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Monday, May 18, 2015

T R A D I T I O N…TRADITION! - a cranky re-run

T  R  A  D  I  T  I  O  N…TRADITION!
 
 
I just realized I didn't get a cake this year.  Well we were in the Caribbean so...This re-run is from May, 2013.  


My family always had a traditional Birthday Cake…ANGEL FOOD CAKE with STRAWBERRY ICING.  Growing up I never knew another birthday cake.  We didn’t even call it angel food cake with strawberry icing; we just called it birthday cake.  Apparently some people find this combination to be strange for any occasion.  I’ve never met anyone outside of my family who eats cake prepared this way.


The tradition goes back to Grandma Hagy and possibly further. Research has told me the angel food cake was first popular in this country in the late 1800’s so it is possible our tradition started one generation beyond my Grandmother.


I’m not sure if this birthday cake tradition will survive.  I think my sons have given it up.  Matt’s wife does chocolate, Mike doesn’t bake and Spencer’s mom always fought the tradition.


My mom learned the cake from my father’s mom.  She passed the cake preparation down to all her daughters-in-law.  The cake part apparently is easy, especially with modern cake mixes.  It is the icing that is difficult.  The technique must be taught and practiced to master.    


My both my SIL’s still do the “cake” and so do most of their children so perhaps the tradition will survive.  I know my daughter still makes the traditional family birthday cake because she taught Mrs. Cranky how to make the strawberry icing.  That is what initiated this post.  Mrs. Cranky on her forth try has mastered the traditional cake.


She only makes it for me, but she respects the tradition, and I appreciate it.  On her first try the icing was liquid.  The next year the icing was still too loose.  Last year the cake was ok and the icing was almost right, but it was not strawberry enough.  This year she nailed it! 


The traditional Hagy Birthday Cake, Angel Food Cake with Strawberry Icing was made to perfection!


 


Somewhere in heaven a bunch of Hagys are smiling!



 

14 comments:

  1. I've started a tradition whereby if I don't get everything I should for my Birthday I just have another one! You should try it, a year is too long to wait for a slice of that cake, it looks delicious.

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  2. I love angel food cake but I've never had the strawberry frosting. My Mom used to make a chocolate mousse type of frosting and then some whipped cream. But it wasn't a tradition at our house. Just good eating when she felt ambitious. She made the cake from scratch. You do bring back wonderful memories.

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  3. i remember reading about this cake before and drooling over it then, too. :)

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  4. Tradition is VERY important, especially when it's delicious!!

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  5. My childhood birthday cake was Angel Food too but with a white (vanilla?) icing. I can still taste it.

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  6. Doberge. That's the cake we had as kids, at least the ones i remember. Now i just do chocolate cakes, or coca cola cakes, depending on whose birthday and what that person wants.

    Enjoy your cakes!

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  7. What's the recipe for the frosting....use fresh or frozen strawberries? Looks excellent.
    My b'day cake, always baked by my sister, was a banana cream cake, with whipped cream and fresh sliced bananas as the frosting.

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  8. I love family traditions. They make a family more special. Most families have something that they look forward to, and that cake looks like something to look forward to.

    Have a fabulous day Cranky. I'll be back later for my pick on the headlines. :)

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  9. You should share the recipe!! Also the women in your family must have superpowers, because angel food cake is one of the most difficult and most fickle recipes I have ever made. Stepmom's family actually has a similar Christmas angel food cake recipe that used to make an appearance every year, made with spices and maple sugar icing. Your birthday cake sounds delicious.

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  10. Traditions are important. How cool of Mrs. C to keep trying till she got it right. Think you have a keeper there joeh.

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  11. Looks excellent! I wonder if you and Mrs Cranky would share the recipe for the icing?

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  12. I probably told you back then: an angel food cake needs peanut butter icing! That's how my mom made it every year for my dad's birthday.

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  13. How very interesting with the strawberry icing; its always fun to wonder where certain traditions came from, especially one that has been around in your family for so long. Got to give Mrs. Cranky credit for her diligence in trying to get it right with the icing :)

    betty

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  14. Kudos to Mrs C for keeping at it until she got it right.
    I have an Angel Food baking pan, but have never made Angel Food cake.
    I use mine to make Lemon Chiffon Cake, which is drizzled with (not covered in) lemon icing.
    I don't think I even have an Angel Food recipe. I must find one and see what is involved.

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