A Tender Homage To Cake

Make somebody happy today – bake a cake! A chocolate cake for the man in your life. Or a white cake with peppermint frosting for “the girls” coming for bridge. Bake a sponge cake for Grandma, as lovely-light as the kind she used to bake. Bake a cake – have a party. Bake a cake to take to a party. Bake a cake just because you feel good today.

-Intro to Cake Section of Betty Crocker’s Cookbook (1972)  

A hoy-hoy and welcome back!! I adore and had to include this quote from my Betty Crocker Cookbook from 1972 as I believe it captures the love of cake that most of us share. I know, I know, there are pie people or candy people. I, however, am a cake person: I love the tender crumb of the actual cake – my favorite is white cake with a light hint of sweet vanilla or almond tones. However, the chocolate with its dark, rich, and robust chocolate/coffee flavors simply wraps you up in its deep embrace. Followed by the frosting, oh the frosting. I could inscribe poem after poem and verse after verse on the properties and love for frosting and all of its attributes. Vintage Me Note: I must admit, that I was that person who loved American Buttercream – the sweeter the better. Now, however, I tend to lean more towards less saccharine sweetness and more towards texture and flavor bombs. There, now with that confession out of the way, we can move on to frosting. Lovely, light and airy, silky smooth in a palate of flavors from vanilla to chocolate to tangy cream cheese, and even wedding day almond. 

I believe I speak, maybe, for most people, when I say that the majority of us eat cake for the frosting and that the cake is a mere delivery system for the luscious cloud of frosting. However, what if I told you that there are cakes that are so good, they don’t need frosting? Mind blown, I know. But, it is true, as I have experienced and enjoyed them (and this is coming from an avid give-me-all-the-frosting person). For example, there is a bougie store that everyone goes to, that is very expense, the people are super nice, I LOVE their crab cakes, but their bakery is just magical. I typically get their single pieces of cakes – vanilla. Let me tell you: I prefer the cake over the frosting. I know, but I said what I said. IT IS SO GOOD. Then there are a couple of cakes that I make that do not have, nor require frosting (more about that later), and everyone loves them. I simply wanted to address that for most of my cake eating time, I will always go for the cake with frosting. However, there are times when a cake,  sans frosting, can be just as tasty, sinful and luxurious. I have spoken. 

Now, at this point in your life and in reading this blog, you might have asked yourself, what is she going on about? Is she going to simply blather on about cakes this entire blog?? Well, kind of. BUT HEAR ME OUT!! Honestly, half of this blog will more than likely be me, rambling on about my love for cake (let me count the ways), and the other half will have a point. I promise. Also, I think you will like The Point. However, in my defense, this is called a homage to cake. So, there’s that, in the title of the blog; reader beware. 

“A Party without Cake is just a meeting.” – Julia Child

The Plan 

So, here is the plan for the cake-tacular chaos that will be this post! But first, a story! I have to tell you the inspiration for this post: this blanket. As seen on the Birthday Donut Blanket post, I started making the self-binding blankets for my best friend’s little girl… and it snowballed from there. My cousin had a little boy and I thought that would fun and cute to make them one. THEN, then, my friend – who worked for a store decorating cakes – had a little girl. At first, I searched through little girl or unisex baby pattern ideas, but then I remembered that my friend decorated cakes!! She decorated cakes!! So, I decided to look through “cake” fabric patterns, and Holy Cake Patterns, Batman!! Cherubim’s made of cake started to sing in the Heavens as cherries, sprinkles of love, and cake rained down on me. I knew this is what I needed to do. Make a layer cake blanket. It was like Moses and the burning bush, but me…. With cake patterned fabric. So, there’s that. Yeah…. Anyhoo! At this point, I had also seen a yellow cake with chocolate frosting layer cake fabric and knew this was the path I should be taking on my blanket sewing mission. But wait! We need to focus on the blog again! The Plan: I will be your pastry fairy through not only cake related crafts, but new recipes as well! I know, this is going to be a rollercoaster of cake love, so, once again, buckle up buttercups! This is going to be great!! 

Cake, A Love Affair 

Where did my love of cake come from? I have no idea! I just know that I have always loved and looked forward to cake at any and all celebrations. If there is not cake, I am very put out (I hope someone got that very obscure movie reference). It is honestly most likely due to chemical receptors in the brain that are triggered from the refined sugar found in cake and, most assuredly, the frosting, LOL. It’s okay. I’m a sucker for the serotonin boost, thank you cake. What I do know is that my love of eating cakes then morphed into my love of baking cakes. (I make you cake). 

