There’s this website, thecakeslicebakers.blogspot.com, that I’ve been stalking for months. It’s the home of the Cake Slice Bakers – a group that picks a cookbook and bakes from it once a month for a year. For the past year, they have been baking from Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes. When I first discovered it this past spring, there was a note on the sidebar that said that they would not be accepting new bakers until August, since they were already halfway through their book.

I checked their website every single day in August, waiting for an announcement about the next round of baking. Then I did the same in September. Was I missing something? I couldn’t find any contact info anywhere on the site, so finally I found another blogger who was participating and begged her to let me in on the secret! Turns out it IS a secret! I got pointed into the right direction, got registered, and now have access to the super-secret blog that can only be accessed by members. ;)

I’m not sure how long they accept new members for, but if you’re interested in joining, drop me a line and I’ll teach you the secret handshake!

I was SO excited to find out that they are baking from Nancie McDermott’s “Southern Cakes” book this time round. I’ve had the book for a little over a year and have baked the Shenandoah Valley Blueberry Cake from it and have been eyeballing over the past few months, determined to explore it a little more!

The October Challenge was Nancie’s “Cinnamon-Pecan Coffee Cake”. Now, I have to admit, I’m not that big a fan of coffee cake. It’s ok…kind of. I prefer more sugary cakes. :) I do think this cake would have been very good though, if I hadn’t burnt the raisins. Only a few on the top burned, and they ended up looking like coffee beans, all puffed up and hollow. Not quite sure what happened there – I guess I baked it too long…or maybe it’s time to finally invest in an oven thermometer! Oh, and fair warning, this recipe uses a LOT of bowls…

Anywho, without further ado, I present…

CINNAMON-PECAN COFFEE CAKE

From Nancie McDermott’s “Southern Cakes – Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations“, page 87.

INGREDIENTS:
Cinnamon-Raisin Filling
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, melted

Coffee Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-by-13 inch pan.

For the filling:
In Bowl #1, combine the light brown sugar, 3 Tbs flour, and cinnamon, mixing with a fork to combine.

In Bowl #2, combine the raisins and pecans, tossing to mix them. Set both of these bowls aside.

For the cake:
In Bowl #3, combine 3 cups flour, baking powder, and salt, whisking to mix them well.

In Bowl #4 (or a small liquid measuring cup), stir the vanilla into the milk.

In Bowl #5 (your big, mixing bowl), combine 1 cup butter and sugar, beating at high speed until it’s pale yellow and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides, until it’s smooth and light.

Now, gradually add flour mixture (Bowl #3) alternately with milk (Bowl #4) to your big bowl (Bowl #5), beginning with flour mixture. Stir only until each disappears.

Spread half of the batter evenly into the pan. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon mixture (Bowl #1) on top, followed by half of the melted butter. Scatter half of the raisin mixture (Bowl #2) over the top of this. Spread the remaining batter over the top again, and repeat with the cinnamon mixture, melted butter, and raisin mixture, covering the cake as evenly as possible.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden brown. Cool the cake in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then serve right from the pan.

No, this is not me. And it’s not my car either. What it is, though, is the inspiration for my latest creation – a Piet Mondrian cake. It was a real work of art! Pun intended.

My sister, Vikki, celebrated her 21st birthday recently (actually, in June). She called me in FEBRUARY and left me a voicemail that went something like this: “Hey Stef, I was trying to think of what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday and I was trying to think of something challenging for you but I still wanted to kind of let you come up with something creative and all, so I thought that maybe you could do like a work of art, like the Eiffel Tower or Mona Lisa or something. Or maybe something 3D. But, whatever you want to do, I don’t care, just maybe a work of art.” Work of art. Ok. Gotcha. Um, help anyone?

So I’ve been mulling over works of art for the past 4 months. Eiffel Tower? Yeah, right. Mona Lisa? Maybe if I could do a stick-figure version. It needed to be something simple, but easily recognizable. I briefly considered Van Gogh’s Starry Night, but then remembered a red, blue, and yellow gridded painting that looked so simple, a kindergartener could have made it. Or, at least someone who could color in the lines!

