Lane Cake...in Layman's Terms, "The Cake from Hell..."

I am coming in just under the wire

with my Lane Cake

for this year's family Bake Off.

I have been waiting for most of

the summer to make it

to serve to my knitting group

next time we met at my house.

Today was the day.

This cake was selected by my

sister in law, Pat...

with whom I have a bone to pick...

(Just kidding, Pat.)

This is a labor intensive cake to make.

There are four "from scratch" layers, 

and a cooked filling consisting of

dried peaches, coconut, toasted pecans and bourbon.

I did both of those tasks on Monday.

A cooked meringue frosting is the final step.

I did some reading on meringue frosting

and the general consensus is

that it's better served the day it is made.

Again, today was the day.

Never having made a meringue frosting before,

I followed the recipe to the letter.

You whisk together egg whites and sugar,

add some Karo Syrup and for my cake,

peach schnapps.

Then in a bowl over a pan 

of boiling water,

you beat with an electric mixer

(which I borrowed from my friend Anne)

 until "stiff glossy peaks form."

I never got to "glossy" but

there were stiff peaks.

Fearing I would burn the motor out

on Anne's mixer,

I decided to go ahead and frost.

You see above what it looked like.

For some reason it went "grainy" on me,

 and there wasn't enough to even 

cover the entire cake.

And it got rock hard as soon 

as it was on the cake.

I made a  quick consult with 

sister Nancy in Fayetteville

and brother Rick in Germany via 

What's App.

Nancy: "Scape it off and

make some butter cream."

Rick:  "Cut a big circle from the middle."

I did a combination of both their recommendations.

Here's my cake scraped and shaved.

Then, I made a quick trip to the 

grocery store.

At this point I was not about

to spend any more time 

making frosting for this cake!

I even bought some cookies,

just in case we couldn't eat the cake.

The Cake from Hell

in all its canned, butter cream glory.

My knitting group is composed of

dear friends.

We have been knitting together 

almost forever.

At any rate, they are very supportive

and ate the cake.

My friend Katherine, 

who is from South Alabama,

where this cake originated,

was even nice enough to say it

 "tasted the way it was supposed to taste."

(She KNOWS because her mother

used to make it every year at holiday time.)

I LOVE my friends.

(Btw, the cookies were not touched.)

Here is the link for the recipe I used.

In my opinion, the flavor was okay,

but the cake was quite crumbly.

This is an old fashioned cake

and I think our tastes have changed.

Or perhaps my cooking skills

have become a bit rusty...

...like several other things.

Anyhoo...bon apetit!

Rick's "Lane Cake"

We have our second cake in the

2019 Summer Bake Off:  The Lane Cake

Here's the proud baker, my brother Rick,

who makes his home in Germany,
with his wife Terry.

Although he insists it's "still a Lane,"

he used "real butter cream between the layers."

(Does that qualify as a Lane,

which is a vanilla butter cake

with a fruit rich custard filling?

Asking for a friend.)

He DOES get extra points for creativity

because he did not use a recipe,

but rather "looked at a whole lot of

recipes and built my own."

Rick is a devotee of

The Great British Bake Off

and used Mary Berry's

boiled icing.

Rick's assessment of his cake,

"Really good. Really rich.

Between the frosting

and the butter cream between the layers,

we are talking two cups of butter."

How could it not be good???

from Google Images

I have just finished an excellent book,

LOST ROSES

by Martha Hall Kelly.

About one third into this book

it kept reminding me of

LILAC GIRLS,"

which I read last year.

So I checked the author and yes, 

she wrote that one too.

It deals with a real historical figure, Eliza Ferriday,

the mother of Caroline Ferriday from LILAC GIRLS.

Although considered a prequel

to the earlier novel,

both books stand very well on their own.

This week in the garden
I cut back the iris.
They were magnificent this year
and I hated to see them end.

This is how they looked a few weeks ago.

It's June!
It's summer!
Hope you're enjoying it!

Our First Lane Cake Entry!

It was my sister in law, 
Pat's turn to choose the cake
for this year's
Davidson Cake Bake Off.
Remember, this is not really
a  competition.
For the past several years
a cake has been chosen by one of us,
then my sister Nancy, brother Rick,
sister in law Pat and me
bake the cake, 
using a recipe of our choice.
(We all live miles apart,
so this has been a fun way
to "do something together.")
We then share our thoughts and pictures.

Pat's choice, 

The Lane Cake,

was first baked more than 100 years ago 

for the annual baking competition

at the county fair in Columbus, Georgia

by Emma Rylander Lane

of Clayton, Alabama.

It was the first prize winner!

Pat baked her choice,
one with a strawberry-pecan filling
and cream cheese frosting,
using a recipe from
TASTE OF THE SOUTH MAGAZINE.
It was a birthday cake for her husband, my brother Wade.

In Pat's words,

"The filling for this cake was a challenge,

but this was the first time

I had attempted making a filling.

I don't think I got it quite right,

it ran out the sides

when I was assembling the cake.

Overall, I think it turned

out pretty well.

It tasted good!"

Looks good to me Pat!

Come bake with us.

Bake your version of

The Lane Cake

and then share your

pictures, recipe and thoughts with me.

I, in turn, will share on my blog!

Bon appétit!