BOXED CAKE NOTE: Okay, here is the deal. I know that I said use boxed cake mix. I use box cake mix, I do! BUT! Hear me out!! BUT, sometimes we (we being me) need to be challenged, and sometimes, a cake recipe is a cake recipe that needs to be made from scratch, as the box cake just cannot, and/or does not cut it. Also, I have noticed that chocolate cake is a tricky little sucker to nail down in order to make sure that is it moist and tender. I am fortunate that I have always had a great chocolate cake recipe (also called Wacky Cake) from my cousin, Lori – the cake featured not only in my  Halloween Birthday Cake blog, but also in my Make Your Own Birthday Cake blog. It is a simply cake that consistently creates a tender, moist, and chocolate-rich cake, time and time again. The second chocolate cake that I have recently added to my arsenal is the cake I featured on my Birthday Cake Blog from my Claire. Please check this out and try it!! Please. It is so rich and complex, you will not be sorry. That being said, with both of these recipes, you cannot get the same depth of flavor or tenderness from a boxed cake mix – no matter how good it is or whatever add ins you make. 

Boldly Going Where No Cake Person Has Gone Before….

Okay, that might be a little dramatic, but, we are going to talk about cake without frosting. That’s right: withOUT, as in, sans the frosting. None. Nope. Just cake. HOLD ON!! Come back! Give it a minute!! I promise you!! Would I lead astray? No. See? Okay. The first marvelous cake that I have been making for several years now. I believe I made it for Mother’s Day as both our moms aren’t too crazy on cake with frostings. This is a light cake with textural differences, as it has, not only the tender cake portion, but also has a bit of texture with the semolina flour as well as crushed almonds – so, tasty. There is also a wonderfully, bright burst of orange from the zested orange, an orange simple syrup, and candied orange strips. I will tell you: yes, this is a heavier cake then one might be used to, but it is not sugary. Instead it has more of a delicate sweetness from the orange, the yogurt, and the almonds. In all, it is a family favorite that we all love! 

12 TB butter (1 1/2 sticks).                                    

1 2/3 cup of sugar

6 strips of orange zest

3/4 cup semolina flour**

3/4 cup of flour

1/2 cup almonds, processed 

1 tsp. Baking powder 

1/4 tsp salt 

2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk

Vanilla 

1 Cup Greek yogurt

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 inch round cake pan. In a small saucepan, combine 2/3 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of water and the orange zest strips. Bring to a boil for about 3 minutes. Turn off after 3 minutes and set aside to steep
2. In a large bowl, whisk the two flours, almonds, grated zest, baking powder, and the salt. 
3. In another bowl, cream the butter and 1 cup of sugar together. Then add eggs to this mixture one egg at a time. Then add your vanilla (I measure with my heart). Next alternate adding in the flour mixture with the yogurt, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. 
4. Pour into the pan, it is thick. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Let cool. Then using a fork, poke holes into the cake and add half of the orange simply syrup to the cake. Cover and set in the fridge overnight.
5. Take out of fridge an hour or two before serving. Leave the other half of the syrup out in case anyone wants to add more to their cake and a bowl of greek yogurt. To serve: put a slice of a plate and to act as the “frosting” you can add the greek yogurt and candied orange slices. Serve and enjoy! 

** What is Semolina Flour?? Semolina is a flour that is made through the milling process of durum wheat. It’s course compared to regular flour and is most often used for dishes like pasta, couscous, and bread. Compared to other flour types, semolina comes with health benefits that make it a great alternative to other, less nutrient dense flours.

I wish I had the original recipe for you, but it has been so long, I don’t remember where I got this recipe from! I’m thinking someone on the Pinterest, but I have no clue. I am sorry. NOTE: Not all cake will be like this, but most are: when mixing the ingredients, you typically will alternate between liquid and flour ingredients. When this happens, you will more than likely always start and end with the flour ingredients. Why? The dry flour helps to bring the batter together – if you were to end with the liquid, there would not be enough dry four to absorb the liquid and the batter would be too loose and not bake properly or evenly. 

