Cakes and Icings
Basic Butter Cake
(Mary Mead’s 1-2-3-4 Cake)
| Measure dry ingred: | 3 cups cake flour |
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| | 1/2 tsp salt |
| | 3 tsp baking powder |
| Cream: | 1 cup butter |
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| | 1-1/4 cups sugar |
| | 1-1/2 tsp vanilla |
| Separate: | 4 eggs, reserve whites |
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| Add to butter/sugar: | 4 eggyolks |
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| Add alternately: | dry ingredients |
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| | 1 cup milk |
| Whip into meringue: | 4 eggwhites |
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| | 1/4 cup sugar |
- Fold meringue into cake batter.
- Baking time & temp: 350°, 25 min
- Makes two 8" layers or 24 cupcakes
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Audrey’s poppyseed cake
| Measure dry ingred: | 3 cups cake flour | |
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| | 1/2 tsp salt | |
| | 3 tsp baking powder | |
| Cream: | 1 cup butter | |
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| | 1-1/4 cup sugar | |
| | 1/2 tsp vanilla | |
| Separate | 6 eggs, reserve whites | |
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| Add to butter/sugar: | 6 eggyolks | |
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| Add alternately: | dry ingredients | |
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| | 3/4 cup milk | |
| Add: | 3 Tbsp poppy seeds | |
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| Whip into meringue: | 6 eggwhites | (It also works to dump eggs in whole.
Not as light, but still rich & tasty.) |
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| | 1/4 cup sugar |
- Fold meringue into cake batter.
- Baking time & temp: 325°, 50–60 min for bundt cake or 25 min for cupcakes
- Yield: Makes one large bundt cake or 24 cupcakes
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Gingerbread
| Melt in large pot and set aside: | 1/2 cup butter |
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| Combine dry ingredients: | 2-1/2 cups flour |
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| | 1-1/2 tsp baking soda |
| | 2 tsp plus a shake powdered ginger |
| | 2 tsp plus a shake ground cinnamon |
| | 1/2 tsp salt |
| Combine wet ingredients: | 1/2 cup dark molasses |
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| | 1/2 cup honey |
| | 1 cup hot water (hot enough to melt molasses and honey) |
| Add to melted butter and mix well: | 1/2 cup sugar |
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| Add to butter mixture and mix til almost fluffy: | 1 egg |
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- Add alternately dry and wet ingedients, mixing well after each addition
- Pour batter into greased and floured 8x8x2 pan (higher sides better than shallow pan)
- Bake in preheated 350° oven for one hour.
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Banana bread
(really cake, but baked as a loaf)
| Measure dry ingred: | 2 cups flour (cake flour better but okay to use all-purpose) |
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| | 1/2 tsp salt |
| | 1-1/2 baking powder |
| Cream: | 1/2 cup butter |
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| | 3/4 cup sugar |
| Add: | 2 eggs |
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| Add: | 3 mashed bananas |
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- Add dry ingredients gradually. Can add nuts (optional).
- Baking time & temp: 325°, 1 hour
- Makes a large (8-1/2x4-1/2") loaf or 2 smaller loaves (reduce baking time to 35–40 min).
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Grandma Gracie’s spicy prune cake
| Measure dry ingred: | 1-1/2 cups cake flour | 1-1/2 tsp baking powder |
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| | 1/2 tsp salt | 1/2 tsp cloves |
| | 1/3 tsp soda | 1 tsp cinnamon |
| Cream: | 1/3 cup butter | |
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| | 3/4 cup sugar | |
| | 1/2 tsp vanilla | |
| (Optional) Add: | 1 oz melted unsweetened chocolate (makes it very dark/rich) |
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| Add: | 2 eggs, beaten | |
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| Add alternately: | dry ingredients | |
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| | 1/2 cup prune juice | |
| Finally, add: | 1 cup mashed prunes | |
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- Baking time & temp: 350°, 25 min
- Makes 9x13 sheet. Can also bake it in 2 small loafpans.
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Spicy persimmon bundt cake
| Measure dry ingred: | 3 cups flour (using 50% wholewheat makes it “heartier”) |
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| | 1 tsp salt | 2 tsp cinnamon |
| | 2 tsp soda | 1/2 tsp allspice |
| Blend: | 1/2 cup butter | |
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| | 1/2 cup sugar | |
| Add: | 3 eggs | |
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| Add alternately: | dry ingredients | |
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| | 2 cups persimmon pulp | |
| Finally add: | 1 cup raisins (or mixture of raisins & currants) |
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- Baking time & temp: 375°, about 1 hour
- Makes one large bundt cake. Or make 3 small loaves, reduce baking time to 35–40 min.
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Basic Butter Frosting
| Cream until fluffy: | 1 cup butter |
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| | 1-1/3 cups confectioner’s sugar |
| | 3 Tbps milk (or coffee) |
| | 1 tsp vanilla |
| | *For chocolate frosting, add 4 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate. Add unsweetened cocoa powder to get consistency you want. |
- Makes enough to ice two 8" layers.
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THE Chocolate Cake (Chocolate Pecan Torte)
Cake
| Grind fine: | 2 oz pecans (about 1/2 cup of pecan pieces) |
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| Separate: | 7 eggs |
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| Melt: | 9 oz semi-sweet chocolate |
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| | 7 Tbsp butter (1 stick less a cm pat—save it to grease your pan) |
| Whip into meringue: | 7 eggwhites with |
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| | 1/4 cup sugar |
- Beat eggyolks and combine with melted chocolate.
- Fold meringue mixture into chocolate mixture.
- Add ground pecans.
- Baking time and temp: 250°, 50–60 min
- Makes one 8" round torte. (2" high)
Glaze
| Melt: | 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate |
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| | 1–1/2 oz unsweatened chocolate |
| Bring to a boil: | 1/2 cup heavy cream |
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| | 1/4 cup sugar |
- Add cream mixture to melted chocolate and blend well. Cool.
- Spread glaze on cooled torte. Decorate with pecans.
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