Ice Water Cake
By Jan D'Atri
Hang on! You’re doing great. We’ve almost made it through another summer!
Can you imagine our Arizona ancestors? I often wonder how they ever got by without air conditioning and cold water to drink. We, on the other hand, get to plunk a few cubes of ice into a glass anytime we want. But would you ever imagine that ice could actually be the main ingredient in a dessert recipe?
This month I share a beyond-heavenly homemade angel food cake that turns water into…yumminess! It’s called the Ice Water Cake, and it comes to us from a third-generation Arizona ranching family that knew how precious ice could be way back when.
Here’s the sweet story from Arizona native Marta Owens:
My mom, Dorothy Millsaps, made this Ice Water Cake during WWII.
We lived deep in the Superstition Mountains while my father, Rollie Olson, worked as a cowboy. (Dad was one of the last original Arizona cowboys.)
My mother was a city girl but was brave and innovative and adapted to ranch life, living without electricity and indoor plumbing. Cooking was a challenge. Although we had no milk, the spring produced cold water. My mother made her own cake flour during those days using cornstarch and whole flour. We raised chickens for the eggs. She beat the egg whites with a fork and a pie pan, and I loved the way she kept that pie pan spinning while she whipped up those eggs. Sugar was rationed, and she used it sparingly.
Mom came up with this recipe using angel food as a guide. It has been the Olson family birthday cake for the past 70 years as we pass it down from one generation to the other. (It is a bit tricky but has become easier with the use of electric mixers. My mother used a large wooden spoon.)
We are longtime Arizona natives, and our history is centered in the Payson area and the Superstition Mountains, where we raised cattle in the Reeves Ranch, Tortilla Flat, J/F Ranch and Hewitt Station area.
Life for us was full of adventure and love. I’m just glad that the security we shared was never based on money – just a family of six doing the best we could in the wilds of Arizona. Mom left us in 1991 and is missed.
I say we keep Dorothy’s memory alive by enjoying a homemade angel food cake that’s absolutely heaven sent!
Olson’s Ice Water Cake
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups ice water
3 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
4 egg whites, stiffly beaten
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Cream together shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Remove ice and add 1 1/2 cups cold water alternately with sifted flour in three additions, beating well after each addition. Add baking powder. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.
Bake in three greased 9-inch layer pans (or one 9 x 14 sheet pan) at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Important: Do not over bake.
Cool Whip Frosting
4 oz. package vanilla instant pudding
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cold milk
8 oz. container of whipped topping
Combine pudding mix, sugar and milk in a bowl. Beat on low speed until well blended, about 2 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Spread on cake.
(Jan’s note: I got a little fancy and made it a triple layer cake, but it’s just as delicious with one layer and maybe even topped with fresh
strawberries!)
