What's Cookin' With the Bloggerette Sorority!

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies


• She rises while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens...
  
  
  

Remember the fun we had last year with the bloggerette sorority? It's been a while since I've participated in any of the parties with my fellow sorority sisters, but I clicked over on the site to see their new look, and found a "What's Cookin'?" party that seems just right up my alley.

Some of you may know that I have a cooking blog--one that's been neglected even more (if that's possible!) than this one in the last few months. If so, this post will look familiar--if not---well, here you go!

This is one my favorite and most impressive (to me, anyway!) things I've cooked in a long time. So sisters--sit back with your favorite coffee or tea or big glass of ice cold milk and big ol' slab of this most delectable cake. It's not figure-friendly, but it will definitely put a smile on your face.

Enjoy!
There's a thrift store in our little town that holds a bake sale on the first full weekend of the month, run by the ladies from the local Mennonite church. They always have such good things--pies, cakes, and cookies, along with breads and even homemade freezer meals. One of our favorites was always an Italian Cream cake, but as with lots of other things in this economy, the bake sale items have just about priced themselves out of my comfort zone. So I decided to try my hand at baking one of these luscious goodies myself.

The recipes I found all called for egg yolks in the main batter, then beating the whites separately and folding in. Since "quick and easy" is my middle name in the kitchen, I am not much of a multi-step, multi-bowl baker. Recipes that call for beating the egg whites and folding them in seem scary and overly complicated, so I just kept on looking until I found one that called for whole eggs just plopped in the batter like the regular cake recipes I am used to making.

Italian Cream Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 c buttermilk


• 1 t baking soda


• 1/2 c (1 stick) butter, softened


• 1/2 c shortening (yes it takes butter and shortening)


• 2 c sugar


• 5 eggs


• 1 t vanilla


• 1 t baking powder


• 2 c all purpose flour


• 1 c coconut


• 1/2 c chopped nuts

1. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk and set aside


2. Cream together butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy


3. Add vanilla and eggs--1 or 2 at a time, mixing well in between.


4. Add buttermilk, flour, baking powder, and coconut, until combined


5. Stir in nuts


6. Pour into greased cake pan(s). I used two 8 or 9 inch rounds.
   
   Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven, 30-35 minutes (if you use a tube pan, it will take longer) or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
   
   

Allow to cool completely before frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 
  
  8 oz cream cheese, softened


• 
  
  1/2 c butter, softened


• 
  
  1 t vanilla


• 
  
  4 c powdered sugar


• 
  
  2-4 T cream or milk


• 
  
  1/2 to 1 c coconut


• 
  
  1/4 to 1/2 c chopped nuts

1. Cream together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla


2. Add powdered sugar and mix well, adding cream or milk as needed for desired consistency.


3. You can add coconut and nuts into the frosting if like, or sprinkle on top like I did

I almost messed up by thinning my frosting just a bit too much--I usually make sheet cakes that I don't even take out of the pan, or tube cakes, where a softer frosting is better to drip over the sides. This time, though, I wanted a nicer presentation in the form of a layer cake, and when I made a soft frosting, as usual, I had a little trouble trying to keep it from sliding off the sides. Next time I do a layer cake, I'll remember to make the frosting a little stiffer.

Since I was trying to make a pretty cake, as well as a delicious one, I wanted to use my pedestal cake platter. To keep the plate or platter clean while you're frosting the cake, put down a layer of strips of parchment or wax paper.

Then put the first layer on top of the paper strips. Make sure you have enough sticking out from under so that you can pull them out afterwards.

Frost the cake as usual, then sl-o-o-o-o-w-ly pull the paper strips out from under the edges.

I was so impressed with myself for making this cake--completely from scratch, and a layer cake, at that! Maybe I'll change my middle name from "quick and easy" to "made from scratch"!

Be sure to visit some of the other bloggerette sorority sisters and see What's Cookin' with them.

Until next time...