EASY MAY DAY MAYPOLE CHOCOLATE CAKE

I love May Day with its Maypole, Morris Dancing, and floral traditions. My school always celebrated May Day with a brightly colored Maypole and dancing. Here I am many many years later, and I still love everything about May Day.

I've posted Retro Recipes for Queen of the May Chocolate Cake and Maypole Sundaes, but this year I thought I'd add an easy recipe for a chocolate maypole cake that was posted by the Cedarwood Waldorf School. So happy to see that May Day celebrations are still going strong with maypole dances and crowning of the Queen of the May. 

So to mark the celebration in honor of Flora, the goddess of Flowers, here's an easy recipe for May Day Maypole Chocolate Cake. FYI: The maypole is a tall wooden pole erected with long colored ribbons hanging from the top and decorated with greenery and flowers. Dancers skip around the pole, weaving the ribbons into a spiral or elaborate pattern that is briefly seen before disappearing as the dance is reversed. 

This is a very quick and simple chocolate cake! If you want a layered cake, make two and double the amount of frosting. To decorate, you will need a chopstick (or a similar length of a thin twig) and thin ribbons or yarn (in rainbow colors, or whatever you have on hand). You can also decorate with fresh flowers (daisies, dandelions, violets, violas, etc). 

EASY MAYDAY MAYPOLE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Grease and flour an 8 x 8 inch cake pan (round, if you have one). 

Sift and whisk together dry ingredients into a large bowl: 

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour 

1 cup sugar 

6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/8  tsp sea salt 

Combine and add: 

1 cup cold water 

¼ cup vegetable oil 

1 Tbsp white vinegar 

2 tsp vanilla extract 

Stir ingredients until smooth. Scrape batter into the greased pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Set the cake aside to cool completely. 

 

Once your cake is cooled, frost the top. If you are making a double layer cake, also frost between layers. Make your favorite frosting or try one of these: 

Whipped Cream Frosting: 

Whisk together until desired thickness: 

1 cup of heavy whipping cream 

2 tbsp powdered sugar 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

Butter Frosting: 

Whisk together until thick and smooth. 

6 Tbsp butter, room temperature 

1 cup powdered sugar optional: 6 tbsp. cocoa 

If frosting is too thick: 2 to 3 tbsp heavy cream 

To make your May Pole decoration: 

Measure the distance from the center of the cake to the edge. 

Using the measurement and adding a bit extra for tying on both ends, cut 6-8 strands of yarn or ribbons. Tie the ribbons one at a time to the top of the pole, or use a tack to secure them at the top. Tie a toothpick to the end of each ribbon. 

Place the chopstick firmly into the center of the cake and evenly place the toothpicks around the edge of the cake. 

Decorate with fresh flowers.

VANISHING OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES: National Oatmeal Cookie Day

Today is National Oatmeal Cookie Day. Traditional Oatmeal Cookies are made with raisins, but really? What's a cookie without chocolate? So, here's an adapted recipe from Quaker Oats for Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies but I've switched out the raisins with Chocolate Chips. The original recipe is found on most Quaker Oats boxes...and on the Quaker Oats website.

VANISHING OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients
1/2 Cup plus 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3/4 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 Cup Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 Cup Chocolate Chips 
 (optional) 3/4 cup chopped walnuts 

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F.
In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix well.
Add oats and Chocolate Chips and chopped walnuts (optional); mix well.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown.
Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

Alternative: Bar Cookies
Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown.
Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
Cut into bars.

Cartoon of the Day: Dogs

 

BABY RUTH COOKIES: National Babe Ruth Day!

Everyone loves a Baby Ruth. I do! I also love Retro Ads, and this Retro WWII Ad for Baby Ruth Candy Bars and Cookies  sent me in search of the Baby Ruth cookies recipe. It was fairly easy to find.

Since today is National Babe Ruth Day, I thought I'd post some more history of this special candy bar. The Curtiss Candy Company claimed that the Baby Ruth candy bar was named after President Grover Cleveland's daughter, Ruth Cleveland. However, Ruth Cleveland died 16 years before the introduction of the Baby Ruth bar. The Curtiss Candy Company had originally negotiated a failed endorsement deal with baseball player Babe Ruth. People have suggested that secretly naming the candy bar after Ruth was a way to tie him to their product without paying any royalties. Talk about shrewd advertising, company founder Otto Schnering chartered a plane in 1923 to drop thousands of Baby Ruth bars over the city of Pittsburgh -- each with its own mini parachute. His marketing plan must have worked -- Baby Ruth went on to become a top brand. Today, the Baby Ruth bar is owned by Nestlé.

BABY RUTH COOKIES

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Baby Ruth candy bars (2.1 ounces each), chopped into smallish pieces

Directions
In large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in candy bars.
Chill 30 minutes.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Immediately remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 4 dozen.