A trip down memory lane – Pink Anthill Cupcakes

When my mother passed away, she left for me a small vintage cookbook collection, with books from the 60’s and 70’s, and also her old recipe notebook.

I love this notebook – it has recipes from both of my grandmas, from mom, and even from myself – when I was a little girl. Most part of the recipes my mother collected from friends and family and some she clipped from old magazines. I’ve had tasted a lot of the dishes from the notebook by mom’s hands, some she has just copied but never tried.

Well, since I’m just fascinated about old recipes, why not jumping  into a journey through the family notebook?

I’ve decided to start the adventure with this one: Conceição’s Anthill Cake. Conceição was the housemaid at a mom’s friend house. She was already in her fifties, and people said she was a retired nun. She always made the famous cake when we visited –  a moist and tender coconut cake with chocolate jimmies in the batter, to resemble an anthill.

I didn’t have any chocolate jimmies, so I improvised with pink sprinkles I had left from another recipe. The frosting  comes from the notebook too: a never tested before recipe from some unknown 80’s magazine, kind of a marshmallow cream with red flavored Jell-O.

Conceição’s Anthill Cake – 24 cupcakes

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 4 egg whites
• 200g (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 100g desiccated grated coconut
• 1 cup milk
• 50g chocolate jimmies (I used pink sprinkles)

For the cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).  Line two 12 cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour and baking powder.

In the electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Set aside.

In another bowl in the electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the coconut.

Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk. End with flour. Mix in the chocolate jimmies.

With a large spoon or spatula, fold the beaten egg whites in the batter.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes come out clean. Take the cupcakes from the tin and let cool over a wire rack before frosting.

Pink Frosting  (from somewhere in the 80’s)

• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 tbsp red flavored Jell-o/ gelatin (I used strawberry)
• 2 egg whites, beaten to soft peaks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (didn’t use)

In a saucepan, mix sugar, gelatin and water. Cook over medium heat until it boils and the sugar and gelatin are fully dissolved. In a steady stream, add the gelatin mixture to the beaten egg whites, with the electric mixer on high speed. Beat until it looks like a meringue and it’s cold, about 10 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix well. Use immediately. Decorate as desired.