Silver White Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

So it's been awhile.  Life gets busy, you know.  School, the holidays, traveling.  Constant housework.  Oh, so much housework.

But I thought I'd share a cake I made a few months ago, just because.  It's a silver white cake with a chocolate buttercream frosting.  It came out soooo good.  Luckily, we had company to help eat it, otherwise I could have eaten the whole thing myself.

The recipes  both come from one of my favorite cookbooks: The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. It's an OLD cookbook.  I think my mom gave it to me.  But I love it because it has a picture for EVERY. SINGLE. RECIPE.  You can get a new copy on Amazon: http://goo.gl/e24A1

Silver White Cake
4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans (I used my heart shaped ones, for no particular reason.) Line the pans with wax paper.

2. In a medium bowl, at high speed, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in 1/2 cup sugar, 2 Tbsp at a time.  Beat until sugar is dissolved and whites stand in stiff peaks and then set aside.                                                                                3.  In another bowl, beat one cup sugar and remaining ingredients, starting at low speed until combined.  Beat for 3 more minutes at medium speed.  At low speed, beat in the whites.                                   4.  Pour into pans and bake 25 minutes.  Cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1 lb confectionary sugar                                          

8 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened

3-4 Tbsp milk or half and half

3 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted then cooled

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

 1. At medium speed in a large bowl, beat all ingredients until very smooth.  You may need to add a little more milk to get the consistency that you want.

Now to frost that cake!

I added some mini chocolate chips in the middle for a surprise :)

And then I added some to the outside, too :)

Pumpkin Bread-A Fall Favorite

Fall is finally here, and it has brought cooler temperatures and a bit of a breeze back the area.  Very refreshing after a week of 90+ temperatures!  I know it's only temporary, as the forecast calls for a return to the 90s next week, but I'll take it while I can.  And to welcome the cooler air and the Autumn season, I baked up a batch of my mom's pumpkin bread.  This recipe comes together quickly and is a cinch to make.  It makes two full size loafs, so I had one to enjoy and one to share!

First, I gathered up all my ingredients.  I always to to get everything out beforehand, but I don't always remember.  It makes it so much easier when I have everything at my fingertips.  

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 16oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup applesauce

1 cup raisins (optional)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 2 loaf pans.  

In a large bowl, mix the first eight ingredients.  In another bowl, beat eggs, pumpkin, oil and applesauce until well blended.  Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture until just blended.  Add in the raisins and walnuts if desired and divide evenly between loaf pans.

Bake 1 hour 15 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then remove to remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

Grandma Hazel's Jewish Coffee Cake

I'm finally back from my extended vacation that took me to the far corners of the US (Maine and Southern California) and ready to share my latest exploits in the kitchen!

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My Grandma Hazel was Catholic, not Jewish, so I have no idea why she would have had a recipe for a Jewish coffee cake.  But she did, and I found it by chance while going through my mom's recipe book on our visit home.  And of course, I had to make it!

I really loved how this came out.  It was full of fruits and nuts and made a great snack.  It didn't last long, either.  My stepdad ate about half of the cake by himself.  Plus, I got warm fuzzies when I was making it, as I do any time I make one of my Grandma's recipes.

Jewish Coffee Cake
(recipe courtesy of my Grandma Hazel)

1 cup sugar

Baking in my mom's kitchen :)

2 eggs

½ cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups flour

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped dates

1 small bottle maraschino cherries

½ cup walnuts

 1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Cream together the sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla.  Sift dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.  

Pour ½ of the batter into a greased angel food pan.  Cover batter with the fruit mixture- raisins, chopped dates, cherries and ½ of the walnuts. Sprinkle ½ of the sugar and cinnamon over the fruit.  Pour the rest of the batter over the fruit and sprinkle the remainder of the sugar, cinnamon and nuts over the top.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until done.

The angel food pan makes it easy to remove from the pan.  It tastes great served warm, with a cup of tea. I don't know how Jewish this coffee cake it, but it is definitely yummy!

I'm glad that Fall is on the way, I just wish we had the cool Fall temperatures that I am used to.  The forecast here in the Bay Area is in the 90's for the rest of the week.  But even with the HOT temperatures, I am looking forward to cooking with apples and pumpkins!