I’m not really sure what the 500 in 500 Cake means. Possibly $500, but why not put the dollar symbol? I have a recipe for Oscar’s $100 Cake that dates from this general era, so a $500 banana cake recipe seems a bit of an expense! The town of Cudahy is a small one located in Wisconsin. The house is modest, on a  corner, with a view of fields. It doesn’t appear much changed from the time when Mrs Albert Ollmann was making this cake. I found a lovely and very complete history of the town on the Cudahy Historical Society page. Seems like a sweet, small town.

500 Cake

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour milk

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups flour

Cream shortening (i.e. butter) and sugar, then add eggs. Beat all together and add sour milk with soda, mashed bananas, dates and nuts, then flour and baking powder.

Bake somehow… Try: pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 350º for 30-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.