Bake-SLACKaganza.

I have been spending the majority of my summer working on teaching job applications and traveling about the state of Minnesota for interviews, so there hasn't been much time or energy to bake. Ironic too, that we're having one of the coolest summers on record. I've had the air conditioning on for about a total of 6 days this year. It's the perfect time to have the oven on.

Anyway, I plan to work on some entries this weekend. I have some baking to do for my cousin's wedding shower, so I will be working on some goodies by Friday.

I did bake my mom's birthday cake this month. She requested all chocolate. I didn't have buttermilk on hand, so I couldn't make my favorite, Cocoa Fudge Cake. I made my next chocolate favorite, Devil's Food Cake. I frosted it with French Silk Frosting. Chocoholics around the world rejoiced.

Some cakes are better upside down.

The dessert of tradition on Easter in the Findlay family was pineapple upside-down cake. It's also another one of Mr. Findlay-Lampkin's favorite desserts. During our courting stage, I decided to make it for him, only to find out I had no more than crushed pineapple in my cupboard. I decided to try it, and discovered I like it better than the pineapple rings. I also will add a little coconut, and sometimes pecans, to jazz it up a little bit. Watch your baking time - this cake can take as long as 40 minutes to bake.



I set my pans in the oven while it preheats to melt the butter.


Dark brown sugar is great for the topping. Mix the butter, brown sugar, and water (or substitute pineapple juice, if you're so inclined).



Spread out the butter/sugar mixture, and garnish with maraschino cherries (make sure the round side is down in the pan). I like to add a little coconut to the pan.


Use a fork to evenly set the pineapple in the pan.


Spoon the batter on top of the pineapple mixture CAREFULLY.


I spread the batter from the center to the sides of the pan.


The pans are ready for the oven.


The baked cakes, still in their pans.


Loosen the cake from the sides of the pan with a thin metal spatula or a knife.


Now it's time to flip. Place the serving plate upside down over the top of the cake pan.


With one hand on top and one on the bottom, flip the cake pan and plate over.


The cake pan should easily lift off of the plate, and the cake should come right out.






The finished pineapple upside down cakes! The best part about this cake is you eat it warm, so it's instant cake gratification.

Egg Cake Practice

When it comes to egg cakes....BE PREPARED!


Last year at the fair I entered the Angel Food Cake category. I have not made an angel food cake very much, so it was a learning experience. I scored a 90 out of 100, not too bad, so I think I have a good start. This weekend was my grandma's birthday, and angel food is one of her favorites, so I took the opportunity to practice the cake for this year. The recipe I used is from my 1969 version of Betty Crocker, called Deluxe Angel Food Cake (another version is Supreme Angel Food Cake). This same recipe is on the Betty Crocker web site as Heavenly Angel Food Cake.

I like beating the egg whites with my trusty partner-in-crime, the KA. Twelve egg whites have a LOT of volume when beaten!

The egg whites are ready when they form stiff peaks.

Next I sprinkle in the cake flour mixed with powdered sugar. I should be sifting this into the mixture. Next time I will not be so lazy.

Folding the flour/sugar mixture into the egg white mixture.

It's ready for the ungreased tube pan (again, nix the non-stick stuff). My pan is by Wilton.

I'm cutting through the mixture with a knife to eliminate any air pockets. They are my foes in this cake, causing those unsightly holes that are found in unpleasant ways (such as when the judges are slicing into the cake at the fair).

Cracks, cracks everywhere! These weren't terrible, but there IS room for improvement.

IMMEDIATELY after removing the cake from the oven, it must be inverted in order for it to cool without collapsing. I saved a glass Coke bottle just for this purpose. I bought the Coke just for this purpose of cooling foam type cakes.

The cooled cake, extracted from the pan. Not too shabby, but more test runs are needed. Those blasted air pockets get me every time! I think I need to push the batter into the pan more than I do. We'll see what happens next time.

The next experiment was an Orange Sponge Cake. I'd never made a sponge cake at all, so this task was a little more daunting. It's pretty similar to the Angel Food Cake, so I had an idea of how it should look. Still, it was a test run, so I had to buckle down and not slack on any part of the procedure. The recipe is from the 1953 Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

I'm whipping up the egg yolks and orange juice in the KA first.

The cake flour is sifted, then folded into the egg yolk mixture. (I did sift the flour for this cake.)

Next I beat the egg whites with my hand mixer.

This is how voluminous six egg whites become!

The eggs whites are folded into the other mixture.

Pushing the batter into the tube pan, same as the angel food cake.

My heart sank, much as the cake sank. I do not think I beat the egg yolks long enough. Next time the egg whites are going into the stand mixer, and the yolks will be beat by the hand mixer. I don't think my whisk attachment reached enough of the yolks in the initial beating process.


I placed the cake top side down on a cardboard cake round and drizzled an orange glaze over it. It was a little low in the middle, but it had good flavor. I may try a new recipe, to compare the results with this one.

2008 Minnesota State Fair: Yellow Cake (also known as my FIRST BLUE RIBBON!)

(middle shelf, towards right, blue ribbon)
Cakes with Shortening: Cake, not otherwise specified lot: 1st place

This cake is the preferred birthday option of my sister, who requests a yellow cake with chocolate frosting every year. Last year was her golden birthday, so I made it using cake flour for the first time. I could not believe how well it turned out. I wished I could have entered that cake in the fair! There is not a lot for yellow cakes, believe it or not, so this cake ended up in the "Not Otherwise Specified" lot, because there wasn't another lot it would fit in.

