Recipe: Piquant Spice Cake with Penuche Frosting (using beer, Parade magazine, 1950's)

PIQUANT SPICE CAKE

"Something old and something new - a fluffy cake with an old-fashioned spicy flavor, and with a new, tantalizing tang. It's the zest of hops, because the liquid in the cake is beer! Though beer is often used in chocolate cake it's new to spice cake."

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup beer

Cream shortening; add sugars gradually, blending thoroughly. Add eggs, beat thoroughly.

Mix and sift dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture alternately with beer, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Turn into greased 8x8x2-inch pan.

Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees F) for about 40 to 45 minutes.

PENUCHE FROSTING
Makes 1 2/3 cups

1/2 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup light molasses
2 tablespoons evaporated milk
2 cups sifted 10X frosting sugar (confectioner's sugar)

Melt butter in saucepan. Add sugar and molasses. Bring to a boil; reduce heat; boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; cool.

Stir in evaporated milk. Gradually stir in frosting sugar; beat until thick enough to spread.

Source: Parade magazine, Sunday, Sep 20, 1959