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Vanity Cakes Recipe

February 14, 2018 By Margaret Darazs
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“Laura and Mary made new starry papers for the shelves, and Ma made vanity cakes.”

On the Banks of Plum Creek

Vanity cakes were a special party treat for Laura that she remembered fondly even in later years. In a letter now available in the Detroit Public Library, she writes about how the cakes bubbled up when they were fried until they were so light and fluffy like a bubble with nothing inside – hence the name, vanity cakes.

Vanity Cakes Recipe inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Vanity Cakes Recipe: Yield six cakes

Vanity cakes are the perfect treat to add to a Little House on the Prairie birthday party, unit study, or gathering. Note: this recipe is adapted from a recipe in The Little House Cookbook, but makes some modern substitutes like oil instead of lard.  We also included a strawberry sauce you can use as a topping if you’d like, or try the blueberry sauce topping shared in Laura’s Wedding Cake recipe.

Ingredients for simple vanity cakes inspired by Little House on the Prairie

Ingredients for Making Vanity Cakes

  • 1 egg, large
  • Pinch Salt
  • ½ Cup All-purpose flour, plus additional for cutting board
  • 1 Cup Powdered sugar
  • 2-4 cups of oil
  • ½ Cup Strawberry dipping sauce (optional)

Making Vanity Cakes As Laura Ingalls Wilder Did

Step One

Fill your fryer or dutch oven with about 3 inches of oil. Heat to 350 F. Caution – use extreme caution around hot oil and closely supervise any children who may be helping you.

Whipping the eggs and sugar to make vanity cakes like Laura Ingalls Wilder

Step Two

In the bowl, beat the egg and salt for 1 minute. Whisk in ¼ cup of flour thoroughly. Add the remaining flour, one tablespoon of flour at a time, until the dough is too stiff to beat, but too soft to roll out. There’s a balance here between too much and too little.

Dropping vanity cakes into the flour, preparing to fry them.

Step Three

Cover a cutting board with flour. With a teaspoon, spoon the batter into the flour on the board in six separate portions. Carefully turn each spoonful of dough over to cover it with flour, then flatten. Slowly drop it into the hot oil, cooking one at a time.

Fry the vanity cakes until they are golden brown and have bubbled up.

Step Four

Cook for approximately 3½ minutes, carefully turning halfway through. The cakes should cook to a golden brown. Adjust the temperature if they are browning too quickly.  

Sprinkle vanity cakes with powdered sugar and serve with strawberry sauce.

Step Five

Drain cakes on a paper towel and dust with powdered sugar. Serve with strawberry dipping sauce.

Strawberry Dipping Sauce

  • ½ Cup sugar
  • ½ Cup water
  • 1 Cup Strawberries, hulled and quartered

Step One

Mix water and sugar in a saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until boiling, stirring constantly.

Step Two

Reduce heat to low and add strawberries. Stir occasionally cooking for 10 to 12 minutes.  Cool and serve.

This deceptively simple recipe will create a delicious treat that you and your family will love.

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Margaret Darazs

Writer of the food blog, Natural Chow, Margaret Anne is a green-thumbed Christian striving to live a healthy lifestyle and teach others about eating and living naturally. She understands the importance of inexpensive meals, family time, health, having fun, and making foods that are good for your body. See her contributions to Little House on the Prairie below.
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Latest posts by Margaret Darazs (see all)

  • Old-Fashioned Homemade Peppermint Candy DIYs - November 22, 2022
  • Old-Fashioned Homemade Eggnog Recipe - December 5, 2018
  • Old-Fashioned Farmer Boy Ice Cream Recipe (With Blueberry Variation) - July 7, 2018

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Recipes Tagged With: dessert recipes, Little House on the Prairie, party food, strawberries, vanity cakes

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Comments

  1. Tiger says

    October 18, 2021 at 6:14 pm

    I love the little house books. I read them every winter. It makes the winter go faster. I tried some of the recipes in the books.

    Reply
    • Diane says

      October 14, 2022 at 4:10 pm

      That is very nice!! God bless you.

      Reply
  2. Barbara Parsons says

    July 10, 2020 at 9:04 pm

    Pate a choux can be fried into French crullers. Leave out sugar. Voila!

    Reply
  3. Jessica says

    April 13, 2019 at 6:18 am

    I am thinking maybe like a cream puff batter only fried?

    Reply
    • Anna says

      July 2, 2019 at 5:00 pm

      I think so too. Cream puffs are made from the French dough “pate a choux,” a dough that’s the basis for many desserts, which Ma probably knew about, given her upbringing. It’s yellow, mostly egg, not sweet, and puffs up with a hole in the middle. Plus it melts in your mouth. Im pretty sure it was pate a choux.

      Reply
      • Kay says

        March 16, 2020 at 8:40 pm

        I looked into that, pate a choux incorporates a lot of butter and also is oven baked.

        Reply
      • Kay says

        March 16, 2020 at 8:57 pm

        Never mind my previous post, I think you may be correct. I have found a couple of videos that help.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcL2EfHerds

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxkKU4ZvqME

        If it is reported that Laura didn’t remember the actual recipe, then it must have incorporated the butter.

