1946 to 1962 Cake #2

Huguenot Torte

This is a quintessential Southern coastal dessert. Many families from South Carolina thought that this torte was brought over by their French Huguenot ancestors who fled to Charleston in the 17th century for religious freedom. Others believe that a woman tried an Ozark Pudding on vacation and brought a recipe back with her to Charleston. It gained popularity when it was published in a Junior League cookbook. The following is an excerpt from the book that explains this more:

"The Huguenot Torte was first baked by Americans in 1950 after it was published in one of the best known Junior League cookbooks, Charleston Receipts. That cookbook wasn't the first Junior League book- the first was from Augusta, Georgia, in 1940 and called Recipes from a Southern Kitchen. But the Charleston Receipts would be the most successful of the League cookbooks, and it is still in print.

Junior League cookbooks have helped share regional cakes and other recipes with Americans in other parts of the country. And they have been key fund-raising tools to raise money to benefit local communities.

The Junior League itself was founded on service in 1901 by Mary Harriman, a young New York socialite who gathered 80 like-minded women to help the new immigrants living on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Her friend Eleanor Roosevelt would be inspired to join the league and volunteer at New York's Rivington Street Settlement House."

My Experience:

This cake is described as a cross between a pecan pie and a Macaroon with the addition of apples. The recipe only has two eggs but it asks for them to be mixed for quite awhile to get them extra fluffy. After that the nuts and apples get folded gently in. This allows the cake to stay extra airy and macaroon-like. It was not difficult to make at all, especially with a food processor to chop up the pecans and the apples.

The cake had nice flavor, it is hard to go wrong with apples and pecans whether you eat them plain, or in a salad, or in a cake. The texture was airy but the edges were somewhat sticky. This cake is easy to eat and would be paired well with vanilla ice cream.