Cake Races and Cookbooks

On Wednesday, August 25th, members of the class of 2014 will take part in a long-standing college tradition – the Freshman Cake Race and members of the Davidson community will have perused cookbooks for cake recipes.

The cake race started in 1930, not as part of any first-year orientation, but as a search for new members of the track team.  Using a variety of prizes including cakes, the track coach used the race to identify track and cross-country talent.

The plan was moderately successful. Of the top runners mentioned in the article, 5(including winner Rufus Morrow) ran track or cross country for 4 years and one became a team manager. It was enough for the coaches to continue the practice– with an important change.

The first race happened on November 8, 1930, the second race happened in September, closer to the beginning of school. For more history of the race and a list of the winners over the years, check out our Davidson Encyclopedia entry on the Cake Race.

While the race started with  cakes being just one of the possible prizes along with pies, haircuts and movie tickets, cakes took pride of place and started a competition for local bakers.  To honor those cooks, we’re going to share some recipes from cookbooks in  our manuscript and archives collections.

The first one comes from the papers of the Col. William J. Martin Family. William Martin was a chemistry professor at Davidson from 1869 to 1896. His wife’s handwritten cookbook is included in the papers and has several cake recipes including ones for a Silver cake requiring 16 egg whites and a Golden cake requiring 14 egg yolks (and perhaps best baked on the same day to use up all the ingredients).

The next recipes are from the 1928 cookbook published by the Davidson Civic Club. Like Mrs, Martin’s recipes, cooks were expected to fill in pan sizes, oven temperatures and basic cooking techniques. The club did allow for some playfulness with one recipe being in the form of a poem.

By the time of the Davidson Elementary School’s PTA cookbook in 1965, the recipes had become more detailed but with names like “Busy Day Pound Cake” reflecting changes in women’s lives. There are also reflections of changes in the grocery store with product names. Anyone remember Fluffo shortening?

One of the more recent cookbooks was published by the Office Support Staff in 1991. The book is title “Great Expectations” and includes recipes from faculty and staff. Some are old family recipes and some are newer.  I’m going to try the chocolate chip cake to contribute to this year’s cake race.