Another Lane Cake!

My sister Nancy has submitted her

Lane Cake 
entry for this year's bake off.

She wrote such a first-rate post

for her own blog,

I have lifted her pictures and text

to share with you.

Consider Nancy our "guest contributor" today!

"Yes, it's that time of year again. 

 The annual

 Davidson Family

Cake Bake Off."

"This year my sister in law, Pat picked the cake, a deep south

tradition, The Lane Cake."

"Lane Cake was new to me so I went to Google.

When I read it was mentioned in Harper Lee's

"To Kill A Mockingbird",

well, that's all I needed to be

 ALL IN."

"TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is one of my

favorite books and defiantly my favorite movie."

"Miss Maudie Atkinson baked a Lane cake so loaded 

with shiny it made me tight"

Scout Finch."

"There are many versions the

 Alabama State Cake,

I went with a traditional version.

When I printed off my recipe and found it was

four pages long,

I knew I was in trouble.

My recipe states this cake gets better the longer

it's stored in the frig, hence the shiny.

I used bourbon."

"Day one was about baking the cakes.

Mine called for three layers.

It is a sponge cake and called for eight egg whites."

"Day two made the filling.  

Eight egg yokes, sugar, raisins, nuts, flavoring, coconut,

and of course the spirits,

only a half cup."

"Quite tasty, but even with just half a cup...

pretty strong."

"Now into the refrigerator to do its thing

for at least two days and up to two weeks.

After that the frosting."

"Day four...I couldn't wait any longer.

Today I made the boiled frosting, something

I've never done before."

"I've also never used a candy thermometer

in fact I had to borrow this one from Susan.

This cake has been fun to make, I've had to step up 

and learn some new skills.

I'm not so sure about this boiled frosting...not sure how it 

should look or what the correct thickness is but

it is what it is."

"The Lane Cake.

You can find this recipe here.

Father's Day is this Sunday and that's when I'll cut this beauty.

I'll let you know what everyone thinks."

Thanks Nancy!

Now an update.

Yes, the cake was cut on

Father's Day

and I happen to be visiting

so I got to enjoy the cake too.

The cake had "seasoned" in the

refrigerator for a few days

before cutting 

and we were

surprised to discover

the boiled icing had ...

maybe waited longer 

than it wanted.

When Nancy took it out of the refrigerator

she discovered the icing had begun

to "drip" down the sides of the cake.

Nothing much to do except

scape off the excess icing,

which gave the cake an interesting

new look!

It certainly did not detract from the taste of the cake.

Nancy's assessment was that

the cake was too dense and a bit dry,

but "tasted okay."

She had never done many of the processes

used to make the cake so did not know

exactly what to expect for its

look, consistency and how it should taste.

And although it was fun,

she probably will not make the cake again. 

Have you ever made a Lane Cake?

If so, I would love to hear about it

and share some pictures!

Putting Summer Away...

As I sit here today 

contemplating bringing in my

plants from the porch

because we might, possibly

have a frost later this week,

I realize summer is over.

Of course it is!!!

It's mid October after all!

It's just that it has sped by SO quickly,

even though the warm weather has

lasted way longer this year

than we have any right to expect.

One summer event I should have ended weeks ago

is my family's 

2018 Summer Bake Off.

I've shared everyone's cake except my own.

So here it is.

I used the Updated Hummingbird Cake

recipe from DELISH.

The main difference between my cake

and those of everyone else

 is that the recipe 

called for the addition of 

unsweetened applesauce and less oil.

A healthier cake....

 ...probably not because of the 

Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting,

which was the BEST thing about the cake.

The cake was a bit too dense.

Probably because my recipe did not specify

what size can or how much 

crushed pineapple to use.

I used a large can and did not drain it.

So, although the frosting was first rate,

I wasn't too impressed with my cake.

After living here for almost fifteen months,

my violets finallllllly

began to bloom this summer.

I had wonderful luck with them

at my previous house.

But for some reason, no blooms here.

Don't they like this house???

Are they mad I moved them???

After feeding them a bloom boost for several months

and moving them to some direct sunlight,

I am seeing flowers again.

(Thank you for your advise M.)

I have "read"

or listened to some outstanding

audible books this summer.

These were two of my favorites.

And finally,

as I say goodbye to summer,

here's a little round up of

the gorgeous flowers M has kept

me supplied with over the past few months.

Come on Fall.

I'm ready for you.

Chef Rick's Cake

All the way from Germany,

here's my brother Rick's

Hummingbird Cake,

his submission for our

2018 Family and Friends Bake Off.

Two things to note,

the German flags

and

the little hummingbird

hovering above the cake.

No one has a better sense of

humor and fun

than my brother Rick...

