When my Mum died, most of my inheritance consisted of a massive collection of cookbooks that she had inherited from her mother. If you need a recipe from the 20s, 30s, or 40s, I’m your girl. A lot of them are teaching women how to get the most out of their new “electric ice box”. I’ve often joked that my grandmother could have fed Coxey’s army with a pound of ground beef and a handful of oatmeal – and I know where she found the recipe!
And so, without further ado, I give you . . Ribbon Ice Box Cake. I found this in a booklet featuring “Pet Condensed Milk; Irradiated for extra Vitamin D”. The recipe includes amount for fixing two, four, or six servings, but I always make six. No more trouble to make enough for several meals.
Mix together . . . 2 whole eggs, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well drained, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Save the pineapple juice.
Cook over boiling water for about 4 minutes, or until thickened. Chill.
Meanwhile, dissolve 1 package orange gelatin in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1/2 cup pineapple juice, 1-1/2 teaspoons grated orange rind (optional), 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt.
Cool, then add 1/2 cup Pet Milk. Grease an 8×4 bread pan with Crisco or similar product. Pam doesn’t work.
Chill until mixture begins to thicken. Beat with a rotary egg beater or and electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Pour half of the gelatin into your prepared pan, and cover with a layer of graham crackers. Top the graham crackers with the pineapple mixture, cover the pineapple with a layer of crackers, and then pour in the rest of the gelatin. Chill until firm.
To serve, run a knife around the edge of the pan, cover with a plate and flip it over.
This is one of The Squire’s favorite desserts. Enjoy!
thisendoftheswamp 
Sounds like back then irradiated was a good thing.
Apparently it was. Of course it begs the question of how they increase the Vitamin D today.
Oh that does sound good. I have a couple of my grandma’s cookbooks and the recipes always work!
You are the beneficiary of cooking history and I hope one day those cookbooks can go into a heritage museum for food. I am wondering how much food recipes have changed over the years as compared to yesteryears! I guess in the old days, there were less processed ready foods and everything has to be made from scratch.
We prefer to use a little ‘boxed food” as possible. I still make all of our bread. I think food tastes better when you make it yourself – and you know what’s in it.