After a little bit of research, I found out that the artist, Piet Mondrian, actually had painted quite a few of these red, yellow, and blue grid paintings. I ended up choosing this one, called “Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow” painted in 1930, not to be confused with his “Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue” from 1927.

I printed out a scaled down version of the painting, then sketched out the painting, labeling each component of the painting. I measured each component and then re-scaled each individual component up to what would be needed to cover an 8-inch square, 4 inch high cake. Yeah, too much, I know.

On another note, how do you like my recipe holders? Got that tip from a cooking magazine. No more stooping down to read a sheet of paper that’s taking up valuable counter-top real estate. Plus they don’t get nearly as dirty this way.

This was my first time working with rolled fondant. Sure, I’d played with it before a couple of times, sculpting penguins and cows like it was Play-Doh. But it was nothing like actually trying to roll the stuff out and cover it. First step was to cover the cake with a buttercream that would act like a glue to keep the fondant sticking to it. Now, this does not need to be pretty (and mine sure isn’t!). I was more concerned with trying to get the square edges as sharp as I could, since the whole premise behind the artwork is sharp, bold lines and squares and rectangles.

Coloring the fondant was the most time-consuming part of the whole fiasco. I eventually recruited Hubby and Stacey (who was staying with us for the weekend), assigned each of them a color and had them have at it.

When presented with the cake, Vikki exclaimed, “Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow!!!” Mission accomplished.

PIET MONDRIAN CAKE

WHITE CAKE

Adapted from Janet on Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup shortening
3 egg whites, beaten until soft peaks form
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
Grease and flour an 8-inch square pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

In clean bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.

In large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in shortening until fine crumbs are formed.

Add milk and vanilla. Beat at low speed for 1 minute, then high for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl frequently. Fold in egg whites.

Pour batter into greased and floured pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

** I actually poured the entire recipe’s worth of batter into one 8-inch square pan. I made a second recipe’s worth for the second layer and did the same thing.

BUTTERCREAM ICING

Adapted from Wilton’s Buttercream Icing

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup Crisco
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted powdered sugar (1 lb)
2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS:
In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk one tablespoonful at a time (entire amount may not be needed) and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

ROLLED FONDANT

Ok, so I didn’t make the fondant. I drove to JoAnn’s and bought Wilton’s Ready-To-Use White Rolled Fondant. I’ve read that there’s another readily-available rolled fondant called Satin Ice that tastes better and is easier to use, but that’s another adventure for another time.

I tinted the fondant using Wilton’s Icing Colors, rolled it out to about 1/8″ thick, and cut into my shapes. After I had all of my shapes laid out (and labeled corresponding to my master sheet), I laid them on top of the cake, trimmed, and pressed the 4 corners together. I tinted some of the buttercream black and piped it in between the fondant squares for the lines.

When I received my June issue of Cuisine At Home magazine and saw the recipe for Pink Champagne Cake, I knew that I simply had to try it. And my mother-in-law would be the perfect recipient. I set off to make the cake for her for Mother’s Day. Somewhere along the way, something got messed up somewhere and the cake just did not turn out – the cake was way too sweet, the frosting was lumpy and runnyand didn’t taste very good, and I couldn’t get the frosting to stay put. Needless to say, IT ended up in the trash and I ended up scrambling to pull something together.

That’s when I stumbled across this – Tiramisu Cake. Perfect! This cake ended up coming together fairly quickly – a lot quicker than it looked like. The recipe also calls for boxed cake mix, but I made a from-scratch version instead.

This cake, like good wine, only gets better with age. The flavors get to mix and mingle and soak into each other and it is absolutely delicious the first day you make it, but divine the day after. I think that next time I’ll make it at least 24 hours in advance of when I want to serve it, just so the flavor fairies can do their thing.

