Lane Cake

The "Lane" cake is created with white or yellow cake, layered with a combination of chopped nuts, dried fruit, coconut soused in apple cider. This recipe includes the spice of Mace and makes it all the more interesting to taste.

It originated in 1898, Clayton, Alabama by Emma Rylander Lane, who won a prize for it at the state fair. It appears in Harper Lee's book to Kill A Mockingbird wherein Miss Maudie bakes one for Mr. Avery. It reminded me of a fruit cake which is traditionally eaten during the December holiday season. I liked the cake and would make it again, if nothing else because of its historical value and festive color/texture.

Triple Chocolate Orange Passion Cake

I baked this cake batter in my convection micro-wave. The cake layers did not rise very much. So, I made the effort to increase the height of the cake by putting a layer of whipping cream between the lower cake layer, frosting layer and the upper cake layer. My mother use to do this to create a chocolate layered cake and it was always a requested cake by family members for birthday celebrations.

When I took the cake with the whipping cream layer out of the refrigerator to frost the cake the whip cream softened to the point that the cake slipped apart. I guess the kitchen temperature was too warm. So, I placed it in the freezer for a while, but later discovered that whipping cream does not freeze well. I proceeded to frost the cake anyway and chalk it up as a great learning experience.

The cake batter has orange juice and orange zest. The frosting has orange extract. Thus the name "Passion Orange." I think I put too much orange extract in the frosting because it tasted like one of those solid orange flavored chocolates that are available in stores around Christmas time. It was rich in orange flavor. Too rich!

Since I was disappointed in the cake overall, I decided to put ready-made ice cream syrup on the cake to fix it up. Well, the next morning as I took it out of the refrigerator the syrup had separated into puddles of chocolate liquid and water. It did not look appetizing. I wiped the sides of the cake dish dry and served it to the office staff. Boy, I learned allot of "do nots" on this one.

Stephen Pyle's Heaven and Hell Cake

This cakes a winner amongst peanut butter lovers. Others, who could give or take peanut butter, said that it looks better than it tastes. The book says that the recipe came from a chef in Texas and the waitress said that it got it name because "it's heaven on your lips and hell on your hips."

The original cake is made from layering devil's food cake, angel food cake and peanut butter mouse'. I wanted to forgo the devil's food cake and utilize a red velvet cake recipe from the book. I felt that since the red velvet cake had a cocoa base that it would work well. So I did! The cake was a success and it took almost 8 hours of baking and prepping to complete the cake. I would make it again, but not rate it as one of my favorites.

Alma's Italian Cream Cake

I really looked forward to making this cake since I had heard such rave review on Italian cakes in the past. Yes, it has coconut and walnuts! This recipe is from Cat Cora's "Cooking from the Hip." It has to be one of my favorite in the recommendations of the book "All Cakes Considered." I liked it so much that I choose to put the recipe on the blog.spot. You have to make this one!

From the original recipe, I changed the cake flour to regular flour and did not bake the walnuts before chopping. The recipe has been changed to reflect these two modifications. Also, I did add 1/4 teaspoon of coconut extract to the batter and to the frosting just to livin' up the flavor a bit, which is not listed in the recipe below.

You'll need:
Two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans
A food processor
A whisk attachment and extra bowl for mixer

For the cake:
2 cups walnuts
1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, separated
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting:
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
One 16-ounce package confectioners' sugar (about 3-3/4 cups)

To make the cake:
1. Center a rack and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake pans with vegetable shortening and flour.

2. In a food processor, finely chop nut until they resemble very coarse flour. Set aside 1 cup for the cake batter and reserve the remaining cup for the frosting and for sprinkling on top of the cake.

3. Set aside 1/2 cup of sugar. Cream the butter in the mixer at medium speed, and gradually add the remaining 1-1/2 cups of the sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. In a separate bowl, dry whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

5. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, 1 cup of flour mix for every 1/2 cup of buttermilk, beating well after each addition. Continue until all the flour and buttermilk are mixed in.

6. Add the vanilla extract, 1 cup of the chopped walnuts, and the coconut and beat until well blended.

7. Set the batter aside while you beat the egg whites. Switch to a clean mixer bowl and replace the paddle or beaters with a whisk attachment.

8. Whip the egg whites on high speed until frothy, then continue whisking while gradually adding the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. The egg whites should be form stiff, but not dry, peaks.

9. Fold the egg whites into the batter in thirds, making sure each time that the egg whites are completely incorporated. All together, the folding will take between 10 and 15 full rotations of the bowl. Be gentle.

10. Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cake layers test done.

11. Cool the layers in the pans for 10 minutes, then unmold onto cake racks. Allow to cool to room temperature.

To make the frosting:
12. Cream the cream cheese and butter together on medium speed and add the vanilla extract.

13. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar 1 cup at a time, until blended.

14. Kick up the mixer to high gear and beat the frosting until very smooth. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in 1/2 cup of the reserved chopped walnuts. (You should have 1/2 cup left.)

Constructing the cake:
15. Frost the crown of the cake and the sides last.

16. Then put the cake in the refrigerator to firm up the frosting. About 30 minutes before serving, press the remaining 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts into the crown of the cake.

Pickled Veggie Salad

Someone else wrote about this recipe "When I see pickled I think sour, this was the opposite. Too sweet for me. The Brussels sprouts were fun to use. Won't make again."

It takes longer than 20 minutes to prepare and three pans on the stove. I found it to be more work than worth the flavor.

For the recipe click here!