Mom loved to bake. She loved cookbooks. About forty five years ago, she purchased a
dozen cookbooks, Family Favorites, to support the Hills Christian School in Hills, Minnesota from a friend, Mrs. Mina Sjaarda. Mom and I spent hours poring over the cookbook, experimenting and choosing favourites including Mrs. Sjaarda’s Chocolate Cake, found on page 91. This cake became a family favourite, gracing our table for all occasions.
A few years ago, my niece was married in Vancouver and the reception was held in the very
prestigious Waterfront Hotel. The Siebenga family was seated at one table and enjoyed a very up-scale meal. The dessert was served – not a creamy, over decorated confection, but instead, a
chocolate delicacy on a pristine white plate. We all looked at it, looked at each other, but said nothing. The master of ceremonies announces, “The dessert has been especially made by the chefs of the Waterfront from a recipe submitted by the bride. This delicious cake is a tradition of her family and was served by her grandmother every time they visited the farm. Enjoy.” Yes, it was Mrs. Sjaarda’s Chocolate Cake.
I now live in Bolivia, South America and live in a small Quechua community on the edge of the Amazon Rain Forest. We have propane stove so we have an oven in which I can bake so I introduced the North American type of cake to the community. They love cake, especially chocolate cake or banana cake. I need something that works well; that I know will work is there is a problem with the oven temperature. The dirtiest page of my cookbook is page 91, although I know the recipe by heart.
One day the ladies of the community asked me to teach them to bake cake. That sounds like an easy task except that they have no measuring spoons, no measuring cups, and no ‘normal’ oven. We use a traditional mud oven. First, we fill the oven with wood and heat it up until the inside of the oven turns red. Then we remove all the wood and let the oven cool off until the correct
temperature is reached. This is all done without an oven thermometer. You put your hand in the oven and guess! Counting to 7 works just about right.
Thankfully, the recipe doesn’t have to be exact so using their spoons works. There would be a little more of some ingredients and a little less of others, but I thought it would
all work out in the end. The local women were amazed at the ingredients needed for a cake. They thought they would use flour, sugar, eggs, and chocolate but did not understand using baking soda and baking powder. We worked together to bake the cake. It didn’t take as long to bake since the oven acted like a convection oven but it did not rise as well as one baked in a
‘normal’ oven. The taste – delicious! All the school children were thrilled to be our tasters.
I shared the recipe, along with Banana Cake and Lazy Daisy Cake, with ladies in the community but it was difficult for them to make them. Wedding presents and birthday gifts consisted of measuring cups, measuring spoons, baking pans and recipes.
The other day we attended a church anniversary in the city of Santa Cruz. Church anniversaries are large events and cake is very important. Tradition says that you purchase ones resembling wedding cakes; these can be very expensive. But an anniversary does not happen without cake. Often we discuss the amount of money spent by churches on something that doesn’t seem like a
necessity to us.
Pastor Juan and his wife, Rosie, are good friends and they invited us to the anniversary. We attended the service and enjoyed the delicious traditional chicken dinner consisting of lots of rice, a little salad, and a piece of chicken. We wondered if Juan and Rosie would purchase cakes. We didn’t think so. When the meal was over, they entered with the cakes. They looked very good but then you cannot tell since often the icing has melted in the heat. The announcement was made. These cakes were proudly made by Rosie and two other ladies of the church using the recipe of ‘Hermana Margarita’. They did an excellent job!
Chocolate cake – fromthe chefs of the Waterfront Hotel to the churches in the jungle of Bolivia. To some it may be Wacky Cake, Never Fail Chocolate Cake, Eggless Chocolate Cake – but to the Siebenga family it will always be Mrs. Sjaarda’s Chocolate Cake.
dozen cookbooks, Family Favorites, to support the Hills Christian School in Hills, Minnesota from a friend, Mrs. Mina Sjaarda. Mom and I spent hours poring over the cookbook, experimenting and choosing favourites including Mrs. Sjaarda’s Chocolate Cake, found on page 91. This cake became a family favourite, gracing our table for all occasions.
A few years ago, my niece was married in Vancouver and the reception was held in the very
prestigious Waterfront Hotel. The Siebenga family was seated at one table and enjoyed a very up-scale meal. The dessert was served – not a creamy, over decorated confection, but instead, a
chocolate delicacy on a pristine white plate. We all looked at it, looked at each other, but said nothing. The master of ceremonies announces, “The dessert has been especially made by the chefs of the Waterfront from a recipe submitted by the bride. This delicious cake is a tradition of her family and was served by her grandmother every time they visited the farm. Enjoy.” Yes, it was Mrs. Sjaarda’s Chocolate Cake.
I now live in Bolivia, South America and live in a small Quechua community on the edge of the Amazon Rain Forest. We have propane stove so we have an oven in which I can bake so I introduced the North American type of cake to the community. They love cake, especially chocolate cake or banana cake. I need something that works well; that I know will work is there is a problem with the oven temperature. The dirtiest page of my cookbook is page 91, although I know the recipe by heart.
One day the ladies of the community asked me to teach them to bake cake. That sounds like an easy task except that they have no measuring spoons, no measuring cups, and no ‘normal’ oven. We use a traditional mud oven. First, we fill the oven with wood and heat it up until the inside of the oven turns red. Then we remove all the wood and let the oven cool off until the correct
temperature is reached. This is all done without an oven thermometer. You put your hand in the oven and guess! Counting to 7 works just about right.
Thankfully, the recipe doesn’t have to be exact so using their spoons works. There would be a little more of some ingredients and a little less of others, but I thought it would
all work out in the end. The local women were amazed at the ingredients needed for a cake. They thought they would use flour, sugar, eggs, and chocolate but did not understand using baking soda and baking powder. We worked together to bake the cake. It didn’t take as long to bake since the oven acted like a convection oven but it did not rise as well as one baked in a
‘normal’ oven. The taste – delicious! All the school children were thrilled to be our tasters.
I shared the recipe, along with Banana Cake and Lazy Daisy Cake, with ladies in the community but it was difficult for them to make them. Wedding presents and birthday gifts consisted of measuring cups, measuring spoons, baking pans and recipes.
The other day we attended a church anniversary in the city of Santa Cruz. Church anniversaries are large events and cake is very important. Tradition says that you purchase ones resembling wedding cakes; these can be very expensive. But an anniversary does not happen without cake. Often we discuss the amount of money spent by churches on something that doesn’t seem like a
necessity to us.
Pastor Juan and his wife, Rosie, are good friends and they invited us to the anniversary. We attended the service and enjoyed the delicious traditional chicken dinner consisting of lots of rice, a little salad, and a piece of chicken. We wondered if Juan and Rosie would purchase cakes. We didn’t think so. When the meal was over, they entered with the cakes. They looked very good but then you cannot tell since often the icing has melted in the heat. The announcement was made. These cakes were proudly made by Rosie and two other ladies of the church using the recipe of ‘Hermana Margarita’. They did an excellent job!
Chocolate cake – fromthe chefs of the Waterfront Hotel to the churches in the jungle of Bolivia. To some it may be Wacky Cake, Never Fail Chocolate Cake, Eggless Chocolate Cake – but to the Siebenga family it will always be Mrs. Sjaarda’s Chocolate Cake.
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