Depression-Era Matrimonial Cake (AKA Date and Rhubarb Squares)

Three Kitchens Podcast

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This week on the podcast, Erin is taking us along down a rabbit hole called Matrimonial Cake. She found a variety of recipes in an old recipe box that had belonged to her great grandmother. Some of these recipes originated during the great depression early in the 20th century.
Depression-era recipes are often modified to suit food rations or lack of resources to purchase the ingredients for a more classic cake recipe. There was also a fun tradition with matrimonial cake: single girls take a small piece home from the wedding and place it under their pillow with the hope of dreaming of their future husband. Heather recalls doing this as a young girl attending weddings of older family members. We don't actually know if anyone still does this!
Anyway, the matrimonial cake Erin makes for us was from her great grandmother's hand-written recipe. It is essentially a date square - delicious moist date filling between layers of oatmeal crumble. She also adapts the recipe to include her own rhubarb and rose water filling. They were both absolutely delightful. Whether or not you call it matrimonial cake (in fact, we question whether it should even be in the cake category), you cannot go wrong with these squares. They're easy to make, it's easy to adapt the filling to your tastes, and they're a real crowd pleaser.
Enjoy!
Episode Links
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~ Matrimonial Cake Recipe
~ Rhubarb Oatmeal Bars Recipe
~ Recipe Box
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