Applesauce Cake

I had a jar of applesauce I needed to use up before it expired so I decide to try this recipe from the Ladies Of The House. It was okay, soft and had a good texture but it was missing something. It wasn't spicy enough to be a spice cake and I used more raisins than it called for it didn't seem like enough. Maybe some diced apples or more spices would make it appeal to my taste more.

Yet another carrot cake

I made a carrot cake for my dad's birthday last month. I tried one made with applesauce substituted for some of the oil using this recipe. I made as instructed by the recipe except the baking time, 40 -50 minutes for a 9 in cake? Sound much too long to me. I ended up baking about 30 minutes but it still ended up being dry. I added lemon extract to the frosting instead of vanilla because I prefer the taste of lemon with carrot cake. The pecans I used may have been going bad according to my dad. They didn't expire until May but I don't like the taste of nuts so I can't tell if they have started going rancid. This recipe wasn't a keeper for me.

Poorman's cookies

I was looking through some recipes I had bookmarked and came found this recipe for old fashioned spice cake A.K.A Poorman's cookies. It looked yummy and it was! My dad in particular loved them didn't even complain that I had didn't put in nuts... until the next day at least.

I halved the recipe and left out the nuts and baked it 30 minutes in an 8x8 inch pan. I can see the reason it's called both a cake and a cookie. The batter was more like a cookie dough than a cake batter and it seemed like a slightly cakey bar cookie. The flavors were better the next day as they had melded together.

You could probably change it up some, cranberries instead of raisins or if I think about it next time I might toss in some diced apples.

 

Old-Fashioned Spice Cake

2 1/4c. water
1 1/2 c. raisins
1 stick unsalted butter or margerine
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

    Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease a 9×13 baking pan.
    Combine water, raisins, and butter in a medium saucepan. Boil over medium-high heat, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, remove the lid, and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
    While the raisin mixture is boiling, combine the dry ingredients (through cloves) in a large bowl, whisking until thoroughly combined.
    Pour the slightly cooled raisin mixture over the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until mostly combined and moistened (the batter at this point will have the consistency of a paste). Add the beaten eggs and again stir with a spoon, until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts.
    Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until deeply browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
    Cool to room temperature before serving. If not serving immediately, cover with plastic wrap to keep the cake moist. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes 12 servings.

It would be great if any of my readers would support me in my walk for alzheimer's. Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the country and the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.

Dorie's not so perfect pound cake...

My mother loves pound cake but has never been able make them, so what she usually does is yellow cake from a mix baked in a bundt pan. I've seen the recipe for Dorie Greenspan's Perfection Pound Cake on numerous blogs and I thought I would give it a try. I followed the directions to the letter, used real Kerrygold butter, I'm pretty sure the batter tasted okay, not that I would recommend that anyone eats cake batter.

I was really hoping for the best but the flavor was unremarkable and the cake was dry. It was edible if it was covered in strawberries and whipped cream.  What a waste of butter this was. I'm not even going to link to the recipe as it's easy to find.

The coconut carrot cake that wasn't...

I saw this recipe at A Southern Grace for carrot coconut cake. I love carrot cake and I love coconut cake and that picture looks great! I must make it, I thought. So on my next trip to the store I went armed with a list of ingredients, Cream of Coconut, not a problem it's right there in the liquor aisle. Coconut extract, that should be an easy find right? Wrong, there isn't even a place for it on the shelf. Seriously? Vanilla, almond even root beer extract but no coconut. That's okay I reasoned, I'm sure between the shredded coconut and the cream of coconut it will be good anyway.

I start to make the cake getting all my ingredients ready before hand. (something I don't usually do), the nuts are chopped and the carrots are shredded. Everything is going great. Except for peeling my thumb when I was peeling the carrots but if I took injuring myself in the kitchen as a sign, I would never cook again. Anyway, It's time to add the cream of coconut, I open the can to find a slightly brownish waxy looking layer when I dug a bit deeper a greasy looking syrup. Does anyone know what cream of coconut is supposed to look like? If that's what it normally looks like I think I'll be getting rid of any recipes with that in it. Anyway since everything else was mixed up and ready to go I just added extra oil and made it without the cream of coconut.

The flavor of the cake was lacking but the texture was okay. and since I couldn't make the frosting which is a shame because I think I wanted to try that more than the cake and I didn't have any cream cheese. I had to go next door and borrow a can of frosting. Maybe one day I'll try it again, but I would like to know if the cream of coconut was bad or if it was supposed to look that way.

New Years Eve Coconut Cake

Dad wanted a carrot or coconut cake cake for New Years and since I was wanting to make this for Christmas and didn't because of the multitude of desserts we already were planning. I decided to make it last night.

It's really heavy. I don't know what happened. It was in the oven and started smelling yummy so I turned on the oven light to check it's progress. It was beautifully risen but not quite done. A few more minutes passed and it was time to open the door and check. It's done! I pulled the pans on put them on cooling rack and left them to it. When I came back to remove them from the pans they had fallen from lovely domed tops to flat tops. Okay...flat tops are easier to frost. I finished cooling it and frosted it and stuck it in the fridge. No one ate it last night. I should probably mention no one has been eating a lot, especially heavier foods because the entire family, except dad got sick at Christmas, a nasty stomach bug that was going around my grandmothers rest home. My grandmother and her roommate had it a week or so before and my mom got it then as well, my sister Christmas Eve which prevented her from even celebrating with us. Then my aunt and cousin on Christmas Night, Mom got it again the night after that as did I the next morning.

