1-2-3-4 Cake June 4, 2008

 

Greetings my dear readers!

Today is Recipe Wednesday and I have a treat for you!

My dear friend returned from Jamaica about 2 weeks ago to visit family and she brought me back a wonderful gift…A Cookbook…Not just any cookbook but a popular Jamaican Cookbook.  My dear friend knows how much I enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes so I dedicate this blog to her…Pat Rice (her nickname)

I couldn’t wait to try out one of the recipes because I just simply LOVE Jamaican food or should I say Caribbean Food altogether.  So I stayed up all night looking through the cookbook trying to see which recipe I could try right away.  That’s when I found the recipe for a simple yellow cake.  Now I know how to make cake from scratch but the author of the cookbook Enid Donaldson provided tips on how to make a basic yellow cake “light and delicious.”  I must say she did not tell a lie.  Oh my ghosh the cake was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo delicious and now I have traded my family’s basic cake recipe for this one.  My kids and grandkids will know how to bake this cake.  Enjoy, and please click on her name to purchase the cookbook.                                                               

 

1-2-3-4 Cake

1 cup of butter (or 8ozs)

2 cups of sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups of flour

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tsp. baking powder

1 cup water

1.  Preheat oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Prepare two 8 or 9 inch layer tins (cake pans), lining bottom with greaseproof paper.   Grease paper but not sides of tin.

2.  Cream butter and add sugar gradually. (Do not use butter butter at room temperature if room is warmer than 75 degrees.  In Jamaica it is usually too soft at room temperature, so use about 10 minutes out of the refrigerator- not the freezer.)

3.  Add eggs one at a time, beating each egg for about 3 minutes. 

4.  Add vanilla.

5. Sift flour, salt and baking powder.  Add flour mixture and water alternately.  Add flour in 4 portions and water in 3, beginning and ending with flour.

6.  Pour in prepared layer tins.

7.  Bake layers for 25 minutes.  (If using 1 tin to bake mixture, lower temperature to 350 degrees F.  It will take approximately 1 1/4 hours and will not be as light as cakes baked in layer tins.)

8.  Allow cake to cool in pan -10 minutes.  Turn out on wire rack to cool if icing separately.  I fyou would like layers to stick together without using filling, as soon as they are turned out of the pan, put them together.

I didn’t use any icing on this cake and my husband (my food critic) loved it and he is not a big “Sweets” person, and my 2 year old kept saying, “Mommy cake please.”  It was a very tasty cake:)

Use organic products to make the cake “Organic.”

Auntie’s Red Velvet Cake May 19, 2008

This is my Great-aunt’s recipe for red velvet cake.  It is scrumptous…You will not be disappointed!  Enjoy

Sidenote (I try to use organic ingredients whenever possible)

Red Velvet Cake
CAKE INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 cup sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 oz red food coloring
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION
1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Grease and flour two 9″ round cake pans
3. In a medium sized bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
4. In a large bowl mix sugar and softened butter until creamy, then beat in the eggs one at a time
5. Alternatley add the sifted flour mixture, and buttermilk to the sugar-butter-egg mixture
6. Beat in the food coloring, vinegar, and lastly the vanilla extract
7. Spread the batter evenly into the two pans and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

FROSTING INGREDIENTS
1 8oz container of softened cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 pound of confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

PREPARATION
1. In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese and butter until smooth
2. Beat in the confectioners sugar until fluffy
3. Beat in the vanilla extract

When cake has cooled, spread on the icing and top with the chopped pecans