espresso cake: the tale of the 37-year-old stand mixer

Like most of my food stories, this one begins on a Sunday. Prior to heading to my dad's for lunch, I was sitting on the couch watching the Food Network (yes, we're all surprised). A lesser-known show called "Cooking for Real" was on, and the host was making an alternate holiday meal of cornish hens. (Side note: The host is Sunny Anderson, who I think is great. Possibly the only female host on the channel that isn't legitimately insane). Aside from the birds, she made a coffee cake (with espresso powder), which I thought looked especially tasty. So tasty, in fact, that I decided I was going to make it.

Now this is slightly odd for three reasons. 1. I don't like coffee. 2. Aside from "break-and-bake" cookies, I haven't baked anything ever (unless you count helping my mom when I was growing up, and I don't, because all I ever really did was lick the spoon after everything was in the oven). 3. I don't own a mixer of any kind.

Item 3 was the real issue. I'll be damned if I'm going to make a batter with a hand whisk. So when I went to my dad's, I picked up my mom's old stand mixer. When I took it out of the closet, I was kind of worried that it might not work. It was at least as old as me, probably older (it was later confirmed to be a wedding gift, so 37), hadn't been used since probably the late '90's, and was caked in dust. But alas, I took it home, cleaned it off, plugged it in and turned it on. To my amazement, it worked. It was pretty loud and it got kind of hot, but it worked. Considering I was already making short ribs and prepping pork chops, I put the mixer away until later in the week.

Fast forward a day to Monday when I made the espresso cake. Since it was 1. my first baking experience, 2. my mixer was ancient, and 3. I fully documented the whole ordeal, getting everything mixed up and into the oven took about 45 minutes. Quite slow, I agree. But, in the end it was worth it. I ended up with two loaves of espresso cake (minus the frosting, I don't see how peanut butter and coffee go together). I kept one for myself and brought the other into the work the next morning. Suffice to say, it didn't last long. Definitely making it again, probably for Christmas.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/mini-espresso-cakes-with-peanut-butter-frosting-recipe/index.html

After making the cake, I went online looking for any info about the mixer. Couldn't find anything except for a Japanese E-bay entry, which I obviously could not read. So I ended up emailing Hamilton Beach with the model number and whatnot. Below is my email and the cold auto-reply.

My email:
Product: Standup Mixer
Model: MHB 29
Series: n/a
Message: As I was searching through my parents' house the other day, I found my mother's old standup mixer. Hamilton Beach, model MHB 29 (200 watts, 120 VAC, 50-60 Hz). It hadn't been used in years, and since I didn't have a mixer at my place, I decided to take it home. Seeing as how I remember my mom using it when I was just a little kid (I'm now 26), I was skeptical that it would still work. However, it still does. I put it to work tonight, as I mixed batter for a coffee cake, and it worked quite well (although, it did get pretty warm after a while). I'm just curious if you have any idea how old this model might be. Not surprisingly, I couldn't find a manual at my parent's house, and I also couldn't find any info online. No problems here, just looking for info. And good job making a rather durable product!

Response:
Thank you for contacting Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc.
Unfortunately, all parts and accessories have been depleted for your model.
We would like to encourage you to visit our website at www.hamiltonbeach.com to view our current line of small household appliances. You will find purchasing information here as well.
Thank you for your patronage and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Thank you for contacting Hamilton Beach Brands and please let us know if there is anything else we can assist you with.
Catherine
Consumer Affairs