I remember the morning the fair results were posted I had an 8 am class at the U of M, and I couldn't check the results until after class, as they were posted at 8 am as well. I think I ran the last leg of my walk back to my car, then flew down the parkway to get home to my computer! I saw the first 4 results (Banana Bread, White Cake, Spice Cake, and Chocolate Cake), and then I saw my name in first place in this lot. I did a lot of jumping around and fist pumping when I saw the result! I really hoped I would be able to contend for the Grand Cake of the Fair. They judge all the cakes in the shortening and the egg categories, and deem the best of all the blue ribbon cakes the Grand Cake of the Fair. (Ironically, my spice cake had a higher score for the cake component!) Well, there's always this year!

2008 Minnesota State Fair: Chocolate Cake

(middle shelf, towards left, pink ribbon)
Cakes with Shortening: Cake, chocolate lot: 4th place

I had entered this category in 2007 using Betty Crocker's newest version of a Devil's Food Cake recipe, frosted with French Silk Frosting. It bombed. I realized that whenever I make a chocolate cake for a birthday, I go to my old standby, Cocoa Fudge Cake. I decided this year I would enter the one that I always like to eat and it always comes out well. Although I got a very good score on this cake, it placed 4th in the lot. Still, I was quite pleased with the results. And again, the secret was using cake flour.

Mr. Findlay-Lampkin told me once that this cake was good because it tasted like a Suzy-Q. I think that was supposed to be a compliment.

2008 Minnesota State Fair: White Cake

(bottom shelf, towards left side, red ribbon)
Cakes with Shortening: White Cake (with egg whites) lot: 2nd place

I remember this cake was the first one I made from scratch as a 2 layer cake. It was a snowy day, and we had the afternoon off from school. I think I was in the 6th grade. It was a rather inauspicious beginning, but I used it as a starting point for exploring more baking projects and developing my cake making skills.

Like the Spice Cake category, I entered this cake on a whim. I was surprised this cake placed as high as it did. It didn't receive a terribly high score (my 4th place chocolate cake actually had a higher score), but it was good enough for second place in this lot. I think the trick is using cake flour instead of all purpose flour. I like putting more almond flavor into this cake, and I like the white on white color combination.

Making a cake from scratch. No boxes required!

Cake mixes may offer a little convenience, but they cannot compare to a creation from staple ingredients that may already be in your kitchen. I've been making cakes from scratch for a long time. In fact, we stopped getting cakes from the bakery for birthdays long ago. It's been great practice for the State Fair too - I won 4 ribbons in the cake categories this past year and 5 overall.

My dad recently had his birthday just before Christmas. As per his usual request, I made a spice cake with maple frosting. (He suggested this combination long before I entered it in the Fair.) The recipe is posted in the Spice Cake blog entry from December 28. Here is each step of my cake-making process.


First, I mix my sugar and fat (shortening, butter, oil) together.


This process is called creaming. Here is the creamed butter, shortening, and sugar.


Next I beat in the eggs, one at a time. At this point I also add any extracts, such as vanilla or almond.

Mixing in the spices and baking powder/baking soda. (Ideally, I should combine this with the flour, but I'm lazy sometimes.)

Lastly, I alternative additions of the flour and the liquid (milk, buttermilk, water) to the batter. I always end with the last of the liquid.

After I get all the ingredients combine, I scrape the bowl to make sure there aren't any unsightly lumps, or flour sticking to the side of the bowl.

Finally, I beat the batter for a few minutes to get it nice and smooth.

Next, I get my pans ready. These are my 8 inch round cake pans. I got them at the grocery store in Madison when I was in college. I love the whirly-gig that loosens the cake from the pans after baking - VERY helpful! These are probably about $3 cake pans. I swear by cheap, NOT nonstick bakeware. It works really well for me!

After brushing shortening onto the sides and bottom of the pan, take a little flour and tap it around into the pan to form a light coating.

Greased and floured cake pans.

Take care to fill the pans as evenly as possible with the cake batter for uniform layers.

Make sure to stagger the placement of the pans in the oven for maximum heat circulation.

After testing the cake for doneness with a toothpick, I let them cool in the pans on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Then I loosen the cake with my pan helpers. With other cake pans, I loosen the sides of the cake with a knife, and tap the bottom of the pan to loosen the cake. Often I let the cake fall out onto the outstretched palm of my hand, then flip it over onto the cooling rack.

Let the layers cool completely on a wire rack.

Next, I prepare the frosting. I plan ahead and set my butter out when I begin making the cake so it will be softened by the time I want to use it. This is the mixture of butter and powdered sugar.

The mixture with the maple flavoring mixed in.

After the milk is beaten in, I test the consistency of the frosting to see how it will spread. If it's too stiff I'll beat it a little more or add a little more milk.

Prepping the cake layers for frosting. I had a little ridge form on this layer, so I'm trimming it with a serrated knife.

After covering a round cardboard with foil, I set down one of the layers (usually the one that has the flatter top so the other layer will stack balanced). Then I spread the frosting with my large spatula.

Adding the second layer after frosting the first, making sure the cake is lined up evenly.

I start frosting the sides with a thin layer, then add more and create a smooth look.

Last, I frost the top and round the edge of frosting from the sides to the top.

The frosted cake, ready for a little primping.

Using my icing decorator, I form a decorative edge along the bottom and the top of the cake.

The finished borders.

Using the remaining frosting, I tint it with some brown food coloring to write on the cake. I used a toothpick to add the color so I could control the shade of brown I would make. Then I mixed the color into the frosting and put it in my decorator's tube.

I change the icing tip to write "Happy Birthday Dad" on the cake.

The finished cake! And because I'm such a good daughter, I didn't even reveal my dad's age. :)