![IMG_1390](https://i0.wp.com/www.mennotoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/IMG_1390.jpg?resize=640%2C360&ssl=1)
After creating this snowy post, I decided it was time to bake a bit of comfort food. I’d say that the category of comfort food is firmly within a traditional Mennonite’s wheelhouse, so I turned to a cookbook I’d borrowed from my aunt and still haven’t returned: Treasured Mennonite Recipes: All-Time Favorite Recipes from the Mennonite Community Relief Sales. Note the American spelling. This ain’t the Mennonite Treasury!
Thing is, I’m not great at cooking, so I chose what is probably supposed to be a child’s recipe: Wacky Cake. Is this really a traditional Mennonite recipe? I have my doubts, but it’s in the cookbook, so I collected the ingredients:
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.mennotoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/IMG_1209.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1)
The genius of this recipe is that you mix it all in your cake pan. So let’s get started!
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.mennotoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/IMG_1210.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1)
All dry ingredients go into the pan! (I’m mixing on my stovetop because I like the bright light! Plus I don’t have much counter space… which is not a big deal, because as I said before, I’m not really big into kitchen-y things anyway.)
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.mennotoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/IMG_1212.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1)
Okay, so now the mixing part. This turned out to be a little more challenging than mixing in an actual bowl… so maybe you wouldn’t want a child doing this for you. Not sure.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.mennotoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/IMG_1213.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1)
Next, I had to make three divots for the wet ingredients.
I mixed them in this little measuring cup.
Nicely poured them into the divots.
At this point things began to get progressively messier.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.mennotoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/IMG_1222.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1)
But in the end, it looked like what a chocolate cake, prior to baking, ought to look like.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.mennotoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/IMG_1223.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1)
And ta-da! Here it is fresh out of the oven.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.mennotoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/IMG_1227.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1)
I had to test it.
And discovered my favourite part was the crispy top of the cake.
Now things were getting progressively worse, in a wholly unforeseen way,
I systematically sliced the top off every piece, then dusted them with icing sugar and ate the pieces like cookies. I don’t think this was the intention of the recipe. However, it worked out fine for us because Andrew likes his chocolate cake in a bowl with milk so he enjoyed the pieces I left behind. We make a good team.
And thus concludes my comfort baking adventure with the Treasured Mennonite Recipes cookbook!
Stay warm and keep out of the ditch!
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