If this is your first time to our blog, we are more than just recipes! Each of the recipes on our blog is a recreation from a cookbook published in 1951 in Santa Maria, California. We are not only recreating these recipes, but we are also revisiting the lives of each contributor and sharing their bios with you. You can read more about this project on our About page.
I can absolutely picture Iona Bruce serving this surprisingly good dessert to guests that she hosted at her home. As her husband was superintendent of elementary schools in Santa Maria, it was customary for several years that the Bruces hosted school faculty and staff in celebration of the start of the school year. With an easy prep and light flavor, this impressive yet simple and inexpensive torte would have been a perfect option for those types of events.
I will confess that when I looked at the ingredients of this recipe, I was not expecting it to turn out that well. The combination of saltine crumbs and walnuts did not sound promising or appealing to me, but it came out of the oven looking perfectly golden and smelling amazing. There's enough sugar in the batter that the top bakes over with almost a type of caramelization that softens as it cools. The texture is slightly chewy with a coarse crumb and soft crunch from the walnuts, while the addition of the sweetness from the strawberries and whipped cream cut the bitterness from the walnuts without being too rich.
Because this recipe is so dependent on strawberries, I can't help but draw connection to how this would have perfectly and specifically highlighted the Santa Maria strawberry. Strawberries were a budding part of the local agricultural community at the time, and presumably also an important part of the larger community, composed in part of farming families, that the Bruces served as educators. The strawberries I used were just from the grocery store, but imagine how amazing this would be with huge, intensely sweet strawberries straight from the fields.
Of course, I don't know for sure if Iona did ever serve this dessert for anyone much less at a school function, but I love to think that she did. This recipe is so easy, so light, and really is the perfect way to display the flavors of the local community. While I was initially not expecting the best from this recipe, I think this is one that I'll keep on hand as a unique and impressive option for dessert.
Strawberry Soda Cracker Torte
Servings: 8-10 pieces
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup finely rolled saltine cracker crumbs
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 tsp salt
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a shallow pan (a 9" pie plate is a perfect size).
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Transfer mixture into prepared pan and lightly press flat.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Serve with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Notes:
The torte tastes fine on its own if you like a heavy walnut taste. However, the flavor is infinitely improved with the addition of the strawberries and whipped cream, so I wouldn't recommend skipping those toppings. You can enhance the flavor even more by macerating your strawberries or adding some vanilla to homemade whipped cream.
