Antique recipe? Pumpkin Cake

I forgot to make the trip to Publix to buy the ingredients for the randomly selected recipe we were going to test next.So, I grabbed an alternate from a group of recipes I've never tried.

In a shadow box in my kitchen, I have a collection of my grandmother's cake recipes. Before my time, my grandmother had a business making cakes for people. She also authored and published at least 10 cookbooks. Some of my most enduring memories of summers as a child were riding in my grandparents car as we traveled around the country to Cracker Barrel stores to sell the cookbooks. I have seen a few for auction on eBay, but I'm quite sure that family are the only who have complete sets. Her cake recipes, though, I've never touched beyond putting them on display in the shadow box. How perfect I thought it would be to try one of those and add it to the blog!

So tonight, we have Pumpkin Cake by Louise Henderson. Written on a 3x5 card and inserted into a plastic sleeve. It has to be over 40 years old. There was no temperature or time on the recipe - something I've seen as a trend on many that she collected. I guessed and tried 350 degrees for 25 or so minutes and used a bundt cake pan.

Results:
Surprisingly very good! The batter seemed heavy for a cake, so I was worried it would turn out more bread-like. It is a little crumbly. However, a cream cheese icing glaze drizzled over it would probably make up for any crumbs.  Definitely worth a try and could be used as a coffee cake substitute.

Pumpkin Cake
1 1/3 c sifted flour
1/2 c shortening
1 c sugar
1 egg beaten
1 1/2 c pumpkin (I used canned)
1 c raisins (the vote was 3-2 for no raisins)
1 c chopped nuts (I insisted)
1 t. soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves

If you try it out, let me know how you like it!
I was shocked to find some of her cookbooks for sale on Amazon: