrazzini, Pompano en Papillote, Chicken Chow Mein, Cheese Dreams (grilled cheese sandwiches), Carrots Ambrosia, and Eggs à la Goldenrod. Betty’s repertoire contains more than a few surprises. Nestled among menus for “cozy family suppers” are recipes for squirrel and rabbit dishes (“Best in the fall and early winter”), “Sub-Gum Curry,” and Surprise Pancakes, subtitled “vegetables in disguise.”
Big Red is just as much a reference work as it is a collection of recipes. Betty details her tips for cooking success down to the letter. “All You Have to Do” is her catch-phrase for ease and simplicity—whether the reader is learning to cook or looking for a refreshe
r on how to properly store potatoes, slice bread, cut onions, or differentiate cuts of meat. The guide to “Useful Kitchen Utensils” compares gadgets from roasting pans to ramekins, and even the stickiest substances—from shortening to grated cheese—are a snap to measure Betty’s way. Food substitutions, abbreviations common in recipe notation, nutrition, and meal planning all receive their due. “Smart homemakers say: ‘My meals are more interesting … because I avoid repetition and plan for variety in color, texture, and flavor.’ “ Case in point is the perfection to be had in lattice-top fruit pies of every variety, equal in eye and appetite appeal.
Like Betty’s radio shows, her cookbook is a compendium of food “facts” and historical tidbits. “Serve them up as table conversation,” Betty suggested. “They’ll make cooking, and eating, more fun.” It was Cortez the Spanish conquistador, for instance, who initiated Westerners’ love affair with chocolate, while appetizers date back to ancient Greece and Rome. Coffee’s legacy from Abyssinia to the Americas is traced here. “Now the art of making good coffee is an asset to successful homemaking.” And to accompany coffee—muffins, a term that comes from “little muffs” to warm the fingers. Hush puppies got their name from Florida hunters whose dogs whined over being denied the spoils of the camp fish fries. The hunters tossed leftover corn patties to the dogs, calling “Hush, puppies!” and they did.
The joy of cooking being far from a universal experience, Betty Crocker’s staff modulated Big Red to suit the inhabitant of any kitchen, be she reluctant or passionate. Like any good book, however, it had to be read to be useful. “Heed the directions,” readers were repeatedly urged. “Cooking success is up to you.” Before she could do for others, a good cook had to care for herself. Saving time, energy, and money was an economy soothing to every spirit. In “Short Cuts” came a detailed blueprint for improving domestic life. True to the tenets of home economics, Betty advised homemakers to “Make every motion count” and “Let your head save your heels.”
Living by these words enabled readers to avoid stressful days, saving labor by enlisting the family’s help with chores or preparing and freezing large amounts of food. When circumstances called for “Special Helps,” Betty suggested a few minutes’ rest on the kitchen floor, harboring pleasant thoughts, pursuing a hobby, wearing comfortable shoes, alternating sitting and standing tasks, and taking time to notice “humorous” incidents, such as a kitten getting stuck in a tree, to narrate at dinnertime. These hints were relayed in an illustrated montage of blissful homemakers in dresses and frilly aprons. In cases of depression and fatigue, Betty prescribed proper rest, exercise, and sound nutrition. “Get a medical check-up and follow doctor’s orders.”
Cooks have long treasured Big Red for its usefulness, but history might value the book for something more. Its pages pinpoint the fundamental shift in American diets toward the factory-processed convenience foods that were becoming fixtures in the grocery aisles. For homemakers short on time and energy, Betty recommended all that supermarkets had to offer, proudly bestowing a special seal of approval on her own Bisquick, Crustquick, soup, and cake mix products. “With [Bisquick] on the shelf, the busy homemaker, the modern business woman, or the impromptu hostess is prepared to meet any mealtime emergency with complete assurance and success.”
A section in Big Red devoted to putting the joy in cooking.
Betty Crocker encouraged women to “say it” with one of her cake mixes.
Perfectly timed to usher in this brand-new era in American food, Big Red was, in Betty’s words, “the happy ending we’ve anticipated from the very first.” This culinary coup was no accident. By 1954, General Mills had invested over thirty years and more than $100 million in Betty Crocker; the success of Big Red generated a cookbook empire.
One after another, a legion of Betty Crocker cookbooks became instant best-sellers. Among her most memorable, especially for the Baby Boomer set: Betty Crocker’s Good and Easy Cookbook, Betty Crocker’s Cookbook for Boys and Girls, Betty Crocker’s Dinner for Two Cookbook, and Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book. When updated editions were ushered onto the market to reflect changing tastes and recipes, not everyone appreciated the favor, preferring instead to cling to their dog-eared originals. Repeatedly and for decades, consumers pined for the Betty Crocker they remembered from childhood. To the delight of millions, General Mills re-released the original Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book in 1998, Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book in 2002, and Betty Crocker’s Cookbook for Boys and Girls in 2003, reuniting cooks everywhere with the recipes that made Betty Crocker “the most trusted friend in the kitchen.”