        Reply
        • Missy says

          February 21, 2021 at 7:52 pm

          Love this! A choux paste makes sense!

          Reply
      • Jessica L Capizzo says

        December 8, 2020 at 11:32 pm

        Yes ❤️ vi agree

        Reply
  4. mary says

    January 4, 2019 at 3:27 pm

    I love this recipe

    Reply
  5. Michiaki says

    September 24, 2018 at 4:10 pm

    Hello, this is very nice site! Does anyone have real authentic recipe for this vanity cakes? Would very appreciate. Mostly egg and not sweet, and I will cook in lard just same as Mrs. Ingalls all the years ago. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Jessica says

      September 9, 2019 at 12:05 am

      They sound like cream puff batter, it’s not sweet, and is a crisp bubbly puff

      Reply
  6. NicoleK says

    August 2, 2018 at 4:06 pm

    They can’t have had sugar, Plum Creek specifically says they are NOT sweet.

    Reply
  7. Anne Schnoebelen says

    June 7, 2018 at 1:39 am

    In On the Banks of Plum Creek, “Country Party” chapter, Ma makes vanity cakes, and Laura specifically remarks that they are not sweet. So the additional of confectioner’s sugar is definitely a modern addition. Remember the Ingalls family rarely ate sugar.

    Reply
    • Cindy Hatcher says

      April 16, 2020 at 7:37 pm

      Carrie wanted sugar on hers.

      Reply
  8. Christine Capelle says

    February 26, 2017 at 5:38 pm

    Would the Vanity Cakes turn out just as well if I doubled or tripled the recipe?

    Reply
    • Beth Odabashian says

      February 28, 2017 at 8:28 am

      I am going to double the recipe. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work?

      Reply
  9. Carol Callahan says

    February 24, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    They didn’t have powdered sugar back then. I don’t remember the dipping sauce either. Did she just sprinkle white sugar on them ?

    Reply
    • Danita says

      June 15, 2017 at 11:15 am

      In her letter memoirs, from the book “The selected letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder”, written by William Anderson, she (Laura) says “They are mostly egg, fried in deep fat, eaten hot, crunchy, not sweet. Sort of a bubble”… So, I don’t think they had the sweetness… if they had strawberries, I’m sure that would have been wonderful, or maybe honey… But, from her comment, it sounds like they were just fried and eaten hot.

      Reply
      • Jessica L Capizzo says

        December 8, 2020 at 11:30 pm

        Sounds like a pastry batter, like for cream horns or something.

        Reply
      • Anwar says

        January 9, 2021 at 12:42 pm

        Yes!! We just read that chapter and were looking for the recipe. Laura specifically said they were not sweet but rich. Thank you. We want to experience the real prairie party fun. Next we need to find a creek…

        Reply
    • Pamela says

      June 5, 2019 at 6:21 am

      I am reading “The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder” by William Anderaon. In chapter six Laura states in a letter that she cannot remember the recipe. At the time she wrote the letter Carrie was the only other sister still living and Carrie also did not remember the recipe. Laura did say in this letter that the vanity cakes were NOT sweet. She stated they were mostly egg and yellow in color. She said the yellow was from the egg yolks.

      Reply
    • Barbara Parsons says

      July 10, 2020 at 9:02 pm

      They weren’t a sweet treat. No sugar . I believe they drank milk with them.

      Reply
  10. mary powell says

    February 24, 2017 at 5:22 pm

    Lard is good for you.

    Reply
    • Gayla says

      February 13, 2019 at 2:14 am

      This is correct. According to Prevention Magazine lard is lower in saturated fat than other animal fats like butter and tallow, and higher in heart-healthy monounsaturated fat—the type that gives olive oil its health halo. Lard is made up of 50% monounsaturated fat—compare that to only 32% in butter and 6% in coconut oil. Plus, in its natural form, lard has none of the trans fats that we know are bad for you.

      Reply
      • Beth says

        April 25, 2020 at 9:07 am

        What once was old is now new.

        Reply
    • Molly Hayes says

      August 3, 2020 at 10:37 pm

      lard is NOT good for you
      please, use organic olive oil or coconut olive.

      Reply
      • Jessica L Capizzo says

        December 8, 2020 at 11:28 pm

        Olive oil will burn at the temperature needed to cook these. Just use a vegetable oil.

        Reply
  11. Connie in Colorado says

    February 24, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    Vanity cakes always seemed to be a mystery to me until I read Barbara Walker’s recipe in “The Little House Cookbook” years ago. Once I made them I was overjoyed to see they were just like my favorite sopapillas in Tex-Mex restaurants. And then, on a trip to New Orleans I discovered the famous beignets – all puffed up and dusted with sugar! Laura and Ma were sharing their simple pioneer culture with a gentle nod to humility when making vanity cakes for not only Nellie Olson but readers of the Little House books.

    Reply
  12. Chari says

    February 24, 2017 at 11:34 am

    I clicked on the, “Posts you might like.” It deletes the posts instead of taking you to the link.

    Reply

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