Have I wet your appetite for frosting-less cakes? I hope so! Next we will open the chapter to coffee cake-like cakes. This is a blueberry buckle with a corn flake (yes, the cereal) streusel topping; this is perfect with a cup of coffee or tea… or milk. But wait! Before we get into this recipe, I will front-load you by explaining that for this cake, I will provide the recipe as I did with the Almond Orange Cake. Next section, I will go over a couple more cakes but will tell you where you can get the recipes. Okay! On with the Blueberry Buckle! Bridget, you might be asking me; is this another damn Claire recipe?? Yes. Yes it is. 

Streusel Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt 

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 stick butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces at room temp

1 cup of cornflakes, lightly crushed

Cake

Melted butter for pan

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup course ground yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons Kosher Salt 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1 cup granulated sugar 

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest 

10 Tablespoons butter, at room temp

2 large eggs

1/2 cup of buttermilk 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 1/2 pounds fresh or frozen (but not thawed) blueberries 

For the Streusel –

1. Mix together the flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Next, take your butter and cut it into the mixture until you have moist crumbs that hold together. Then add the cornflakes and toss gently to mix them throughout the streusel – set this aside while you make the cake. 
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put your oven rack in the middle. Take melted butter and brush the sides and bottom of your 10 inch springform pan. Add parchment paper to the bottom and brush that with butter too. 
3. In a mixing bowl, combine your flour, cornmeal, salt, baking soda and powder. In a second bowl, combine your sugar and lemon zest and rub the two together between your finger to make a “lemon sand-like” mixture. The sugar will begin to resemble moist sand. Add your butter and mix at medium to medium high speed until mixture is pale and fluffy. 
4. Beat your eggs, one at time, into this sugar and butter mixture, then continue to mix until the mixture is light, thick, and creamy. 
5. Reduce your speed to low and add one third of the flour mixture to the bowl, mix until almost combined. Then add half of the buttermilk and your vanilla. Next add half of the flour mixture, then the rest of the buttermilk, and ending with the flour mixture. Do not over mix. When you think it looks mixed, stop the mixer and with a spatula, mix from the bottom to make sure all flour has been mixed in. This is a thick batter. 
6. Add the blueberries and gently fold them in. This is going to look like way too many blueberries to batter ratio – it’s supposed to be. Don’t panic, embrace the blueberry goodness. 
7. Scrape the batter into the pan and level out the top with a knife or spoon – make sure the top of fairly smooth. Sprinkle on the streusel topping. Bake at 350 degrees for between 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour and 40 minutes. Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. 
Let cake cool completely. Then take a knife and run it around the edge of the cake to loosen from the pan. Remove outer ring of the pan and enjoy!!! 

This cake is great warmed up with some ice cream. But honestly, you could eat it as is. It is so comforting without being over sweet, yet fresh and light with the pops of blueberry in contrast to the crunchy, salty topping. It is truly the perfect balance, and can be enjoyed for dessert or even breakfast. 

“You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy cake and that’s kind of the same thing, isn’t it?” – Unknown

Confectionary Textiles 

I stumbled onto this beaut of a quote on the Pinterest and yes, to me, cake can equal happiness. However, one should not go through life consuming cake all of the time; that’s a lot of sugar and carbs! LOL. You can, on the other hand, make, and surround yourself with cake themed items. As mentioned above, I am over-the-moon (yes, obsessed) with the different cake fabrics. However, the next question that should be asked is: Can one make too many cake themed textiles? Some might claim the answer is yes; others, on the other hand will tell you to go and create what your heart tells you, even if it is treading on the obsessive. However, can someone really obsess over cake? Its cake, cake for Heaven’s sake! I don’t think you can. I do, however, know that husbands can become overwhelmed with the sheer amount of cake blankets you are making and taking over the house and camper with. Solution: purchase mini fabric samples of cake material and make a pennant!! That’s right, fellow cake enthusiasts a cake pennant!! 

