Family Desserts

Old-fashioned vinegar pie from the Depression years: a smooth golden custard of eggs, sugar, melted butter and a little flour, sharpened with two tablespoons of cider vinegar so it tastes almost exactly like lemon, in a press-in lazy crust with no rolling. Baked at 350°F until the center barely shakes.

The Depression era chocolate wacky cake, mixed with a fork in the ungreased pan it bakes in: flour, sugar, cocoa, soda and salt, three wells for the vinegar, the vanilla and the oil, and a cup of cold water over everything. 350°F, one 8 or 9 inch square pan.

The old community cookbook 7UP pound cake: three sticks of butter, five eggs, fresh lemon and three quarters of a cup of fizzy lemon-lime soda instead of baking powder, baked low and slow in a Bundt pan and finished with a soda glaze.

The famous shortcut apple dumplings: apple wedges wrapped in crescent roll dough, baked in a butter, sugar and cinnamon sauce with a can of lemon-lime soda poured around the edges. Sticky bottoms, golden tops, ready in 45 minutes. Cups and grams.

Old-fashioned chocolate gravy made in a skillet with cocoa, sugar, flour and milk, ladled over hot buttermilk biscuits made with butter. The dry-whisk rule that prevents lumps, with cups and grams.

The old-fashioned chocolate mayonnaise cake: one bowl, no eggs and no butter in the batter, a cup of real mayonnaise and a cup of cold water, baked in a 9 by 13 pan and finished with a simple chocolate frosting. Dark, soft and moist for four days.

friendship bread from the very beginning: how to make the starter from nothing, the 10 day schedule for the bag on the counter, and the two soft cinnamon sugar loaves you bake on day ten.

An old-fashioned cream cheese pound cake that starts in a cold oven: three sticks of butter, a block of cream cheese, no baking powder, and a thin sugary crust on top. Cups and grams, and the rules that make it work.

Old-fashioned fried apple pies the mountain way: a thick dried apple and cinnamon filling, a simple shortening dough, half moons crimped twice with a fork and fried in a skillet until gold and blistered. Cups and grams.

The famous old-fashioned mock apple pie: a double crust filled with round butter crackers, a lemon and cream of tartar syrup, butter and cinnamon. It looks, slices and tastes like apple pie, with no apples in it.

A dark, soft, old-fashioned applesauce cake baked in a 9 by 13 pan, with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, plumped raisins and walnuts, one egg and no frosting. Cups and grams, and the raisin trick that keeps it moist for days.

Real old-fashioned banana pudding: a custard cooked on the stove, poured hot over vanilla wafers and sliced bananas, and topped with a meringue baked at 350°F until the peaks are gold. No box, no tub.