Just Peachy: Fast, Simple 1941 Dessert

The January 1941 Woman’s Home Companion includes a “January Food Calendar” with food preparation ideas for almost every day of the month. The ideas range from entire meals to desserts to snacks. It’s written like a story, following the fictional Taylor family’s day to day living.

I know this recipe is from before the United States entered the war, but I like to look at how food choices and cooking methods changed from 1940 to 1945. Plus, in 1941 Americans were following what was going on overseas, so this war was definitely not foreign to them.

Today’s recipe is from the January 10th spot. It’s something different. I hope you enjoy it.

Peach Cake and Ice Cream Dessert

• sponge cake rounds
• ice cream (We used vanilla.)
• canned halved peaches
• favorite jam or preserves (We used blackberry preserves.)

Spread ice cream over the top of the sponge cake rounds. Then take a halved peach and place it on top of the ice cream. Fill the cavity where the peach pit was with jam or preserves. We tried both softening the ice cream before spreading it and using spoonfuls straight from the carton. Both worked well. We drained the peach halves before using them, but you could drizzle the peach juice over the top as a finishing touch if you’d like.

I served these in 1956 pink Fire-King Swirl bowls from my collection.

Results

I was pleasantly surprised at how all the flavors combined to make a really interesting dessert. The soft cake, the cold ice cream, and the sweet fruit were perfect together, each one adding its unique taste and texture. Everyone in my family loved it, even the picky eaters. It was also fast and simple to make, with no cooking time needed. Many home front housewives would have had the canned peaches and jam on hand from canning in the war years, so this would be a good recipe to use after rationing and shortages made cooking more difficult.

I recommend this one. Let me know if you try it. Later this month we’ll revisit the January food calendar for another dessert.