TIRAMISU CAKE

Adapted from bettina on Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

CAKE**
2 1/3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
3 egg whites
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
1 cup coffee
4 tablespoons Kahlua

FILLING
1 (8-ounce) container mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoons Kahlua

FROSTING
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoons Kahlua

GARNISH
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 (1-ounce) square semisweet chocolate
2 (13.5-ounce) containers of Pirouette rolled wafer cookies (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

CAKE
Grease and flour 3 9-inch round cake pans. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in shortening until fine crumbs form. Add milk and vanilla and beat at low for 1 minute, then at high for 2 minutes, scraping bowl frequently. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter.

Pour 1/3 of batter into 1 prepared cake pan. Stir instant coffee into remaining batter, and pour into 2 remaining pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely. In a measuring cup, combine brewed coffee and 4 tablespoons Kahlua; set aside.

** NOTE: If you do not wish to make the cake from scratch, use 1 package of moist white cake mix and prepare as directed. Add instant coffee as directed above.

FILLING
In a small bowl using an electric mixer on low speed, combine mascarpone, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and 4 tablespoons Kahlua; beat just until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

FROSTING
In a medium bowl, using electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the heavy cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 4 tablespoons Kahlua until stiff. Fold 1/2 of the cream mixture into the filling mixture.

ASSEMBLY
Place one coffee-flavored cake layer on the bottom. Using a thin skewer or toothpick, poke holes in the cake, about 1-inch apart. Pour 1/3 of the reserved coffee mixture over the cake, then spread with 1/2 of the filling mixture.

Top with the plain-flavored cake layer. Using a thin skewer or toothpick, poke holes in the cake, about 1-inch apart. Pour 1/3 of the reserved coffee mixture over the cake, then spread with the remaining filling mixture.

Top with the remaining coffee-flavored cake layer. Using a thin skewer or toothpick, poke holes in the cake, about 1-inch apart. Pour the remaining coffee mixture over the cake.

Spread sides and top of cake with frosting. (If desired, cut Pirouette rolled wafer cookies the height of the cake and place around the side of the cake). Place cocoa in a sieve and lightly dust the top of the cake. Garnish with chocolate curls. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

Now, this particular recipe actually hails from Turner’s Corner Cafe in Dahlonega, Georgia. My parents used to own the cafe, so I inherited all of the recipes. And thank my lucky stars! I’ll be posting a few goodies from this gem of a pit-stop in the North Georgia Mountains over time, so stay tuned.

Now before any of you start planning a road trip to visit yourself, I have to tell you that, sadly, the cafe is closed (at least for now). After a successful tenure with my parents and the preceding owners, the 2 succeeding owners both completely revamped the menu, upped the prices, and renovated the charm right out of the 1928 building. The first set of owners made it about 8 weeks before closing. The second set made it almost 6 months. People, don’t mess with a good thing!

As I was sitting down to write this post, I got to wondering about the history of Hummingbird Cake and found out that there’s  evidence that the cake may have actually migrated to the South from Jamaica. The first published Hummingbird Cake recipe was in the February 1978 issue of Southern Living magazine and was submitted by a woman named Mrs. L.H. Wiggins. Turns out, the recipe that Turner’s Corner Cafe was known for is the exact same recipe that Mrs. Wiggins published in the 1978 Southern Living issue. Go figure.

I actually made this cake for a co-worker’s birthday (happy birthday Mary Ann!). I was just about to start the frosting and realized that all of my cream cheese was in the freezer. I tried on two different attempts to soften it in the microwave, but just ended up turning both blocks into cream cheese mush. My wonderful Hubby volunteered to go to the store at almost 10pm to pick up a fresh, unfrozen block of cream cheese. Thank you Hubby! Now I just have to figure out what to do with the 2 bowls of cream cheese mush I have in the fridge.

No birds were harmed in the making of this cake.

HUMMINGBIRD CAKE

From Turner’s Corner Cafe, Dahlonega, GA

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups oil
8-ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups chopped bananas
Cream Cheese Frosting (below)

DIRECTIONS:
Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Note: this is a “by hand” recipe! Leave the mixer in the cabinet.

Add eggs and oil, stirring till dry ingredients are just moistened. Do not beat! Stir in vanilla, pecans, pineapple, and bananas.

