On the War Cake

War Cake should have received a medal during World War II. The cake was an unsung hero during those months of rationed milk, butter and eggs. Everyone on our block in Southern California made it often and shipped it overseas, where it pleased legions of servicemen with palates hungry for home.

Concocted by some unknown genius, this cake is a triumph of hope over skimpy ingredients. Today it’s a perfect cake for those who are watching their weight and cholesterol, or just want a small, satisfying sweet that keeps extremely well.

The recipe makes two 8x4x2-inch loaves, which will barely rise two-thirds in the pan. Wrapped snugly in plastic wrap, the loaf-cakes keep well at room temperature for at least two weeks. The cakes are moist, heavy and pungent with spices, and they must be served thinly sliced to be presented at their best.

Another dish from the 1940s that’s too good to forget is zucchini ring. This is a basic recipe that has been successfully made with every cooked vegetable that can be mashed.

It is important to serve a well-matched accompaniment with it. Shrimp and mustard sauce, for instance, is quite pleasing with zucchini. The dish looks inviting, and the flavors blend and brighten each other. If you don’t have a ring mold, use any 1 1/2-quart baking dish and follow the directions. It will take a little longer to bake in a regular baking dish because a ring mold conducts heat more readily.

The style of shaping food in different molds and forms goes back centuries and continued to be in style through the ‘30s and ‘40s. Molded food was considered “nicely tailored,” but today the architectural look is a symmetrical arrangement of food on a plate. This is more practical, partly because most kitchens today are small, and finding places to store all those molds, as we did 50 years back, is rarely possible.

War Cake and Zucchini Ring With Shrimp and Emalee’s Mustard Sauce are recipes that belong in the “to make again” recipe file: good to look at and good to taste. The fact that they contain little fat is what the Creoles call “ lagniappe “ -- something extra.

These are rather moist when they come out of the oven; if you can bake them a day in advance of serving, they improve.

WAR CAKE

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup water

1 cup raisins

1/4 cup shortening

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Place brown sugar, water, raisins, shortening, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to boil. Cook gently 5 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool until comfortably warm to touch.

Grease and flour 2 (8x4-inch) loaf pans. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and soda. Add to cooled sugar mixture, beating well until no drifts of flour are visible and batter is smooth. Stir in walnuts.

Spread evenly in prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees until wood pick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool in pans about 10 minutes, then turn out onto racks to cool completely. Slice very thin when serving. Makes 2 cakes, serving 16.

Each serving contains about:

237 calories; 108 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 44 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 0.37 gram fiber.

Don’t be too fussy when deveining shrimp. Some people mangle the shrimp getting out the last unappetizing but harmless speck.

ZUCCHINI RING WITH SHRIMP AND EMALEE’S MUSTARD SAUCE

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1 1/2 pounds zucchini, trimmed, cooked, smoothly mashed (should yield 2 1/2 cups mashed)

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh marjoram or 3/4 teaspoon dried, crumbled

2 tablespoons finely grated onion

2 eggs, well beaten

Boiled Shrimp

Emalee’s Mustard Sauce

Grease 1 1/2-quart ring mold with butter. Sprinkle bread crumbs evenly over buttered mold.

Combine zucchini, salt, marjoram, onion and eggs in bowl and mix thoroughly. Spoon zucchini mixture into prepared mold. Set mold in shallow pan containing hot water that comes up side of mold about 2 inches.

Bake at 350 degrees until firm, 35 to 45 minutes. Turn zucchini out of mold onto platter. Fill center with Boiled Shrimp and spoon some of Emalee’s Mustard Sauce over shrimp. Pass remaining sauce at table. Makes 4 servings.

Each serving contains about:

441 calories; 1,527 mg sodium; 463 mg cholesterol; 18 grams fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 53 grams protein; 0.86 gram fiber.

Boiled Shrimp

Salt

4 quarts water

2 pounds raw unshelled shrimp

Add salt to water in large pot and bring to boil. Add shrimp and immediately turn heat down so water is boiling gently. Cook shrimp only until pink, about 1 minute. Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle.

Shell and devein shrimp. Gently pull shells apart, and with knife tip, remove black vein that runs down center of back. (Some shrimp will not have this vein.)

Emalee’s Mustard Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Whisk olive oil, mustard, vinegar, water and salt to taste in mixing bowl until well blended. Stir in parsley.

Cover and refrigerate until needed. Whisk again to blend ingredients before using. Makes about 3/4 cup.