Tasty Tuesday - West Virginia Fresh Strawberry Cake

A friend who lives in a warmer climate posted on Facebook this week about getting fresh strawberries from a local farm and it made my mouth water. We are still about 3 weeks away from the beginning of the strawberry harvest here in western Kentucky so I will have to wait a bit before satisfying my taste buds. This week’s recipe is an original from my grandmother (using shortening might have tipped you off that it is an older recipe!).

West Virginia Fresh Strawberry Cake


Cake Ingredients:

½ cup shortening
½ cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 quart fresh strawberries
1 tsp strawberry extract

Icing Ingredients:

1 box confectioner’s sugar
½ stick butter
Evaporated milk (canned cream)

Cake: Combine dry ingredients. Add shortening, eggs and ¼ cup strawberries and mix on low speed until blended. Add milk, slowly increasing speed to high. Beat 3 minutes. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Tap sides of pan lightly to insure batter is evenly distributed. Bake in a 350 degree oven 35-45 minutes. Do not disturb the caked for the first 20 minutes as any disturbance will cause the cake to fall.

Icing: Clean remainder of strawberries, leave small ones whole and slice the larger ones. Put aside in a colander to drain thoroughly. Melt butter over low heat; add confectioner’s sugar and stir. Add milk sparingly, mixing thoroughly after each addition, until icing is creamy. (A maximum of 2 teaspoons should be enough.) Work lumps out of icing by beating vigorously.

When cake is done, allow to cool for 20 minutes. Frost with icing and then top with fresh strawberries.

This cake takes a bit of time to prepare but is definitely worth it. Like so many things in today’s world, cooking has evolved into what can be fixed fast. If you want to bring a bit of the past into your kitchen and on your family’s table, I think this would be a great way to start.



Happy cooking,
Molly

Tasty Tuesday

I'm sure you have heard the phrase 'necessity is the mother of invention'. I've found this to be especially true when it comes to cooking. A few years ago I decided to make a triple chocolate cake for a family get together. Found in a popular magazine, the recipe had become a favorite for those of us who are chocoholics. However, on this day my pantry was missing a couple of key ingredients - like chocolate chips and pudding mix. What to do?! I decided to experiment by switching out cinnamon chips for the chocolate chips and vanilla pudding for the chocolate. Since I love the taste of nuts with cinnamon, I also added the chopped pecans.

The resulting cake was a huge hit and now is a go-to recipe for many get togethers. If you are a fan of cinnamon you are sure to enjoy this moist and delicious cake.


CINNAMON DELIGHT CAKE

Ingredients:
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package (3.9 oz) instant vanilla pudding
1 ¾ cups milk
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
¾ cup cinnamon chips (I buy these at kingarthurflour.com)
½ cup finely chopped pecans

In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix, milk and egg. Beat on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, adding cinnamon during the last 30 seconds. Pour one half of the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Evenly layer the cinnamon chips on top of batter, then layer the pecans on top of the chips. Add the remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan. (I place it directly onto a cake platter at this time; however, you may want to place it on a wire rack to finish cooling.)

I usually top the cake with a simple glaze made of powdered sugar, milk, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. If I’m in a hurry I may give it a light dusting of powdered sugar instead. Either way it is quite yummy. Although chocolate is most often the dessert of choice around my house, I do have a couple of folks in the family who prefer non-chocolate desserts. This is a favorite of theirs!

Happy cooking!
Molly