The husband in question may or may not be The Husband; and yes, I may be making a lot, I mean a lot of blanket (for others) but I have been making and wanting to make more cake blankets. This is not my fault. The fabric patterns are just too perfect, and honestly, if I were to sew all the confectionary blankets that I wanted to, we would be in possession of over ten blankets. And, well, that’s a little overboard, even for me. Solution to my problem: purchase mini samples of the fabrics and make one pendant. Red Velvet Cake, Little Debbie Christmas Cake, Black Forest Cake, Cherry, Vanilla Cake, White Cake, Carrot Cake, and Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry Ice Cream. That’s right, the last one was an ice cream fabric, but it had sprinkles, so, winner, winner sundae dessert. LOL. To see how I put together my pennant, please pop over to this blog. Once complete, you can hang it up in your favorite spot, and fondly stare at the plethora of cake patterns – all of which make you feel warm and tender on the inside, imagining their moist crumb and light and creamy frostings, while colorful sprinkles float around you. Or, you know, just enjoy what you have crafted; I might have been projecting onto you, sorry. 

Other Naked Cakes

Teehee, naked. Without frosting, is what I am referring to in this section. I already gave you two cakes, but I promised a couple more. First of all, though, we shall take a trip down mulberry cake lane (see what I did there?). My mother, many other mothers, then some of my friends, and I started going to Tastefully Simple parties. Yeah, you remember those bad boys. They were the best parties, mostly because you got to eat to your hearts content! One of the items I used to get all the time was the pound cake. It was wonderful and had the taste of almonds – which is my favorite. Then you took raspberry jam and spread it all over your awesome Almond Pound Cake with the moist interior and crunchy top; it was over the moon!!

It was so good. Anyhoo, no one has the parties anymore, and I honestly haven’t made a pound cake myself, but if I did find a good recipe, I would add almond extract to it. Martha Stewart has a very easy recipe, and I have always tried of trying that one. If anyone has a favorite Pound Cake recipe, please feel free to share! My main point, for this blog is to remind you that Pound Cakes are cakes too! As are zucchini cakes/breads and banana breads (always add semi-sweet chocolate). These types of cakes are fun and easy to make, and are great to pass out as gifts as little surprises for your friends and family! The 2022 book written by Claire Saffitz, What’s for Dessert? is a great book that has a lot of different and tasty dessert options. One of those being a section for frosting-less cakes. There are so many to chose from and make, but I will give you my two favorite cakes that everyone seemed to enjoy.

On page 133, is the Fennel and Olive Oil Cake with Blackberries. I know, it sounds weird with the olive oil, but please give this a chance. Think savory and sweet. Also keep in mind that the olive oil does have a sweetness lent to it from the actual olives which compliments the fennel. The fennel and the olive oil in turn, lend themselves to enhance and bring out the great earthiness of the blackberries. The olive oil also does a great job in making a very tender and moist cake with pops of blackberries strewn throughout! 

Now, this next one, even I wasn’t sure about, but my love of pistachios won out, so I gave her a try. I am not going to lie though, polenta in a cake did seem very weird to me. I thought the Fennel and blackberry would be my favorite, but it ended up being the Pistachio and Polenta! Who would have known! It is found on page 164 and it is officially named: Polenta Pistachio Pound Cake. Again, not too sweet, but the polenta lends an earthy sweetness like fresh corn on the cob would. Plus the saltiness of the Pistachio’s, just seems to bring it all together in something similar but not to my Tastefully Simple Almond Pound Cake, but better (shh, don’t tell Tastefully Simple). 

Speaking of my love for all things Almond flavored – go to page 143 and indulge in the Crunchy Almond Cake. WOW. I did enjoy this layer cake. There is nice balance between the delicate almond taste with the toasted, crunchy topping all encapsulated in a moist, melt-in-your-mouth, buttery cake.  

Please give all of these cakes a chance; you will not be disappointed. These can also be great breakfast options with a cup of coffee as neither are overly sweet.

Deep, Dark, and Tasty…

Have I lost my mind? Perhaps. What am I talking about? Black cocoa power, Baby. I recently re-baked the super chocolate cake and frosting I made for my birthday and blogged about  here. Now. The recipe calls for Dutch-processed cocoa powder (it has to say Dutch-processed). The Husband couldn’t find that particular product to save his life, he did, however, find it on the World Wide Web. So, Amazon, here we come. LOL. When we got our package, we noticed it said Black Dutch-processed cocoa powered (like what they use for Oreos). Well, hell, I like Oreos, let’s do it and see what happens! 

