[Sca-cooks] OP: Chocolate Date Nut Cake

[Susan Fox-Davis]

> Well, i guess Pennsic is over, but here's one last non-Medieval post, 
> before we get back to our usual business.
>
> Back when i was a tween, i think it was in 1960 or 61, a friend of my 
> mom's brought us a cake she'd made. I really liked it and got the 
> recipe from her. The batter was made with flour, unsweetened cocoa 
> powder, and dates, poured into a square pan, topped with chocolate 
> chips and chopped walnuts (and granulated sugar, but i left that out 
> after making it that way once), and baked. I made it with success - 
> this was unusual, since i usual failed at making boxed cake mix.
>
> <snip>
>
> No site i saw had any information about its origins. I'm curious about 
> its history, even though it's 20th century. I can't check my own 
> library, as i have hardly any ordinary cookbooks besides The Joy of 
> Cooking. Ever since i began cooking in 1967 i have cooked either 
> health food or ethnic food (my first cookbook purchase - in 1967 - was 
> of an Indian cookbook and a Mexican cookbook, both of which i still 
> have, now replaced by much more authentic cookbooks). And now i cook 
> Medieval. So my knowledge of standard 20th century cooking is severely 
> limited.
>
> Anyone here have any ideas? Sorry to be so off topic, but i don't want 
> to join some modern recipe sharing list just for this.
>
> Anahita 

Without cracking the books, my gut reaction is that it might be a WWII 
invention for those "sweetless" days.  I might have guessed a west-coast 
Depression-era recipe since dates grow out here, but for the use of 
chocolate chips, which were not available before Nestle started selling 
them in 1939.

Selene