The United States Food Administration stressed the importance of reducing sugar consumption during the war and offered molasses, corn syrup, and raisins in its place.

[3] When the Great Depression hit America following the Stock Market Crash of 1929, families were forced to stretch their budgets and "make do" with minimal and cheap ingredients when it came to cooking.

Betty Crocker's Cooking Hour was one such show that provided women with budget-friendly recipes.

General Mills, owner of Betty Crocker, employed nutritionists and cooks to experiment with different ways of "ruining" a cake, such as ingredient omission.

Fisher's book How to Cook a Wolf and republished in her The Art of Eating; it uses bacon grease on the premise that spices will mask its taste.