SOLVED. Children's book read in the mid-90's but written much earlier about a girl who goes to stay with relatives or family friends and finds a talent for baking, makes a cake with blue mint frosting. [s]

[Michelle]

This is a bit of a long shot because I read the book when I was 7or 8 and remember very little. The book seemed to me at the time to have been written a long time before, it has one of those old fashioned cloth bindings and I think just a line drawing illustration imprinted on the cover but I'm not sure. I think the book starts out with a girl in her early or mid teens going to live with an aunt and uncle and at least two cousins, a boy and a girl close to her age (this family might also have been just close family friends)for a while, it seemed like she was very unhappy through most of the book, but she either learns to bake while she's there or practices baking more and finds her joy through that. She might have put a pie in a competition or local fair, but she definitely makes a pie and comments that the secret is baking soda or baking powder in the crust to make it extra flakey. At the end or near the end of the book she makes a cake that her male cousin says is really interesting and unexpected because the frosting is blue but the flavor is mint.

I have the impression that some of her less successful bakes were fed to the family dog but I can't remember for sure.

The book felt really old fashioned but given how young I was at the time it might have taken place any time between 1900 and 1970 because they all would have felt like ancient history to a third grader. If I had to guess I would say it took place during the 50s.

[Daisy]

The Luckiest Girl?

[Michelle]

Daisy wrote: "The Luckiest Girl?"
I'll check it out! I don't remember all the dating mentioned in the description blurb but I might have skimmed over those parts as a child...

[Kris]

Google Books preview of The Luckiest Girl by Beverly Cleary - Daisy's suggestion:

https://books.google.com/books?id=B2Q... There are different cover images. This version shows a slice of cake with blue frosting.

[Emma]

I found an excerpt from the The Luckiest Girl that mentions frosting
--------------------------------------
“Blue frosting looks sort of funny on a cake,” she said shyly. “I thought it would look prettier.” She ate carefully, taking small bites and sitting up very straight. Just watching her made Shelley feel good.

“Blue frosting is good,” said Hartley. “You could call it Surprise Frosting. Everyone expects something flavored with mint to be green, so when you bite into blue frosting and find it mint flavored, it is a surprise.”

[Michelle]

That's definitely it! Thank you!

[Michelle]

Book is The Luckiest Girl by Beverly Cleary