Chapter Five Just Add Water!
Chiffon Cake
The Chiffon Cake is the first new cake of the century—it’s new in taste, new in texture and new in eating quality. Combining the best qualities of both angel food and butter cakes, it’s also made an entirely new way.
2 cups sifted GOLD MEDAL Flour
1½ cups sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
½ cup cooking (salad) oil
7 unbeaten egg yolks
¾ cup plus 2
tbsp. cold water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 cup egg whites
½ tsp. cream of tartar
Heat oven to 350°. Have ready ungreased oblong pan, 13 x 9 ½ x 2″. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt into bowl. Make a well and add oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla, grated rind. Beat with spoon until smooth. Measure egg whites and cream of tartar into large mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer on high speed 3 to 5 min., or by hand until whites form very stiff peaks. DO NOT UNDERBEAT. A dry rubber scraper drawn through them leaves a clean path. Pour egg yolk mixture gradually over beaten whites—folding just until blended. DO NOT STIR. Pour into ungreased pan. Bake 45 to 50 min., or until top springs back
when lightly touched. Turn pan upside down, resting edges on 2 other pans. Let hang, free of table, until cold. Loosen from sides with spatula. Turn pan over and hit edge sharply on table to loosen.
From Gold Medal Jubilee, Select Recipes, 1880—1955:
A treasury of favorite recipes modernized by Betty Crocker
Dear Betty Crocker,
I derive so much help from your lessons. Before I started listening to your talks on WCCO, I made such wretched cakes that my husband used to throw them down to the furnace to burn them. But now I am really proud of the ones I make.
More than pies, cookies, bars, muffins, brownies, or biscuits, it was cakes that topped Betty Crocker’s recipe repertoire, like thirteen-egg Angel Food Cake, the Calico Quilt Cake, Chocolate Cream Cake, Strawberry Shortbread Cake, Marble Cake. Betty’s public could not get enough of them—and thanks to General Mills’ plentiful cake-centered advertising campaigns, there was little risk of deprivation. Cake-naming contests, international cake recipes, cake history tidbits, and newly developed cake recipes—especially for chocolate cake—dominated radio broadcasts. Betty believed that every day was a good day for cake, but some cakes were meant for special occasions. “Cakes have become the very symbol of home life in our country. From the beautiful cake for the announcement party—to the triumphantly towering wedding cake-and children’s birthday cakes, blazing with candles-to the proud cake celebrating the silver or golden wedding—cakes play an important role in the most significant moments in our lives.”
After wartime flour and sugar rationing were suspended, in 1946 and 1947 respectively, the remainder of the decade saw more than a billion cakes made or bought yearly. Among the highest—and most personal—forms of culinary achievement, cakes were far more than sweetened bread. As Betty liked to say, “For any occasion, big or small, there’s nothing like a home-baked cake to make the moment memorable.”
Cake Magic
Betty Crocker’s cake-baking heritage begins with her earliest days. In 1922, a full-page ad for Gold Medal Flour featured her recipe for Gold Medal Cake with chocolate icing. “There is something about a
good cake all wrapped up in a coat of creamy chocolate frosting that makes people feel that your dinner has been a success,” Betty rhapsodized. Desirous of the acceptance and approval Betty described, homemakers increasingly demanded specialized cake flour. Before the decade was out, General Mills had created the finely milled Gold Medal Special Cake Flour (later renamed Softasilk Cake Flour). In a 1930s radio broadcast, Betty Crocker announced the new arrival:
Many women have become so accustomed to using a special cake flour for part of their baking that they demand this type of flour occasionally. Our company has always aimed to give customers what they want to use, and we are therefore milling a special cake flour for the women who want it…. If you are one of the women who would like to use a cake flour occasionally when you want to make a special birthday cake or cake for a bridal supper, or one to in a cake contest at a food show or fair, I recommend that you try our Gold Medal Special Cake Flour.
Betty’s first all-cake recipe booklet, “New Party Cakes for All Occasions” (1931) opens with the illustrated saga of two young brides making birthday cakes for their husbands. The first bride, a radio student of Betty Crocker, insists on using Gold Medal Cake Flour and a “Kitchen-tested” recipe. The second bride phones her grocer to send over any kind of cake flour. After mixing, baking, frosting, serving, and eating, the first dashing couple gaze happily into each other’s eyes: “The Birthday Cake made this Gold Medal Way was a great success. It was so delicious that husband asked for another piece and said he had the most wonderful little wife ever. The perfect cake made it the perfect day.” The second bride is in tears while her disgusted husband looks away. “The other bride’s adventure in cooking didn’t have such a happy ending. She had not used Gold Medal Cake Flour, and a Gold Medal recipe; and husband, poor chap couldn’t even manage to eat a whole slice of her flat, heavy cake. And that spoiled the day for both of them!”