I kind of got off point. Dad tried some earlier and said it was kind of heavy. He wasn't a fan of the frosting either. I tried a small piece after lunch and It was heavy, honestly doughy might even be a better word. I'm certain it was done when I took it out. I tested with a toothpick and the top sprang back when I touched it. It isn't sitting all that well so I don't even know if I will have another piece. I tasted the batter and it wasn't bad. and the overall flavor is okay. I'll put the link so if anyone wants to see if they have better luck with it than me.

Coconut cake recipe

Spanish Bar Cake

A&P's Spanish Bar Cake, I fondly remember them. Sadly I haven't had one in years but I had a craving so I searched for a recipe and made an attempt at recreating it. The cake turned out okay but it wasn't the cake I remember. I didn't have cloves so I used extra allspice which could have been part of why it wasn't the same. The frosting however was nothing like the original. I'm pretty sure the frosting on the original was cream cheese but I thought I'd try the one that was with the recipe I found.

I would still consider making this again even if it's not right it's still a nice raisin cake. I would use a different frosting though.

I found the recipe here.
















A&P Spanish Bar Cake
4 cups water
2 cups raisins
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
2 eggs, beaten

Add water to raisins and simmer for 10 minutes. Add shortening and allow to cool. Sift together spices and flour, salt, sugar and baking soda. Add cooled raisin mixture and blend well. Add beaten eggs and nuts and stir well. Place into a 9-by-13-inch pan in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35 minutes, or until tester comes our clean. It can also be baked in a jelly roll pan for 25 minutes.
Frost when cool.

Frosting:
1/3 cup shortening
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk or cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat till smooth and creamy.

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Carrot cake

My dad loves carrot cake, so that is what he requested for his birthday this year. He always complains that I don't put enough stuff in. 'It would be better with some coconut' or you should have put nuts in it' he says, so I put everything but the kitchen sink in it.

I couldn't find a recipe with everything in it so I made it up using Laurie's Amazing Carrot Cake as a base. It wasn't a bad cake but no one was all that crazy about it either and now my dad swears he never requested coconut in his carrot cake, or pineapple, or nuts, 'I just wanted carrots and raisins' he says. Lies, LIES! I say.

I toasted the pecans, I liked them that way and I don't even like nuts plain and I was eating them out of the pan but Dad thought they tasted weird. He didn't like the pineapple which I've almost always put in carrot cake. Neither of my parents liked the coconut which I didn't even really notice it in the cake but the toasted on top I loved, I was eating that straight from the pan as well. Yum, toasted coconut. Mom complains about any spice but cinnamon. She thought the raisins were too dry, I thought I'd soaked them too long. She complained the frosting was too thin and dry and there wasn't enough of it. It was too thin I had to stick it in the freezer for a few minutes before I could finish decorating it. At least they gave me some feedback, normally I ask what they thin and all I get back was 'it was alright' or 'didn't like it'. We did all agree it was pretty.

Here's the recipe if you wan't to try it, or alter it.

Buttermilk Carrot Cake

1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
1 c. buttermilk
4 eggs
1/2 tbs. salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmag
3 c. grated carrots
1. pecans, toasted and chopped
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. wheat germ
1 c. raisins, soaked in water
1 sm can crushed pineapple, drained
1 c coconut

   Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix the wet ingredients including the carrots, raisins and pineapple. Mix dry ingredients including nuts and coconut. Stir together they wet and dry ingredients until combined.  Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9 inch cake pans that have been liked with parchment paper. Bake about 35 minutes. Cool and frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 tbs butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tsp lemon juice
pinch salt
3 c. powdered sugar
milk to thin

    Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add lemon juice. Mix in powdered sugar and milk if needed until it reaches frosting consistancy.

Laurie's Amazing Carrot Cake

This cake turned out pretty well. I halved the cake recipe to make 2 9-in layers. Freezing made it easy to frost. I goofed and halved the frosting as well, I don't know if it was just a really good frosting recipe or if it was because I made less of it so it wasn't overwhelming but I loved the frosting.

I wasn't crazy about the ground nuts and raisins, I like whole raisins and I thought the ground nuts left a bitter taste in some bites. (maybe I should have toasted them?) I would try it again with a few changes.

Edit: I was looking at the frosting recipe again and realized I don't know what I thought a cube of butter meant, a stick or a couple of tablespoons? I also can't remember whether I used vanilla or lemon juice. I normally used vanilla but I liked this one better than normal so maybe I used the lemon juice?


Frosted very neatly.


Last piece... I kept forgetting to take pictures.