Can we take a moment of silence and praise to the Cake gods for their intervention because I will never not use this Black Dutch-processed cocoa powder when making this recipe, for both the cake and the frosting. The depth of flavor is indescribable: it is bitter, it is rich, it overtakes, while also complimenting the other ingredients – I will warn you, this demands to be the star of the show. If you are a full fledged American buttercream, sugary sweet dessert person, I would never not tell you to try this, but I am warning you. LOL. This is not sugary sweet. It is bold, it is aggressive, and it is glorious! Poems need to be written about this product and its effect it has on baked goods – it is that good, my friends. So next time you make this cake, please, please, please get the Black or Dark Dutch-processed cocoa powder.    

Christmas, Cake, and Camping?

You betcha! LOL. Maybe not all at once, well, I guess you could. However, for this blog, I am going to be talking about Christmas, and then Cake and Camping.

Christmas – Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not creature was stirring, not even a Pibble. The Little Debbie Christmas Cakes were placed on a decorative plate with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. Wait, what? Little Debbie Christmas Cakes?? Yes, Little Debbie Christmas Cakes. Myself and a friend (you know who you are) love these things, LOVE THEM. Don’t Hate!! They are heavenly concoctions of soft, tender white cake which holds light, fluffy, and sugary sweet frosting. This is all enrobed in a thin layer of saccharine fondant and joyfully decorated with red garland and bright green crunchy sprinkles (this is what adds that layer of texture). They are simply put: delightful. But for real, I eat the dang tootin things the entire season and mourn their loss come January or February. As mentioned before, I have friend who shares in this love and we always tell each other then we first see them. Well, she also happens to be my stylist, and we exchange haircuts for baked goods. However, this time, I decided to make her a Little Debbie Christmas Cake blanket!!!!!!! I know, I will give a moment to compose yourself, I will wait. Okay, yes, so, I quickly looked on my awesome fabric website for Christmas Cakes and lo! They did not disappoint!! The fabric purchased, I then decided to go full Christmas mode with this blanket and made the minky portion, red… bright cranberry bright. I couldn’t wait until Christmas to give it to her either, therefore, in August, she is now comfy ready for Christmas and Christmas Cakes: all were merry and bright! 

Cake and Camping – I hope you are still with me and I have not overwhelmed you all with this awesome cake talk, because this next one has a story to go with it. As mentioned in various other blogs, you know by now (hopefully) that The Husband and I like to camp. We had recently went on a camping trip and, long story short, Miss Calliope puked on a blanket that The Husband was using to sleep with at night. Then Calliope and I hogged the rest of the blankets, leaving The Husband and I quote, “Freezing and alone in the dark, shivering”, yup. Wait, it gets better. He woke me up again after I had fallen back asleep post washing the puke off of the blanket. I should now mentioned at this juncture that I am not a morning person, or a delight to wake up at any time. Therefore when he woke me up, I was quite put out and irritated and grabbed something (no, I had no idea what), shoved it at him, and promptly went back to bed and sleep. 

In the meantime, The Husband was left with a thin piece of plastic that turned out to be a beach “towel” to be used to sit on in the sand. Yeah, so, he resorted to, and I quote again, “the tiny, probably tick infested, dog blanket that barely covered a quarter of my body”. I almost peed myself I was laughing so hard. Therefore, a blanket was required, this time for the camper! What fabric did I chose? A S’mores blanket of course!!! Yes!!! S’mores!!! Now The Husband can sleep wrapped up in ooey, gooey, melting, yet crunchy, comfort, and dream sweet dreams in the awesome S’mores blanket. See? Cake to go around, even when camping.  

Layered Conclusion 

The kitchen is the heart of the home, where memories are made and traditions are passed down. – Betty Crocker

I 100% agree with this quote from dear, old Betty Crocker – it is traditions that keep us alive; but not only alive but living. It is the passing of a baked good from one person to another that allows the receiver to know that the gift given was made with love and in hopes that they enjoy it. Family to family, friend to friend – in a way, recipes are like stories our ancestors used to pass down before written word was the thing, an almost sacred like experience. I suppose that would be one reason why I wanted to share this blog you, my dear readers and friends. Plus, I  like to see how creative I can push myself in describing my favorite things – cake as one of the top things. From a lightly sweet and light cakes to deep, dark and richly dense to light and airy frosting, cake (to me) is happiness. As soon as that first piece lands on my tongue, happiness and serotonin explode throughout my body and brain. 

In conclusion to this tasty blog, I hope that you have enjoyed my antics and been inspired to go out into your kitchen and bake some cake! We live once, lets make the most of it!