All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [48]
Do not bake this in a Bundt—you might as well take a meat mallet and smack yourself between the eyes with it. That’s the kind of headache you’d be in for. Instead, use a straight-sided tube pan. And, since this cake is best served in thick slices, plan on treating 16 to 20 people.
Peach Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Yet Another Score For Those Small-Town, Community Cookbooks!
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YOU’ll NEED
A 10-inch tube pan
FOR THE CAKE
3 large eggs, beaten
1¾ cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups sliced peaches, preferably canned
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
FOR THE FROSTING
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
TO MAKE THE CAKE
1. Center a rack and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare the cake pan.
2. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the eggs, sugar, and oil. Mix on medium speed until just blended.
3. In a separate bowl, dry whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together. Add to the egg mixture and beat until just combined. The batter will be sticky.
4. With a spatula and/or wooden spoon, fold in the peaches and nuts.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until the cake tests done.
6. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then unmold onto a cake rack. Allow to cool completely.
TO MAKE THE FROSTING
7. With the mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract until smooth.
8. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and ginger. Beat until smooth.
9. Apply the frosting to the cooled cake.
One of my uncles, in his predictably sexist way (yes, Uncle Johnny, I’m talking about you), once remarked that he wished women didn’t work, because the food at church dinners wasn’t very good anymore. “What’s wrong with your hands?” I asked. “You’re retired. You can read a cookbook, can’t you?” He thought I was joking. Ha! I wasn’t. And I’m starting to think a copy of my now favorite community cookbook, Sharing Our Best, from the Providence Baptist Church of Gloucester, Virginia, would be a mighty fine Christmas gift for him. This book is fabulous!
And this peach cake recipe is the big-time winner of all the cake recipes, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t know who Tina Mongold Bryner is, but she’s got my eternal blessing for including this recipe in the collection. I’ve done it with both canned and fresh peaches, and I have to say I preferred the results with the canned peaches. The key is to rinse the syrup off before you add the peaches to the mixing bowl.
Just like Paula Deen’s Grandgirl’s Fresh Apple Cake (page 122), you don’t have to be anal retentive with the mixing. Frankly, my dear, the only thing that takes time is rinsing and slicing the peaches. This cake should be served in thick slices, so plan on feeding 16 to 20.
Faux Fruitcake
A Fruitcake For Those Who Despise Fruitcake
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YOU’ll NEED
2 loaf pans or a 10-inch tube pan
A strong wooden spoon
FOR THE CAKE
1 pound orange slices gummy candy, cut up in smaller pieces
One 8-ounce package chopped dates
2 cups walnuts, finely chopped
1½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon salt
3½ cups all-purpose flour
FOR THE GLAZE
1 cup orange juice
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
TO MAKE THE CAKE
1. Center a rack and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare the cake pans.
2. Combine the orange candy, dates, walnuts, coconut, and flour in a bowl and set aside.
3. Cream the butter with a mixer on medium speed. Gradually add the sugar, beating well. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4.