Sunshine Cake (1940 recipe)

Sunshine Cake

2 cups cake flour
1 tsp. Arm & Hammer or Cow Brand Baking Soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, or other shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
grated rind of 1 orange (or lemon)
2/3 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift, then measure the flour.  Add the baking soda and salt and sift three more times.  Cream butter until light and lemon-colored.  Gradually add the sugar, beating after each addition.  Add grated orange rind (or lemon), eggs and vanilla.  Blend well.  Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk, or sour milk.  Pour into a 9 x 9 pan.  Bake 45 minutes.

Orange Coconut Frosting

3 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup orange juice (or lemon)
3/4 cup grated coconut

Cream butter until very soft.  Add sugar gradually thinning with orange juice to spreading consistency.  Beat until smooth.  Beat coconut into frosting. 

Comments:  My beautiful sister Lillian sent me some old cookbooks and pamphlets.  I couldn't wait to start going through them looking for new, yet old, recipes to start cooking.  In one of the pamphlets titled Some of My Favorite Good Things to Eat which was dated 1940 had the recipe shown above.  It was simple to make and oh so good.  When I started putting the ingredients together I realized that I didn't have an orange but I did have some lemons.  So I did what I always do and made the change from orange to lemon.  I can't wait to make this again and maybe add a few nuts.  Something else I changed was the pan.  I used a bundt pan instead of the 9 x 9.  No problem.  It actually cooked up in the 45 minutes allowed in the directions.  I also came to the conclusion that this cake is a keeper for the future!

Comment from Food Tester Carol:  This cake, made from "scratch," is lighter and more moist than cakes I have eaten in recent years.  The lemon flavor is just right, perfectly balanced between tart and sweet.  This dessert is not as cloyingly sweet as most lemon desserts I've had but has a wonderful fresh taste.  Martha says that it is easy to make so I plan to make it for my mother's June 1 anniversary; she says it reminds her of the cake served at her 1940 wedding.