Oh wow, I do appreciate self-regulating ovens, that's for sure!

I bake from scratch, and it's actually very similar to the cake technique you mention aside from using my hands to cream the butter. I do use an electric mixer occasionally but often just do it by hand as overmixing can negatively impact cake texture.

That's funny that she thought cake mix and canned frosting was from "scratch" - I don't know anyone who would think that. I hope she was joking!

Thanks for sharing! A wood fired oven sounds so much more complicated and difficult to work with.

My dear aunt had scar tissue all over her back from baking a cake.

When she did one of those "check the stove" steps, her dress caught fire.

It was one of those stupid dress styles that had a zipper under the arm, & she couldn't get out of it;
in a panic, she ran out of the house, fanning the flames.

Luckily her brother caught her & threw her to the ground & rolled over her.

He saved her life.

She said the only thing she could remember of that summer was lying in her mother's bed under a framework that held a sheet over her but which kept the sheet from touching her skin.

She had to have the sheet to keep the flies away, but if it had touched her, it would have pulled the skin off.

She said she also remembered hearing the doctor telling her mother to "make arrangements".

She didn't give up on cooking, though;
she cooked at least 3 squares a day, baked, canned, made fruitcakes for Christmas...
she told me once that she'd worn out 5 kitchen stoves!

Senior Gal - I learned to bake cakes in a method similar to yours. I did have an LP gas oven and a hand-held mixer! I've never had the opportunity to learn to cook on a wood stove, but I'd love to.

Grandma always told me to scoop out flour and sift it three times (over wax paper!) before measuring the amount for the cake, or any baked goods.

Then the 3X pre-sifted flour was then mixed with the salt, baking powder, etc. and sifted again.

We would set the milk, eggs, and butter out the night before so they'd be room temperature when we started mixing the batter. The sugar and butter was creamed with the little electric mixer. The batter itself was beaten into submission with a large wooden spoon. Until I got older/bigger, Grandma would have to take over to be sure it was thoroughly beaten.

We made our icing by cooking sugar with a tiny bit of water and then beating egg whites until stiff. Grandma held a long, shallow serving platter on her forearm and beat the eggwhites with a flat spatula-type wire wisk. When the eggs became very frothy she'd drizzle in the liquid sugar and continue to beat until it was "just right." I think she would sometimes add a bit of vanilla, or other flavoring, and a pinch of cream of tartar.

Oh my, I can taste those cakes now. For Christmas she'd make a three-layer cake. There would be orange curd filling (home made of course!) between layers one and two; lemon curd between layers two and three, and pineapple curd on the top. Dust everything with shredded coconut and the Christmas Holiday was perfect.

We had cake only on rare occasions. Christmas, sometimes Easter, and a plainer version for birthdays. Pies were our go-to dessert.

And I really do not like the taste, smell, or look of cake mix cakes.

Ok, we're all going to Caroline's for her grandmother's Christmas cake!

That Christmas cake does sound delicious!! I don't like cake from cake mixes either. A friend of mine (from Brazil) was bragging on Cracker Barrel's gravy. To me, it is about as tasty as wallpaper paste, but gravy was no big deal to me because I grew up with an old woman who made gravy....real gravy....at every meal. I said "Cracker Barrel's gravy tastes like crap. It is instant gravy." She said no....she had bought some and "you get it in an envelope." Uh......that's what I meant. *sigh*

I did not learn how to make a cake in a wood burning oven, but I otherwise make them very similarly. My husband did not like many recipes his mother made, but once I talked him into trying my food, made from scratch, he likes those foods now. I guess growing up with a mother who microwaved fish sticks just didn't make him want to retry many of the others foods she made.

about those cake mixes...
Look at the list of ingredients.

It's a mile long, & you need a background in chemistry to know what some of them are!

What are the ingredients in a homemade scratch cake?
milk
butter
flour
sugar
eggs.
vanilla
maybe some cocoa or cinnamon or coconut.

Marilyn, that "you get it in an envelope" response reminds me of a story I read somewhere:
A woman shopping in the frozen food section of the grocery store saw a young woman pick up a boxed entree, put it in her cart, & then put it back.

When the second woman saw the first woman looking at her, she explained, "I've had a long day at work. I just don't feel like cooking tonight."

Today's wood stoves are designed for heat, not cooking? You could probably do water on top for old fashioned drip coffee. Glad I can push a button and turn a knob for cooking! No scratch here for a cake, a box is perfect. Like, turn it into a Rum Cake! Who reads labels? Frosting is easy to make, not buy. The mention of pie scares people, now that is way better home made, especially the crust. And I use the paper wrapper from the butter stick to grease the pans.

My grandmother for some reason never made many cakes--guess Grandpa preferred pies--she did make a lot of those. Always Crisco, nothing else. I still use Crisco. But she had all sorts of fruits and berries. I think she baked cookies,

Did you add this to your blog? Hope so. Do enjoy and remembering some of my experiences with my grandparents.
AND my mother in law. Right after we got married, 60 years ago, my MIL wanted to bake me a Angel Food Cake. She did not have the eggs, but she had a box. The box contained 2 packets and instructions.. MIL had baked cakes for years and did not need instructions. She just mixed both packages together and beat, and beat, and beat. She started to get up set because it would not form peaks. THEN she read the instructions. One was egg whites, and one was cake mix. She was so upset. But she poured everything into a pan. After cooking for awhile, she took it out. The cake didn't taste too bad, but the jelly mixture under the cake did not taste good at all. We laughed over that for years. The next one came from the bakery but she was a good cook.

'I use the paper wrapper from the butter stick to grease the pans.'

Yes!

My Aunt Ruth, the one who was burned, told me one day that she was shocked when she told her granddaughter to grease the cake pan with butter paper & the granddaughter said, "but Gran, what's butter paper?"

A few years back I baked a cake, a pie and a chicken in my fireplace insert. I had a good hot fire going, no thermometer. I shoved the hot coals clear to the back. I put fire brick on the floor of the stove up so high and put an oven rack in it to set my baking items on. They baked well, just a touch of smokey flavor. I just wanted to see if I could do it if I had to and I did. Have not baked again that way but know if I should ever want to it can be done.

Sue

I learned how to make a cake "the proper way" according to my home ec teacher. None of the box stuff for us.

Does anyone remember using Cake Flour? It was milled finer than regular flour and I used it whenever I made cakes. Don't do that as much anymore, but I always felt a sense of accomplishment when I finished one.

Used both spoon and a hand held mixer.