Sugar was the longest rationed food item in the United States going from May 1942 - June 1947. Because of this, there is a literal wealth of advice and recipes about saving sugar in wartime. Don’t you love the image above? The poor kid is lamenting the disappearance of sugar from his diet, but no doubt his mom was smart in satisfying the family sweet tooth anyway! Why was this so important? For morale. Emotional health in stressful situations always benefits from a little treat to look forward to!
Enter: this Honey Chocolate Cake.
Brown sugar was cheaper points-wise and easier to obtain. And I’ve run across a couple sources where they mention that baked goods using a liquid sweetener like honey or corn syrup benefit from replacing the sugar with only part honey or corn syrup. This cake recipe is a good example of that!
If you make this cake (and I’d definitely recommend giving it a try!), keep in mind that their idea of “chocolatey” back then is not as intense as it is now. You might want to add a touch more cocoa, like 3/4 cup, keeping in mind that it will make the batter a bit thicker from the extra powder.