Lamb Cake

 {Read on!  Complete instructions included!}

On Easter Sunday, my mom, sister, and I got to talking about the "Lamb Cake" that my grandma made for Easter when my sister and I were kids.  I inherited the unique pan for this 3-D cake, but I thought that there were no instructions included, and I have never tried to make the cake.

I did a search on-line, and found out that there are other people who are looking for instructions -- as well as people who offer their help and suggestions.

Before I searched too far, I decided to make sure that my pan contained no instructions.  When I dug the pan out,  I was so surprised to find out that the plain(?) piece of cardboard that was sandwiched in between the two sections of pan actually had printed instructions on the other side!  I'm sure this was cut out from the original cake pan box.  Though the blue ink isn't faded at all, the cardboard is quite yellowed.

I'm sure the pan is old - probably more than 50 years.  My grandma was "famous" for keeping things in their original boxes - so I have a feeling that this pan was handed down to her - since it only came with the cut-out instructions.  There is nothing identifying it as "Wilton" or any other manufacturer - just FYI.

Here are the instructions

(copied exactly from my printed cardboard!):

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".....Here's the way to bake a LAMB CAKE

2 cups sifted cake flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup milk

Heat oven to 375F.  Grease pans well and then flour.

Mix flour (which has been sifted and then spooned into cup for measuring), baking powder (tartrate or phosphate type), and salt.  Sift together three times.  Cream butter, add sugar a small amount at a time, and continue creaming until mixture is light and fluffy.  Add beaten eggs and extract.  Add flour and milk alternately.  Be sure to mix lightly and keep the batter smooth.

Pour batter into FACE HALF of the mold.  Fill to the top being careful to get batter into nose and ears of mold.  Left over batter may be baked as cup cakes.  Place BACK HALF of mold on the top -- bake face down -- place on try and bake from 40-45 minutes.  Remove from oven after 40 minutes and gently remove back half to test.  If done, replace back half and allow to stand for 5 minutes before removing the cake.  If not done, replace back half and return to oven for 5 minutes.

When removing cake from molds, remove back half first and then front half, carefully.  Allow cake to cool standing erect.

When the Lamb Cake is cool -- ice with a boiled icing, cover with cocoanut if desired -- use 1/2 raisin for the eyes and a small piece of cherry for mouth.

For a white cake, substitute 4 egg whites for the 2 eggs and use lemon or orange extract in place of the vanilla extract.

If a spice cake is desired, substitute one cup brown sugar for one cup of white sugar and add spices to dry ingredients.

BAKING TIPS

• Cake sinks in center - inferior butter, improper mixing, improper oven temperature, over-baking or inferior flour.
• Cake sticks in pans -- pans too dry or haven't been washed clean enough.
• Never store your molds closed.  Leave them open so the air can circulate.
• When you use molds for the first time wash them thoroughly in hot soapy water.
• It is advisable to grease the molds with your hands to make sure all the contours are covered.
• These are hard strong aluminum molds made by a special process so that they won't pit, stick or discolor.  With ordinary care they will last for years and years.

You can expect perfect results when you use your own favorite cake mix!"

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{Isn't that the best news you've heard all day?  You can use your own cake mix.  Hurray!  That means you don't have to sift the flour THREE times as they suggest!}

And there you have it.  Maybe these instructions will prove helpful to one of you.  I debated about posting them after Easter (since Easter was the time that our family would've served this cake).  However, in my on-line hunting, I found people that also made the cake for 1st birthdays, and for Christmas.  My sis suggested a baby shower, too!  Cu-ute! 

When I got the cake pan and instructions out to show my mom and sis on Mothers Day, my niece and nephew seemed very interested in the possibility of making this cake.  They are the kiddos that came over for some cupcake baking in January.  I love that they're already looking forward to the next time they can come over and bake with Aunt Sal.  Love, love, love that!

Happy Baking!

If this post was helpful to you,
please 

And...if you've ever baked this cake,

I'd love to hear how it worked out!