Laurie's Amazing Carrot Cake

3 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

8 eggs

1 Tablespoons salt

4 teaspoons soda

4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons cloves, ground

6 cups grated carrots

2 cups chopped pecans

4 1/2 cups flour

2 cups raisins and / or 2 cups chopped fresh cranberries

Prepare pans:

2- 10 inch Spring form pans,

or

two- 9 inch round cake pans and two- 8 inch round cake pans.

Beat the eggs, oil and buttermilk together in a large bowl. Grind the pecans and raisins in a food processor with a metal blade. Pulse until chopped into very small pieces. Add all of the dry ingredients, including the nuts and raisins to the wet ingredients. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated. Pour into greased and floured pans, lined with parchment or wax paper. Only fill pans 3/4 full. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour if using 10 inch Spring form pans, about 45 minutes for round pans. Test with toothpick to see if done before removing from oven. After removing from oven, wrap each layer individually with saran wrap and place in freezer while still warm. Remove after cake is cooled and frozen, and apply one layer of frosting. Layer the cake on a platter. Return to freezer. Let cake refreeze until frosting is firm. Remove and frost outer sides and top of cake again. At this point you can either place back in freezer until ready to use, or let sit out to thaw. If making the cake in advance, cover when frosting is hardened and store in freezer. On day of serving, remove cake from freezer at least three hours before serving. You may decorate with lemon leaves around base of cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 cube butter, not margarine

8 oz. cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla (I used 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice instead)

pinch salt

about 6 cups powdered sugar

cream or milk to thin, about 3 tablespoons

Cream the butter and cream cheese. Add flavoring, salt and about 3 cups of powdered sugar. Mix well. Add rest of powdered sugar and milk or cream to desired consistency. Frost as directed. If you are making 4 layers, I 1/2 this recipe again so you will have enough to frost all four cakes. If making either 2 -10 inch spring form cakes, or just frosting 2- 9 inch cakes, and keeping the smaller 8 inch cakes in the freezer for later use, one batch of frosting is enough.

I made this cake a few months ago. I was looking for something to do with a bunch of green tomatoes that had fallen off a potted tomato that the wind had blown over and found this on recipezaar. It was adapted from a recipe from Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s. I ran out of butter so I didn't make the cream cheese frosting, maybe It would have been better if I had. It was okay but no one felt it was worth making again.

Dolly Parton’s Green Tomato Cake

1 cup raisins
Hot water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter, melted
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/4 lbs green tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced small
1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 lb chilled cream cheese (two 8-oz packages)

8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 pinch ground cinnamon, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch cake pans and lightly dust them with flour.
2. Place the raisins in a bowl and add hot water to cover; set aside. (Note from Julesong: you can use warm rum or other liquor, if you like.).
3. Sift the flour into a medium bowl, then add the salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg; stir to combine.
4. In another large bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture, stirring, until a smooth batter forms.
5. Drain the raisins in a sieve.
6. Stir the walnuts, drained raisins, cored/diced tomatoes, and coconut flakes into the batter.
7. Pour an equal amount of batter into each prepared cake pan and spread evenly with a spatula.
8. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for about 60 minutes of until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. When done, remove from oven and let cake cool in pans on wire racks.
9. When cake is cool to the touch, slide a knife or icing spatula around the inside rim of each pan to loosen edges and carefully flip the cake layers onto the wire racks to continue cooling. (You can use an inverted plate on top of the pan, flip, and carefully transfer to racks, if you like.).
10. If you want to frost the cake, make the cream cheese frosting while layers are cooling.
11. To make the frosting, in a medium bowl beat together the cream cheese and butter with an electric or hand mixer until well blended.
12. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.
13. Gradually add the powdered sugar while continuing to beat until smooth.
14. Beat in cinnamon until incorporated. Use to frost the cake.
15. To frost cake: when cake is completely cooled place one layer on serving plate and, using a spatula, frost all over with half the frosting. Place second layer on top. Frost second layer with remaining frosting.

Chocolate Cake

This recipe came from Food Hunter's Guide to Cuisine. It's a nice chocolate cake, excellent texture and very moist. I personally thought the taste of the sour cream in the cake came through a bit more than I would have liked (it could have been my imagination, I'm not a huge fan of sour cream) I didn't use cherry preserves as a filling, other than that I followed the recipe.



I had picture of the whole cake but they turned out really blurry. My picture taking skills have sucked lately. I also have no dishes that are worthy of being photographed which is why the cake is sitting on a Winnie the Pooh plate.

The time on the recipes seems likely to be for a sheet cake. I think 20-25 min. seems more likely for a layer cake but I forgot to write down how long I cooked it for ( I made it a few weeks ago and now I can't remember)

The recipe is copied below as written on Food Hunter's blog

Chocolate Cake
(old family recipe)

1 cup cold water
1 stick butter
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour your pan.
2. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
3. Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl at medium speed. Add eggs one at a time mixing after each addition. Add sour cream beat well. Alternate between dry ingredients and water mixing just until combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake 50-60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

One Bowl Butter Cream Frosting
(Phylis's famous frosting)

6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup Cocoa
2 2/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small bowl, cream butter. Add cocoa and confectioners sugar alternately with milk; beat to spreading consistency. (additional milk may be needed) blend in vanilla.

Filling

1 small jar cherry preserves