One of my favorite things to do is bake recipes from Depression or War-era America.  I know it sounds kind of strange, but I love the creativity of it.  Bacon fat instead of butter in a sugar cookie?  Ok!  Vinegar instead of milk in a chocolate cake? Sure! Mayonnaise instead of eggs in brownies? Let’s give it a try!

Baking brings joy and back then, joy – along with butter, eggs and milk – was maybe a little harder to come by. Those bakers used whatever they had to bake for their people in whatever way they could.  They were good at improvising to celebrate their special occasions.

In 1941, My great-grandpa, J. Martin Matsen, managed the Sugar House Mercantile Co.. He was born in 1875 so he would have been 66 years old at the time.  

And several years ago, when a bicycle shop was renovating the building where the Mercantile used to be, the workers found boxes of receipts in the attic from the 1940s. Some of us great-grand kids were lucky enough to keep some.  

Those receipts were not a good thing for my dad, who understood that hundreds and hundreds of dollars had gone uncollected because of his grandpa’s choice to let people rack up their tabs when times were tough.  

Those receipts were a really good thing for me, who struggles a little with scarcity and could use a little more of my great-grandpa’s strengths – selflessness and abundance. He somehow believed things would work out for his family if he continued to help others.  

And they did. 

Rachel Coleman says, “The ability to cooperate and act selflessly is unique to humanity.” It doesn’t feel very natural to me sometimes, but knowing Grandpa Martin was so selfless at a time when he could have been so miserly, helps me to know I have that option, too. It’s in my DNA. 

The receipt I chose as a keepsake is from the account of someone named F. B. McLatchy who owed my great-grandpa $109.29 on their tab, which would be around $2,300.00 in now money. They were obviously struggling to keep up with their grocery bill, yet on August 15th, 1941, a Friday, Martin wrote up a receipt for them to take home Baker’s Chocolate, butter, and walnuts.  The butter alone would have cost the equivalent of $8.41. 

He added it to their tab.

I don’t know what was going on in Sugarhouse that day, but on the other side of the world, Germany had just invaded the Soviet Union.

I like to think that far away from that conflict, in a little kitchen in Utah, the McLatchy’s were baking a chocolate cake. 

I like to think it was for a special occasion.

And I like to think it turned out beautifully. 

And just in case you, like me, do your best giving with baked goods, I’m including the 1941 recipe from the Baker’s Chocolate advertisement, below. Should we try it?

I can’t wait to find out what strengths you’re working on this year.  Your ancestors have many to share with you.  And if you need help with it – or even with your family tree! – I’d love to help.  We can talk over cake. 

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*Recipe and sourced from ClickAmericana 

Baker’s Chocolate Wellesley fudge cake (1941)

Ingredients

For the cake

• 4 squares of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 cup of hot water
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 cups of Swans Downs cake flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup of butter or other shortening
• 1-1/4 cups of sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the frosting, part 1

• 3 squares of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1-1/2 cups of sifted confectioner’s sugar
• 7 tablespoons of light cream or top milk
• Dash of salt

For the frosting, part 2

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups of sifted confectioner’s sugar, divided (in thirds)

Instructions

1. Place 4 squares of chocolate and the water in the top part of a double boiler.
2. Cook and stir over boiling water until the chocolate is melted and the mixture thickens.
3. Add the 1/2 cup of sugar and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Cool to lukewarm.
5. Sift the flour once, measure, add the baking soda and salt, and sift together three times.
6. Cream the butter, adding 1-1/4 cups of sugar gradually, and cream together until light and fluffy.
7. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each is added.
8. Add the milk and remaining flour to the creamed mixture, alternately in two parts each, beating after each addition until smooth.
9. Then add the vanilla extract and chocolate mixture and blend.
10. Bake in two greased 8- by 8- by 2-inch layer pans in a moderate oven (350 F) for 40 minutes, or until done.
11. For the fudge frosting, you essentially make a fudge mixture, then add additional ingredients to make it into the frosting. Here’s how:
12. Melt 3 squares of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate and tablespoons of butter in a double boiler over boiling water; blend.
13. Add the 1-1/2 cups of sifted confectioner’s sugar, light cream or top milk, and a dash of salt all at once.
14. Beat until smooth.
15. Place the mixture over a low flame, cook and stir until the mixture bubbles up well around the edges.
16. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla, then add the 1-1/4 cups of sifted confectioner’s sugar in thirds, beating after each addition until smooth. (If necessary, place the mixture over a bowl of cold water until thick enough to spread.)
17. Spread the fudge frosting between the layers and on the top and sides of the cake.

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