Spoon into 3 well greased and floured 9-inch pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans and cool.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

INGREDIENTS:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:
Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with 1 cup chopped pecans.

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbs cocoa powder
Special Buttercream Frosting

DIRECTIONS:
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in shortening until fine crumbs are formed. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Beat at low speed for 1 minute, then high for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl frequently. Pour half of the batter into a smaller bowl and add 2 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder. Blend thoroughly.

Spoon batter randomly into 2 greased and floured 9″ round pans. Cut through the batter with a knife, making swirling patters to “marble” the cake. Bake in preheated 350° oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

CREDIT: Submitted by “Nancy Dorman” on Allrecipes.com

DECORATE:
To decorate the cake, I divided the Special Buttercream Frosting and tinted it using Wilton Gel Icing Color. I used a pair of Hubby’s camo pants to try to match the colors for the camo as close as I could.

Using a star tip, I covered the cake with piped stars, much like you would do for a Wilton character shaped pan. This method makes it look like you spent a ton of time on it, but it’s actually relatively quick and easy. The most time-consuming part of decorating the cake was tinting the icing.

The cake itself is my go-to White Cake recipe.

The frosting is Wilton’s Buttercream Icing recipe.

PURE WHITE BUTTERCREAM ICING

For the cake, I used the White Cake recipe that I used for Jeff’s Rainbow Cake back in October.

For the icing, I used the Cream Cheese Frosting II recipe from allrecipes.com.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING II

INGREDIENTS:
2 (8-oz) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

The cake is just a one-layer 12″ square. I made the penguin’s body parts from store-bought fondant tinted with black and orange gel icing color, using a toothpick to hold the pieces together. The ice block that the fishing penguin is sitting on is actually a block of store-bought fondant.

I tinted a small amount of frosting blue and spread on the cake for the pond, pulling my spatula up while I was spreading it to create the “waves”.

Our “igloo tower” was created from sugar cubes, glued together by a paste made from powdered sugar and egg whites (instructions found here).

The fishing rod is a toothpick, the fishing line is thread, and the fish is a Swedish Fish candy (I threaded a needle and poked it through the Swedish Fish).

To assemble the cake, I first placed the igloo tower on the cake. Then we piped a shell border around the top and bottom of the cake and around the base of the igloo tower. Then I placed the ice block and penguins. I finished it off by sprinkling white Wilton Cake Sparkles over the top of the cake.

Oh, yeah, and here’s the proof…

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (16-oz) package light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 (8-oz) container sour cream
1 cup hot water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Chocolate Ganache

DIRECTIONS:
Melt semisweet chocolate morsels in a microwave-safe bowl at HIGH for 30-second intervals until melted (about 1 1/2 minutes total time). Stir until smooth.

Beat butter and brown sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer 5 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add melted chocolate, beating just until blended.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to chocolate mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Gradually add 1 cup hot water in a slow, steady stream, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in vanilla.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 10″ tube pan. Bake at 350º for 60-65 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack.

GARNISH:

• Sift powdered sugar over top of cake. Serve with Chocolate Ganache and ice cream. I also topped the cake with fresh raspberries (strawberries would be good, too.)

CREDIT: The All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, p. 152, c. 2006

INGREDIENTS:
1 (12-oz) package semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 Tbs butter

DIRECTIONS:
Microwave chocolate morsels and whipping cream in a 2-quart glass bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 2 1/3 – 3 minutes or until morsels begin to melt. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in butter, and let stand 30 minutes. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer 3 to 4 minutes.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

CREDIT: The All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, p. 152, c. 2006

When Hubby’s office had their annual Thanksgiving party, he signed me up to make a dessert. In keeping with the season, I chose to do a pumpkin cake, although I did cheat and use canned frosting since I was so short on time!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups canned pumpkin
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350º. Grease and flour a two 9″ round pans. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine sugar and oil. Blend in vanilla and pumpkin, then beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool. Top with your favorite cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with cinnamon (I cheated and used canned frosting).

CREDIT: Submitted by “Sue Case” on Allrecipes.com