Cooking with Spry?

[Murph351]

OK, I've got my grandmother's old recipe out for her iron 3d rabbit cake mold.
I'm dusting it off tomorrow to make an Easter Bunny cake for the family.
The recipe calls for a cup of Spry??
For minute I thought I couldn't read her hand writing but I assume this is shortening.
Any of you cooks know if Crisco will substitute?

Bake naked.... show of your buns.

 

[jayem]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spry_Vegetable_Shortening

God bless Wikipedia.
I'd assume so, since it was a rival of Crisco.
Hope the cake turns out lovely!

 

[Absinthe_1900]

http://www.ghosttraveller.com/spry.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spry_Vegetable_Shortening

 

[Lulu-in-Ny]

Next time you're in the bookstore, I highly recommend that you locate the book "The Gallery of Regrettable Food" by James Lilleks. He has a whole section in it about Spry and it's a riot. (As is the rest of the book.) Personally, I can't even imagine how bad this stuff is for you. It makes me a little queasy just looking at pictures of it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My grandmother wouldn't touch Spry, Crisco, Fluffo, or any of those sorts of products -- nothing but good wholesome lard for her!

 

[BegintheBeguine]

LARD

It's what makes my brownies special. I don't share them with co-workers as some of them are vegetarians.

 

[Josephine]

http://www.ghosttraveller.com/spry.htm

Oh good Lord, that's hilarious. lol

 

[Warbaby]

My grandmother wouldn't touch Spry, Crisco, Fluffo, or any of those sorts of products -- nothing but good wholesome lard for her!

Yep, it's lard all the way.

 

[dhermann1]

Here's a Spry recipe, circa 1943:
Tangy Prune Punch Cake, (isn't Spry an axle grease by product?):

 

[Alex Oviatt]

In our family it is a lamb-shaped cake mold (my grandmother's) and the ears are impossible to frost without falling off. Toothpicks help.

 

[dhermann1]

Lamb cakes

My late sister in law's family used to do that at Easter, and she gave me one of those cake pans. I've had extremely varied success. One key is don't put too much batter in the pan. But I but I believe the real key is the type of cake mix you use. I don't recall what's best, but I believe it's some kind of enhanced pound cake. It's fun to put the coconut all over it and add the eyes. Do you use SPRY in the cake mix?

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

All Things Hydrogenated

For those of you who are so inclined, take a look at this gallery of vintage shortening advertisements!

http://graphic-design.tjs-labs.com/gallery-view?keyword=shortening

 

[Lady Day]

For those of you who are so inclined, take a look at this gallery of vintage shortening advertisements!

http://graphic-design.tjs-labs.com/gallery-view?keyword=shortening

"Crisco is already creamed!"
"Crisco pies are digestible!"
lol *yucky*

LD

 

[BeBopBaby]

Spry was a vegetable shortening that had a popular advertising campaign in the 30s, 40s & 50s with a character called Aunt Jenny. She was a "loveable and plain" Aunt Bea sort of creation that older ladies were supposed to be able to relate to. Spry used Aunt Jenny in ads and promotional cookbooks. (I have a few in my cookbook collection.) Aunt Jenny also had a long running radio soap opera called Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories.

 

[Fletch]

Spry was also one of the first advertisers on television, the day commercials were first aired in 1941. They sponsored Truth or Consequences, the radio game show, which was a one-shot - it wouldn't be back on TV until 1950, when there was real money in it.

In 1941, NBC would mail you the weekly schedule and a post-paid card to rate the programs.
They could do this because they had less than 10,000 viewers at the time.
Commercial rates were something like $4 for a 20 second spot.

 

[Feraud]

The rebirth of Spry

Ad Age notes Spry (if only in name) as a future health monthly.

Spry, HealthyStyle
Last week, for example, The Publishing Group of America hired Lisa Delaney, a former senior editor at Cooking Light and Prevention, to become editor in chief of Spry, its own health monthly planned for a September launch. The company already publishes supplements such as American Profile, an 8-year-old rural and suburban weekly that distributes about 9 million copies inside newspapers, and Relish, a food monthly whose distribution has grown to 12 million since its introduction two years ago.

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=126188

It is good to see the terrible products marketed to people in the past. It makes modern advertising slightly less superficial.

 

[Murph351]

My late sister in law's family used to do that at Easter, and she gave me one of those cake pans. I've had extremely varied success. One key is don't put too much batter in the pan. But I but I believe the real key is the type of cake mix you use. I don't recall what's best, but I believe it's some kind of enhanced pound cake. It's fun to put the coconut all over it and add the eyes. Do you use SPRY in the cake mix?

Yes, our recipe is for a HEAVY pound cake. You have to be careful because you could lose a toe if you dropped it!

 

[Fletch]

Let's hope some poor dingbat in 1940 didn't get carried away and strew real daffodils over her cake. They can make you pretty sick if they touch anything you eat or eat with.

 

[fortworthgal]

I have a small Spry paperback cookbook from 1942, that features Aunt Jenny and lots of recipes. I'll have to scan in some of the pages to post here - it is very entertaining! One of the recipes is for "Victory Canteen Bars."