November Thrifty Finds - Week 3 #2 ~ Perfect Cakes and Mom's Desserts

Perfect Cakes, published in 2002.  As the title implies, recipes for all make and manner of cakes! The first chapter covers coffee cakes, followed by pound & butter cakes, cakes with fresh & dried fruit, nut cakes, sponge & foam cakes and meringue cakes. Rounding out the book are sections on cheesecakes, layer cakes, rolled cakes, molded cakes, chocolate cakes and individual cakes.  The last chapter is filled with many variations on frostings, fillings and glazes.

In the pound cake section there are two recipes culled from antique cookbooks dating from 1747 and 1875 respectively. 

Mom's Best Desserts, published in 2002. Recipes are the good old-fashioned sweets served by moms over the years.  Chapters include cookies, cakes, pies, fruit desserts, and puddings & ice creams. Many vintage recipes make their appearance on the pages, including a Baked Alaska, which has it's own "day" in the United States, February 1st, as well as grunts, slumps and buckles. There is a dish for a Raspberry Trifle, also known as a Tipsy Parson ( I am now seeing this particular recipe in a few of the books I have recently purchased).

There are hints and tips on baking, tidbits on the history of apples in the Americas, maple syrup and information regarding the invention of the chocolate chip cookie. Another interesting fact is about the Brownie,  with the first recipe being printed in the Sears Roebuck catalog in 1897.