He actually sent me pictures of his cake weeks ago.

But because of the colored layers,

 the obvious fake hummingbird,

and knowing how much Rick 

likes to jack me around,

I failed to realize

THIS was his cake.

I asked him today,

"Why the colored layers?"

He says originally is was supposed to

represent the colors of the German flag,

black, red and yellow.

"Major fail," his words.

Rick used a fairly standard cake recipe.

It's the frosting that made his cake,
German Vanilla Butter Cream Custard Frosting.
The cake was "just okay."

This is an old picture of Rick,
but one of my favorites.
Love you Bro!

Nancy's Hummingbird Cake

There she is,

the proud baker,

my beautiful sister Nancy

and her cake for this year's

Family (& Friends) Cake Bake Off

The cake looks wonderful

and Nancy reports it was "delish!"

She used the 1978 SOUTHERN LIVING 

magazine recipe.

Two things strike me as notable about Nancy's cake:

*it was baked in a toaster oven

(another story all by itself)

*she used 2 sticks of butter 

AND

 2 boxes of confectioner's sugar

for the frosting.

You can read all about 

her cake here.

Excellent looking cake Nancy!

I can almost taste it!

Still waiting to hear from you 

about your cake.

The 2017 Davidson Bake Off

Got chocolate?

For the past couple of weeks,

my family has had chocolate to the max!

Do you remember our Bake Off cake from last year?

It was a Zucchini Cake with

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

and it was GOOD!

This year my brother Rick choose our cake.

It was the 1966 second place winner in the

Pillsbury Bake-Off Competition.

The Tunnel of Fudge Cake

This cake has a soft fudge core baked into the

center, hence the name.

The original recipe calls for a package of

Double Dutch Fudge Buttercream Frosting Mix.

Alas, powdered frosting mixes are now defunct.

Because this recipe is one of the Bake Off's

most requested recipes,

Pillsbury developed an alternate recipe,

resulting in the same cake.

Above is Rick's cake from the oven.

Here's Nancy's cake just out of the oven.

I must tell you, 

Nancy gets extra points for her cake,

since she is limited to the use

of a toaster oven for her baking endeavors.

(Another whole story there.)

Nancy and Rick used the same recipe.

As usual, I had to go in another direction

and found a recipe for the cake from

the New York Times.

Rick's finished cake. 

It got high marks from him.

Nancy's cake. 

Her assessment of it was

it's a good cake, but next time

she'll buy a package of brownie mix

and make those instead.

Enough said.

Here is my sister-in-law, Pat's cake.

Pat is picking up the slack from our 

brother Bill, who is not a baker.

However,  Pat says the cake was yummy 

and passed Bill's taste test.

Here's my NYTimes cake,

which was the only one 

to not call for a glaze.

This cake is VERY rich and

really didn't need a glaze.

However, if the glazed cake

 is NOT rich enough for you,

serve it with 

a scoop of ice cream,

as Nancy did.

My neighbor Sue, 

who was gifted

with a few slices of my cake,

suggested heating a slice,

topping it with ice cream,

and then perhaps a 

drizzle of chocolate sauce. 

(This suggestion was given as a joke!)

The recipe I used had some 

of the most specific instructions 

I have ever come across in a recipe.

For example, 

"Crack the 4 whole eggs into a large mixing bowl.

With a small knife,

cut the yolks and barely

stir the eggs,

minimally blending the

whites and yolks."

What the...???

Another interesting instruction,

"About 30 minutes after taking the cake 

out of the oven,

press the inside and outside

edge of the cake bottom down

all the way around 

to minimize the air pocket"

above the soft fudge center.

I followed this recipe to the letter,

but it started cracking 

before it even came out of the pan.

More cracking and collapsing!!!

Total collapse!!!

The cake is now all gone,

enjoyed by several people.

I don't think it's a cake

I'll ever make again,

although, Pat has already gotten

a request to make one for someone.

We all had fun with this year's cakes.

Thank you Rick for choosing our

cake and keeping us on track!

Nancy with her cake.

Sharing this week at
Foodie Friday/Rattlebridge Farm

Update on the Zucchini Cake Bake Off

Update on my family's 

Zucchini Cake Bake Off

I had thrown out a challenge to my older brother, Bill

to make this cake too, since all the other

siblings in the family had given it a try.

Bill is NOT a cook,

so the challenge was actually

an inside joke to my sister Nancy and 

brother Rick.

Well, he still isn't baking,

but his sweet wife Pat

has come through for him!

You can see her cake above.

According to Pat via a Facebook post,

"Susan, Bill didn't bake it but he sure is eating his share of it!!"

Yea Pat!

Bill and Pat.