Catching Up

Is it possible?

Is Spring almost over?

I have let SO much time pass 

since my last post.

It has been a busy time at 

Buttermilk Cottage.

That's my only excuse.

In March I hosted two dear friends from college days.

Virginia, my roommate for three years,

who now lives in Texas,

and Marie, who lived across the hall

and now makes her home in Alabama.

We had a lovely visit of several days,

talking ourselves silly,

eating and visiting a few points of interest

near here.

 We made a trip to Abingdon, Virginia 

where the Barter Theatre

was doing CAMELOT.

What a treat to see the show,

which we had all seen together 

when it came out as a movie

all those years ago!

The challenge has been made for this year's

Great Davidson Bake Off.

This is an ongoing and yearly

friendly baking competition between

my sister Nancy, brother Rick,

sister in law Pat and

anyone else who wants to join us.

It's not a real competition because

we cannot taste each other's cake,

but we all bake the same cake,

and share our thoughts on it.

This year's cake choice was Pat's.

She has chosen the Lane Cake,

a traditional Southern cake

that has numerous variations.

Think about joining in with us.

All you need do is make the cake

with a recipe of your choice,

send me a picture or two 

along with your thoughts on the cake.

More about this later.

I have recently finished this book 

by Delia Owens.

It is a first novel,

a coming of age story of

Kya, the "marsh girl"

which takes place in North Carolina.

Her prose is lovely and lyrical.

I enjoyed it a lot

and you might too,

especially if you have an

interest in the natural world.

Finally, I am in the midst of this year's

home improvement project.

I think I'll tell you about it when the

job is completed.

The picture above

is a hint of where the work is being done.

Enjoy your May,

it will be gone all to soon!

The Hummingbird Cake Bake Off - Our First Submission!

Here it is!

The first entry into our

2018 Hummingbird Cake Bake Off.

My sister in law, Pat has taken the plunge

and baked the first cake.

It was baked as a birthday cake

for her husband, my bother, Bill's birthday.

Pat used the recipe from 

THE CAKE DOCTOR

by Anne Byrn.

One variation Pat made to the original recipe

was that she baked the cake in

a bundt pan,

rather than making a layer cake.

Pat's motive for the change

was to reduce the amount

of frosting needed to frost the cake.

According to Pat,

"Very moist,

very tasty."
And that,
"the birthday boy did not complain."

The cake looks great.
My thanks to Pat for being the first
to jump in and bake this cake.
I actually baked mine last night,
although it is not yet put together
and frosted.
That will happen tonight.
It will be served to my 
knitting group tomorrow
during our weekly get together.
Updates to follow!

I'm waiting to hear from you
about your hummingbird cake!

Another Birthday Post...and Other Ramblings

Birthdays,

they just keep coming,

year after year!

What's to be done about that?

I have decided the very best

thing to do about birthdays

is to enjoy them.

No one that I know of...yet...

has figured out how to 

slow them down.

This time last year I was just moving into my new home.

What a year it's been!
Most of it has been very, very good.
Some of it has been difficult.
But overall it's been an lovely year for me.
I am even learning to do a little gardening!!!
The above pictures are from my yard.
I cannot take credit for the actual plants,
they were here before me.
But I am trying to maintain them,
and have been developing a few beds
into my own sensibilities.
No pictures to share just yet.
It's a process...

This year I have been trying to 
live with enthusiasm,
mindfulness,
embrace simplicity,
and most of all, 
be joyful.
Some days I fall a bit short,
but others,
I am a raging success,
thanks to friends, new and old,
and family,
who help me laugh daily.

Some house changes are in my future.
I have a small paneled room just off my living room,
which I will soon be converting into 
a screened porch.
Just waiting for my contractor
to come and work his magic.
I will be sharing as it happens.

The 2018 Bake Off continues.
While celebrating our birthdays
in Knoxville last week,
(his is one day before mine)
M and I discovered this one 
in a small eatery.

Since I chose the Hummingbird Cake
as our "cake to bake" this year,
it seems to be popping up everywhere.
Please remember to share your 
pictures, recipe, and stories
if you make one,
and I will in turn share here.

My birthday flowers from M.
Perfect as usual.

Hoping your June is perfect too.

The Gauntlet has been Thrown Down!

It has been a while,

but yes I am still here.

I have been busy with...

....life.

You know how that is, right?

Do you remember the 

Family Bake Off

I have had with my siblings for

the past few years?

It's that time again!

Since my brother Rick 

and sister Nancy

picked our previous two cakes,

this year the choice is mine.

Notice the picture, it's a hint.

Any idea of the cake

we'll be baking this year?

The Hummingbird Cake.

Since we all live a distance apart,

we can't do a taste test.

So our bake off consists of

pictures and stories about our cakes.

This year I am inviting you to  join

our Bake Off.

Have you ever made this cake?

Have a favorite recipe for this cake?

Want to try your hand at this cake?

There are a ton

of different recipes out there.

I have chosen the one I will be baking.

So, put on your apron,

bake your version of this cake

and send me your pictures

and experiences with it.

I will share any that are sent my way.

Yum!

By the way, this is a really
informal "competition."
We don't have a timeline,
but should probably aim for 
the end of the summer
to be completely finished.

Pictures from Google Images