Milwaukee Sausage Cake

by Kat Kinsman, Posted Dec 18th 2008 @ 12:00PM

Scanned from Be Milwaukee's Guest, Recipes Collected and Tested by the Junior League of Milwaukee - 1959

I could scarcely be crankier at myself for muffing the opportunity to present this comb-bound recipe gem on a particularly Wisconsin-centric holiday, such as the recently passed St. Nick's Day, but hey -- any day is a great day for pork cake!

I'm a big fan of the melding of meat and sweet (mmm...bacon candy...), and surely have been known to savor a sumptuously larded crust, but I can't swear that I've ever seen a baked good quite so aggressively piggy as this. Pinwheel rolls studded with flecks of seasoned ground beef, yes, but those were generally presented as a savory, hand-wielded Wellington sort of course rather than spiced, as this seems to be, in the manner of a dessert or breakfast sweet. I'm pleading woeful ignorance about the pastries of the Badger State here, so might someone be so kind as to enlighten me -- is this a traditional Wisconsin breakfast or dessert treat, or a relic of the cookbook's era? If the former, I'm booking a trip on Midwest Airlines posthaste. If the latter -- who's up for a bake-along this weekend?

How does Sausage Cake sound to you?
Yum!	79 (33.6%)
Yuck!	156 (66.4%)

Filed Under: Food Oddities, Retro cookery, Guilty Pleasures, Ingredients, Methods
Tags: america, baking, dessert, guilty pleasures, kat kinsman, KatKinsman, meat, midnight sausage, midnightsausage, midwest cities, milwaukee, north america, oddities, pork, retro cookbook, retro cookery, retro food, RetroCookbook, RetroCookery, sausage cake, SausageCake, st. nick, St.Nick, sugar, vintage cookbook, vintage recipe, vintage recipes, VintageCookbook, VintageRecipe, VintageRecipes, wisconsin

Chew on This

Royal Wedding Cake Details Revealed! - YumSugar

Make Your Own Pop Tarts - CHOW
Denny's Introduces a Maple Bacon Sundae - Eater
Whole Foods Opening Bars in Stores - USA Today
Rules Of Bar Etiquette -- For The Bartender - HuffPost Food

Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-18-2008 @2:19PM Pyrofish said... We make what we call 'sausage cookies' for holiday breakfasts. They're not sweet like the cake though. My dad and my brother make them, and I've seen no reason to take those duties from them. I don't have exact measures, but I believe it was;
1lb maple sausage (not in the casing)
12 oz cheddar
2 cups of bisquick
Whatever water the bisquick calls for

Combine, then treat as cookie dough. Tablespoons of it on a cookie sheet and bake till golden brown.

If you add some grated onion, and some form of garlic, then form them into balls, you've got a nifty appetizer as well.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

12-19-2008 @7:06AM Hungover Gourmet said... I've had the same pork/cheddar/Bisquik bites that Pyrofish mentions but always as an appetizer, not a breakfast item. Oddly enough, coffee is the theme of the upcoming issue of my food & drink newsletter and pork is the theme of the next one. Who knew they would collide in such a fashion?!
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

12-19-2008 @9:30AM C Dawson said... Oh, man, complete nostalgia trip! We've had this cookbook at my house since before I was born, and my parents often still make recipes out of it. I recommend the Chicken Suzette recipe, which is savory crepes stuffed with chicken and mushrooms in white sauce, with cheddar-enriched bechamel over the top. It's been my birthday dinner since I was seven. I still ask for it whenever I'm home, regardless of the fact that I'm married, have a full kitchen, and can make it myself.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

12-21-2008 @12:41PM Greasy Spork said... I live in Milwaukee & this is the first time I've seen this. It sounds good!
Better than the chocolate-sauerkraut cake my mother once made, but could never recall making. It was horrible!
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

12-22-2008 @6:37PM Kat Kinsman said... Chocolate and SAUERKRAUT!?!? I've definitely heard of sauerkraut cake, but not with chocolate. I'll send you a free prize if you can scan in that recipe for me.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

8-06-2011 @8:51PM Judy said... Does anyone know the orign of Sausage Cake? My mom used to make this for my dad and I had someone ask where it came from, but I don't know.
Thanks.
Reply