On This Day: November 15th … Strange Holidays

Clean Your Refrigerator Day

America Recycles Day

National Philanthropy Day

National Spicy Hermit Cookie Day

National Bundt (Pan) Day

National Raisin Bran Cereal Day

Now I know why this is clean your refrigerator day. You can even say you are doing your part to recycle. After all, you have to make room for all the fun stuff to eat to go in there.

I will touch on two of these topics.

National Raisin Bran Cereal Day

Since 1925, a variety of companies have been producing raisin bran cereal. Those companies include Kellogg’s Raisin Bran, General Mills, Total Raisin Bran, U.S. Mills, and Ralcorp’s Post Raisin Bran. However, the first was U.S. Mills. In 1925, Skinner’s Manufacturing Company based out of Omaha, Nebraska introduced the United States to Skinner’s Raisin Bran. Other bran cereals existed. However, Skinner’s debuted the first with raisins included.

For several years, Skinner’s held the exclusive right to the name “raisin bran” but that didn’t stop others from making their own. Skinner’s Manufacturing Co. had been in business since 1918. And as the country’s largest producer of macaroni, they weren’t going to let that go without a fight. They took their trademark to court. Despite being first and trademarking the name, Skinner’s lost on the grounds that the words “raisin bran” are merely ingredients.

Here is a weird factoid for you:

During his incarceration, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein preferred Raisin Bran cereal for breakfast given by his American prison guards.

National Bundt (Pan) Day

A Bundt cake can be any cake baked in a Bundt pan, forming it into a distinctive ring shape. The mold of the Bundt pan was initially inspired by the traditional European fruit cake known as Gugelhupf. It was in the 1950s and 1960s that cookware Nordic Ware popularized the style for the mold design and trademarked the name Bundt. Nordic Ware started producing Bundt pans made from cast aluminum. Similar pans are sold as “fluted tube pans” or other similar names.

Due to the difficulty of frosting a ring-shaped cake, Bundt cakes are typically served undecorated, glazed, or dusted with powdered sugar.

In the beginning, the Bundt pan did not sell well, and Nordic Ware considered discontinuing the product. Then in the 1963 New Good Housekeeping Cookbook, the Bundt pan was mentioned, and sales increased. In 1966, sales increased dramatically when a Bundt cake called the “Tunnel of Fudge,” baked by Ella Helfrich, took second place at the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off and winning a $5,000.00 prize. The publicity from the Bake-Off resulted in more than 200,000 Bundt pan requests.

Nordic Ware has sold more than 60 million Bundt pans across North America.

To mark the 60th anniversary of the Bundt pan, Nordic Ware designated November 15 as National Bundt Day.

Recipe for a Bundt Cake:

Cooking spray, for pan

1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) butter, softened - 2 c. granulated sugar

4 large eggs - 1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract (optional)

3 c. all-purpose flour

6 tbsp. cornstarch - 2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt - 1 c. whole milk

Directions:

Make cake: Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl using a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and almond extracts and mix until combined.

In another large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, beating until just combined. Pour in milk and mix until fully incorporated, then add remaining dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Pour batter into greased Bundt pan and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt. Pour over cake and serve.

When it is all said and done, it should look like the picture above!

More strange holidays are coming!