Throwback of the House: Nuclear Prune Cake in Space

Todd Ehlers, Wikimedia Commons

What's the first rule of microwave cookery? No metal. No one likes to explode. In 1979, the kind folks at Reynolds Wrap attempted to argue with physics in their book Reynolds Wrap and Microwave Cooking. I'm sure it was a public service and not a ploy to sell foil.

My first foray into microwave baking didn't go well, so I didn't have high hopes for my nuked Spicy Date Nut Bread topped with flaming foil. In fact, my hopes were so low that I didn't bother to buy dates for it. I figured I could substitute the prunes that have languished in my cabinet since the Prune Whip incident. Besides, I'm lazy, and isn't that the true heart of microwavery?

Laziness and impatience.

Robin Wheeler

​Boil some water in the microwave, because that's not dangerous at all. Add chopped dates -- or whatever old-man fruit you have in the back of your cabinet -- and some baking soda. Run away from the spewing prune volcano.

Robin Wheeler

​Cream brown sugar, shortening (because butter was illegal in the late '70s) and an egg. Add the prune lava, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Dump into a loaf pan, trimming the ends with enough foil to shield one inch of the loaf's heels.