I have made this white cake for years.....but not FOR years if you get what I mean....what I mean was that it was an old favorite when I baked birthday cakes more often. ICE CREAM CAKE 2 cups sugar 3/4 cup butter 2 cups sifted flour 3 tsp. baking powder 1 cup sifted cornstarch 1 cup milk 1 tsp. almond or vanilla extract 5 stiffly beaten egg whites Cream sugar and butter together. Sift the flour, baking powder and cornstarch together. Alternate adding these to creamed mixture along with milk. Beat until very smooth. Add vanilla and then fold in egg whites that have been beaten until stiff. Bake in 2 greased and floured 8" round cake pans for 25 to 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Frost with Boiled White Icing. Or....since he specifically asked for "vanilla cake, I might fill with a vanilla pastry cream and then top with that frosting where you mix egg whites, sugar and syrup in a double boiler and cook beating all the while until it's thick and holds it's shape Here's what I have for a flourless chocolate cake.....came from this forum many years ago... It is kind of like a cake textured hot fudge sauce served in slices. VERY rich - so cut in thin slices. Killer Chocolate Torte 2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks) cut into 1/2 in. pieces 1 Cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 1 Cup plus 2 tablespoons espresso powder 16 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (NOT unsweetened or semisweet) 6 large eggs at room temperature 6 large egg yolks at room temperature powdered sugar for garnish whipped cream (optional) Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan with 2 3/4 inch sides. cut parchment or wax paper to fit sides, and, and a circular piece to fit in the bottom of the greased pan. Smooth paper against inner surfaces. Melt 2 cups butter with the sugar and espresso powder in a heavy saucepan over medium low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add chocolate and stir until mixture is smooth and chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Whisk the eggs and additional yolks in a large bowl until frothy. CAREFULLY fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan and place on a heavy baking sheet. Bake in the preheated 325 degree oven until the edges puff and crack slightly but the center is not quite set. Transfer to a rack and let cool. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. to remove from pan, dip a sharp thin knife in hot water and run it around the sides of the pan to loosen the torte. Carefully release and remove the pan sides and the parchment. It will have cracks in it, but this is normal. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar (if desired) and cut into very thin slices with a sharp knife dipped into hot water, taking care to wipe the knife after each cut. Serve with whipped cream if desired. Many servings.

If you want something a little different, you might like this recipe. I use to make this peanut butter and chocolate cookie tart all the time to take to the school bake sales when my son was young. The teachers would buy up the trays before they ever made it too the bake sale table. I'm not a peanut butter fan, so I've adapted the recipe over the years to make a shortbread cup for the chocolate filling. This is what the cookie looks like as the shortbread version. The peanut butter version looks the same except the cookie dough is a more golden brown. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Peanut butter and chocolate cookie Tarts ======================================== Dough 3/4 cup butter 3/4 cup peanut butter smooth 3/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup white sugar 1 egg 1 egg yolk 2 tsp vanilla 2 1/4 cups flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda Chocolate filling 4 oz semisweet chocolate 1 Tablespoon Milk 2 Tablespoons cocoa 1/3 cup butter 2 cups sifted Icing Sugar . Cream butter with peanut butter until very smooth. Beat in sugars. Beat in egg and yolk. Add vanilla. Sift flour with baking soda and mix well. Stir into butter mixture. Press balls of dough into well buttered mini muffin tins. Each ball of dough should be about 3/4's the size of the muffin tin - when you intent the centre it should form the shape of a pudgy little tart shell. Bake in preheated 350ðF oven for 15 minutes or until outside is baked but inside is still chewy. Do not over bake. Cool five minutes on rack and then remove from tins. Cool completely. Filling Combine chocolate, cocoa, milk and butter in small saucepan. Melt over low heat. Mix until smooth. Cool. Beat in icing sugar to give consistency of icing. Pipe about 1 tablespoon of filling into each tart. Note: YOu can spoon the filling in to the centre, but it looks nicer when piped.

This calls for a raw egg so you might want to use pasteurized or egg beaters: PEANUT BUTTER PIE 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter 2/3 cup + 2 TBL powdered sugar, divided 1/3 cup half-and-half 9" baked pie shell, cooled 1/4 cup butter, softened 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 egg, room temperature 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, melted & cooled 1 cup whipping cream, chilled 2 TBL chopped peanuts Mix peanut butter with 2/3 cup powdered sugar & half-an-half in a small bowl until msooth. Spoon into pie crust; smooth top. Using a mixer, beat butter w/sugar & vanilla in medium bowl until fluffy. Add egg & beat until very light, about 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate. Spread over peanut butter. Refrigerate 1 hour. Beat cream w/remaining 2 TBL powdered sugar in bowl until peaks form. Spread over pie. Sprinkle w/chopped nuts.~~Bountiful Arbor

I don't think you are looking for peanut butter fudge because that would be too time consuming for a school's cook to make in large quantities. Perhaps you are thinking of Peanut Butter Squares? The one I have is from a cookie cookbook from 1971. Since it makes a huge amount it may have been originally developed for institutional baking and, given the simple preparation method, it would be likely. These have the consistency of a chewy brownie, not like a cake brownie. I do remember making them in the late '70's for a grade-school party and all the kids loved them but I haven't made them since. Nowadays everything has to be peanut-free because there are so many children/people who are allergic to peanuts. Peanut Butter Squares from 1971 Farm Journal "Homemade Cookies" Makes about 8 dozen squares (that's 96 pieces!) 6 eggs 3 C granulated sugar 1 1/2 C brown sugar, packed 1 C peanut butter (smooth or chunky) 1/2 C shortening 1 Tblsp. vanilla 4 C all-purpose flour 1 1/2 Tblsp. baking powder 1 1/2 tsp. salt optional - 1/2 C chopped peanuts for sprinkling on top Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix well together the eggs, sugars, peanut butter, shortening, and vanilla. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix only until dough is smooth, don't over beat. Spread out evenly on two lightly greased jelly roll pans (15 1/2"x10 1/2"x1") or three (yes 3!) 13"x9"x2" pans. Sprinkle with peanuts if desired. Bake for 25 minutes. Cut into 3" squares and cool in the pans on a rack. Nancy