Cake for a Lamb or Rabbit Mold This recipe is from the 1953 edition of "Joy Of Cooking". It does not appear in later versions, sadly. Children love this cake. The metal mold, in which this cake is baked in the form of a lamb, is made of 2 parts. The lamb is covered with white icing and sprinkled generously with grated coconut. A blue ribbon with a little bell or a garland of decorative icing roses is placed around the lamb's neck, a redhot or colored icing forms its lips, and raisins or chocolate chips are used for its eyes. The 2 halves of a standard mold hold in all 7 cupfuls of water. This rule will fill the front half. The heat will cause the cake to rise and fill the second half. Cream until fluffy: 1 cup sugar 5 tablespoons butter Sift before measuring: 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour Resift with: 2 teaspoons double acting baking powder Combine: 2/3 cup milk (Anne Erwin annotated: "NOT enough - at least 1 cup!" 1 teaspoon vanilla Add the sifted ingredients to the butter mixture in about 3 parts alternately with thirds of the liquids. Beat the batter after each addition until it is blended. Whip until stiff but not dry: 2 large egg whites 1/4 teaspoon salt Fold the egg whites into the batter. Have ready a well-greased or oiled lamb mold. To do this use a pastry brush and be rather lavish about it. (I used bacon fat and it worked fine -- put it on while still liquid and sift on flour, then the fat will solidify holding the flour.) Place the batter in the front half, cover it with the second half. Bake the cake in a moderate or 350 degree oven for 50 minutes. Do not be at all alarmed if when you take the cake from the mold the lamb promptly loses its head. It probably will. If you lift off the top mold and let the cake cool first this danger may be averted. If the head does break off, stick it on with some icing, using a few toothpicks as armatures. Prepare: White Icing (see below), or Seven Minute Icing (see below) This makes a light coat. Increase the proportions by 1/2 for a heavier coating of wool. Spread the icing. Press into it lightly: 1/4 to 1/2 lb. grated coconut If the tail is lost to sight, make a new one with additional icing. Bed the lamb on ferns or shredded green paper and place a few small flowers about it. One newlywed had to call upon all the inhabitants of her apartment house to assist in the "accouchement" of her first lamb. The neighbor who produced an old-fashioned hatpin to keep the head from toppling until the icing hardened was voted the heroine of the hour. At that, the ungrateful husband said the joint work of art looked "like an unknown grave in winter," but even he had to admit that a second attempt was a triumph. Rabbit molds of the same capacity are also available, and the use of coconut, which is optional, gives an angora effect. ---------------- White Icing I (sufficient to cover the top & sides of 2 9" layers) The following has the consistency of a marshmallow icing. As this and the Seven Minute White Icing answer all purposes, they are the only white icings I use. They may be used interchangeably. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then boil to the thread stage without stirring (see Rule For White Icing below): 2 cups sugar 1 cup water Whip until frothy: 2 egg whites 1/8 teaspoon salt Add the sirup in a thin stream. Whip constantly. When it is all whipped in, add: (1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar or a few drops lemon juice) Add: 1 teaspoon vanilla Follow the Rule For White Icing below. ----------------- Seven Minute White Icing (sufficient to cover the top & sides of 2 9" layers) A very fluffy, delightful icing that never fails. Please read the comment under White Icing I above. One half this amount will make a light icing for a 9" loaf cake. Use the full amount for a heavy icing. Place in the top of a double boiler and beat until thoroughly blended: 2 unbeaten egg whites 1 1/2 cups sugar 5 tablespoons cold water 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (1 1/2 teaspoons light corn sirup) Place these ingredients over rapidly boiling water. Beat them constantly with a rotary beater or with a wire whisk for 7 minutes. Remove the icing from the fire. Add: 1 teaspoon vanilla Continue beating until the icing is the right consistency to spread. ------------------ Rule For White Icing Boil the amount of water and sugar given in the recipes until the sirup forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water, or when it forms a thread about 3 inches long when dropped from a spoon. This thread should be thin enough to curl or wave. In either case the sirup will have reached about 238 degrees. Have the egg whites at room temperature. Add the salt to the egg whites. Egg whites may be whipped until they are stiff, whipped until they are frothy, or they need not be whipped at all before the sirup is added. The sirup is poured upon them while it is very hot in a very fine stream, the eggs being beaten constantly during the addition of the sirup and afterward until the icing becomes creamy and the right consistency to spread. If you have any difficulty in keeping the bowl steady, place it on a folded wet dish cloth. When the last of the sirup has been added, 1/8 teaspoonful of cream of tartar to 2 egg whites or a few drops of lemon juice or a few teaspoonfuls of corn sirup may be added to keep the icing from becoming gritty. Beat in the flavoring as the icing cools. When the sirup has been cooked to the right stage, the icing will spread readily and will stay where it is put. If it has not been boiled long enough and the icing does not thicken, beat it in strong sunlight or near an open oven door, or place the bowl over, not in, boiling water and beat the icing until it becomes the right consistency to spread. You may do this in a double boiler. If the sirup has been cooked too long and the icing threatens to harden too soon, beat in a few drops of lemon juice or a teaspoonful or more of boiling water. Have a bowl of very hot water in readiness before making a white icing. You are then prepared for any emergency. Never place a thin or doubtful icing on a cake. Do everything you can to thicken it before taking this step. When the icing begins to thicken around the sides of the bowl, it is usually ready to be spread, but if you are in doubt about it, spread a small quantity only and see how it behaves. A little patience at this stage of the icing will save endless trouble and will insure you a good-looking cake. You may spread the sides of the cake first with a spatula or a knife or you may pile the icing on top of the cake and spread it quickly, working it towards the edges and sides of the cake. Reverse cakes that have uneven tops and ice the bottom. Dip the spatula in hot water as the icing thickens. Beat in a very little hot water, if necessary, to soften the last icing in the bowl. If raisins, nut meats, or other ingredients are to be added to the icing, wait until the last moment to do so. Acid or oil is apt to thin the icing beyond repair if the fruit is added to soon. When icing large or small cakes decorate them with nut meats, with candied cherries, angelica etc. ---------------- This recipe is from the Internet: I've had several people ask me for the original recipes for the Griswold lamb, rabbit and Santa cake molds. Well below are the recipes that came with the original molds. Good luck. I've never tried the recipes, so if you do, please email me and let me know how they turn out. Greg {recipes from AUNT ELLEN’S COOKBOOK insert for GRISWOLD cake molds} LAMB OR RABBIT CAKES ½ c Shortening 1 ½ c Sugar 2 ½ c Flour 3 Eggs ½ tsp. Salt 4 Tsp. Baking powder 1 c Milk 1 Tsp. Vanilla Cream shortening, add sugar gradually. Cream well. Add beaten yolks and cream again. Alternately add the sifted dry ingredients, and then milk to which the flavoring has been added. Lastly, carefully fold in beaten egg whites. Bake on face 25 minutes and on back 20 minutes. Placing a toothpick in each ear will support that portion of the cake. (I would recommend using PAM or another shortening to the mold. I've also heard that if you heat the molds prior to adding the cake mix, it will not stick.) ICING 1 ½ c Sugar Flavoring (your choice) 1 c Water Whites of 2 eggs ¼ lb of shredded coconut Boil sugar and water until it threads. Beat whites of two eggs until stiff. Pour sugar syrup over egg whites gradually. Beat until cool. Ice cake all over and throw on the coconut. Use raisins for the eyes and a piece of candied cherry or raisin for the mouth. --------------