Welcome to Leaside cooks! Each month we will cover a Leasider’s special dish with a hearty side order of narrative. And you will find the recipes online by clicking the Leaside Cooks tab.
There’s a very good chance that either you, your parents or your grandparents once had John Franklin as a teacher or principal. John was an integral part of the Leaside education system from 1952 till he retired in 1981. February’s recipe is courtesy of John, who, at 98, is still cooking. February is ambivalent; it is the peak of the winter blahs and the celebration of St. Valentine. His offering, the ironically named “Sad Cake,” might sound depressing, but is the opposite. John’s Sad Cake will make you glad.
It has a familiar taste, which is wholesome, unassuming, sweet but not too sweet and unforgettable, much like John himself. The name of the dish alone is a conversation starter. I asked John “why so oddly named? He said, “I am not sure why it is called Sad Cake but all I know is the first time I tasted it I was hooked.” That was in 1958. With five kids and hopes for more, he and his wife Betty decided that summer to add a second storey to their bungalow. Their contractor told them he needed the house empty for six weeks to build the addition, so the family piled into the car and headed west for an extended vacation. It was a “very big station wagon,” John explains. When they got to Oregon, they stayed with one of Betty’s cousins, and for their last dinner together, her cousin’s wife, Mona, surprised them with the tasty dessert. Mona was kind enough to mail them the recipe; this hand-written, yellowed, well-worn index card is still in John’s kitchen.
While never living in Leaside – he spent most of his married life in Scarborough – he knows Leaside well, and Leaside remembers him fondly. Born in Meaford, Ont. in 1926, John started teaching in 1946 in a one-room schoolhouse in Grey County. In January 1952 he spotted an ad in the Globe and Mail looking for a classroom teacher at Rolph Road School. He drove through a snowstorm in his 1938 Chrysler Coupe to reach the Leaside Board of Education office (at the time in what is now the main office at Leaside High School) for his interview. His charismatic personality and teaching experience (and the fact one of the interviewers was from Meaford!) clinched the job for him.
John taught at Rolph and Bessborough before being promoted to vice principal at Rolph and eventually principal of Northlea School during the ’70s. With a name like John Franklin (think 19th century leader of several Canadian Arctic expeditions), he was especially fond of teaching his Grade 5s about famous explorers. John recalls discussing with his students the adventures of the Manitoba-born explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who had just published his autobiography. The whole class ended up composing a letter of congratulations to Stefansson, mailing it and then waiting excitedly for a response. After weeks of checking daily with the school secretary, the students were finally rewarded with a letter postmarked Hanover, New Hampshire. It was Stefansson writing from Dartmouth College thanking them for their kind words and gifting them a signed copy of his book.
But John’s best memories revolve around singing. Raised in the Church of Christ where musical instruments were not used, he learned to appreciate the power of a choir. For Canada’s Centennial he led a committee to celebrate the country’s diverse cultures and naturally he decided to do it in song. It was a huge undertaking that included donated props from the old downtown CBC building, a well-written script and lots of singing to celebrate distinct Canadian regions like the Maritimes, the Prairies and the Arctic. The show involved 500 students and was performed in the Leaside High School auditorium; it was even recorded on vinyl. Many of John’s students worked behind the scenes. It was his idea to have every kid – and not just the performers – appear on stage in front of the audience at least once. He wanted everyone involved to share a sense of pride – to share the spotlight. Former student Nicole Purvis says, “I only remember kindness and gentleness from Mr. Franklin.” Another of his former Northlea pupils, Sandra Mascarenhas (née Macintosh), remembers “Mr. Franklin helping me in his office with my speech for a big competition.”
Do you have a favourite Mr. Franklin memory? Let us know. And while you’re at it, bake a Sad Cake. You’ll be glad you did.
Recipe for Sad Cake
1 cup traditional large flake rolled oats
1 1/4 cups boiling water
Pour the boiling water over the oats. Let sit for 20 minutes.
Cream together:
1/2 cup soft butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
Mix in:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Combine in a separate bowl, then add to the other ingredients and mix together:
1 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
When the above ingredients are combined, add the oatmeal and mix until combined.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes in a greased 9×13 pan.
Topping:
In a saucepan bring the following to a boil and boil for one minute:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp cream or milk
Remove from heat and add in:
3/4 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Spread this topping evenly over the cake. Broil for 1 minute.
