Apple Sauce Cake

A handwritten recipe for Apple Sauce Cake made with applesauce, warm spices and chopped fruit, with no baking directions written down — it was a given the cook would know the rest.
Cake recipes from Aunt Bertha’s Recipe Box, including layer cakes, sheet cakes, fruit cakes, and other homemade favorites for everyday and special occasions.

A handwritten recipe for Apple Sauce Cake made with applesauce, warm spices and chopped fruit, with no baking directions written down — it was a given the cook would know the rest.

A handwritten recipe for a dark, moist date cake filled with sweet dates and crunchy nuts.

Written on a torn little scrap of paper, Andrine’s Banana Cream Cake promises a moist, tender cake rich with ripe banana and vanilla—and only 25 minutes in the oven.

Forget the fruit cake that has to sit around for weeks—this typed recipe says to dig in while it’s still new, with raisins, dates, figs, citron and plenty of nuts packed into every slice.

A handwritten recipe for a light, tender Milk Sponge Cake made with beaten eggs and hot milk, with your choice of vanilla or lemon for flavor—and it bakes in just 25 minutes.

A handwritten Jelly Roll recipe with lemon and Crisco that gives directions for mixing the batter but leaves the baking, filling and rolling instructions a mystery.

A handwritten recipe for Andrine’s Simple Date Cake, made with dates and nuts, baked in a loaf pan and served plain or topped with whipping cream or hard sauce.

A 1969 newspaper recipe for a gingerbread cake roll filled with pineapple whipped cream and made in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

Rhubarb Cake recipe from an old newspaper or magazine clipping, made with brown sugar and rhubarb, topped with cinnamon sugar, and served with whipped cream or ice cream.

A substantial fruitcake packed with raisins, dates, figs, citron and nuts, with an intriguing old-fashioned addition of a “small glass of jelly.”

A rich, dark old-fashioned fruitcake packed with raisins, dates, nuts, and candied fruit, with a family tradition of keeping it moist with currant wine.

A rich Devil’s Food Pound Cake made with Duncan Hines cake mix, chocolate pudding, and Crisco Oil, finished with a simple chocolate glaze.

A C&H Sugar applesauce cake made with brown sugar, raisins, walnuts, and warm spices.

A Philadelphia Cream Cheese recipe for an easy no-bake cheesecake with a graham cracker crust.

Chocolate cake made with Stokely fruit cocktail and topped with chocolate pieces and nuts.

A typed recipe for Irma’s Lemon Jello Cake, a cake-mix dessert made with lemon gelatin and finished with a fresh lemon glaze.

A typed recipe for Vera’s Lemon Velvet Cake with Glaze, made with Betty Crocker Lemon-Velvet Cake Mix and lemon Jell-O, then finished with a fresh lemon glaze.

A typewritten Devil's Food Cake recipe made with chocolate, buttermilk, and Swans Down cake flour, finished with a rich chocolate-orange filling and icing flavored with fresh orange juice and zest.

Violet’s old fashioned Coffee Cake made with brown sugar and nut meats, from a handwritten recipe with wonderfully brief directions.

A handwritten recipe for Ella’s Sponge Cake with Lemon Filling—six eggs, homemade lemon filling, and the wonderfully vague direction to simply “bake slowly.”

A handwritten recipe for Alice’s Rhubarb Torte—just a handful of ingredients, 35 minutes in the oven, and rhubarb gets to steal the show.

A typed recipe for Simple Date Cake—rich with chopped dates and nuts, with whipped cream or hard sauce waiting to dress it up.

A handwritten recipe for Susie’s Chocolate Oatmeal Cake brings cocoa, oats, and coconut frosting together in one pan—proof that oatmeal knows how to have a good time.

Handwritten angel food cake baking notes with mixing and baking instructions for a tall, light cake that “never fails.”