Cakes

I've been busy making cakes this week.

Happy Birthday to Grandma Ellen who turned 55 yesterday. We had everyone over to the B&B for Chinese Food (provided by Grandpa Bill) and we supplied the cake. Grandpa said carrot cake was Grandma's favorite, so that's what we made. The cake was really good, if you like carrot cake. I'm more partial to chocolate myself!

Here's the recipe of you want to try it, Carrot Cake Supreme from the Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook (one of our favorite cookbooks):
Cake:
2 Cups all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 t. ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 C. sugar
3/4 C. vegetable oil
3/4 C. buttermilk
2 t. vanilla extract
2 C. grated carrots
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 C. flaked coconut
1 small package of chopped pecans
Buttermilk Glaze (see recipe at bottom)
Deluxe Cream Cheese Frosting (see recipe at bottom)

Grease three 9 inch round cakepans (I only used two).

Cut circles of wax paper or parchment paper to line on bottom of cake pans.

Grease and flour wax paper. Set aside.

Stir together first four ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and next 4 ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture to batter, beating at low speed until blended.

Stir in carrots, pineapple, and coconut. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Drizzle warm Buttermilk Glaze (see below) over cake layers and allow to cool on wire racks for 15 minutes.

Place first layer on your cake plate. Spread a layer of Deluxe Cream Cheese Frosting (see below) on top of bottom layer. Place second layer on top of bottom layer (repeat previous steps if making a triple layer cake). Frost sides and top of cake.

Buttermilk Glaze:

1 C. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 C. buttermilk
1/2 C. (one stick) unsalted butter
1 T. light corn syrup
1 t. vanilla extract

Bring first five ingredients to a boil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Boil four minutes stirring constantly until glaze is golden. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool slightly.

Deluxe Cream Cheese Frosting

1 1/2 (12 ounces) blocks of cream cheese, softened
3/4 C. butter (a stick and a half), softened
1 (16 ounce) package of powdered sugar
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.


And this is the cake I made today. Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake (I doubled the recipe and made it two layers). You know it has to be good when it contains nearly two pounds of butter! We love this cake, but make sure you have a group of people to share it with. It's definitely addictive! We made it once when I had my brother over for lunch and we ate half of the cake for dessert. And between Mr. Innkeeper and I we had polished off the other half by lunch the next day! Enjoy!