My Grandmother's Recipe Box

I have always wanted to make a Buche de Noel and this year I finally decided to jump in.  It wasn't perfect but it looked pretty darn good and tasted great.  And it was even gluten free so that everyone could enjoy it on Christmas Eve. Again, I did not find one recipe that fit the bill for what I was making so I used pieces of different recipes to make: A gluten free chocolate sponge, a french chocolate buttercream (so delicious) and meringue mushrooms as well as just regular whipped cream for the center. The "ribbons"  Add the chocolate and in the oven.   It is a very thin cake so make sure you watch the timing  Dust with cocoa powder and sugar to roll it up while it is still warm  Cool the cake completely while rolled up  Fille with cream and.... re-roll.   This was tricky and the cake was sticky.  I am not sure if that is related to the gluten free cake or if it is just tricky.  Even if it looks messe...

Here is the 2nd recipe from my grandmother's recipe box.   Some of these must be lost recipes because no one in the family remembered Aunt Grace's Orange Cake.   I also don't recognize the handwriting on this recipe so I wonder who wrote it, but it was in the recipe box. Maraschino cherries in this recipe seems like an interesting choice but the cherries give the batter a nice pink color. This recipe also calls for the icing to be put on the hot cake - seems to be a trend.     This cake/cookie bar definitely has a taste that seems nostalgic. Happy Mother's Day Mom, Grandma, Grandma Dawn, Mom Marinich.