This is a repeat, but I hope you don’t mind. Just reading it makes me hungry, so I shall go in search of egg salad on lettuce wraps. Oh well.
As you probably know by now, sugar and flour are currently off the list of foods that I eat. BUT, if you are having a celebration at your house, or attending one and want to take a dish to contribute to the buffet, a cake is always a welcome addition! Or, like me, you can just think about it . . .
Remember this pic (thank you, nyet!)?
This is Apple Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping and Brown Sugar Glaze, and it is absolutely delicious. Your friends/neighbors/relatives will love it, and it is easy to make.
I have made it several times. Follow the link to the Food Network post (it’s an Emeril recipe) for the ingredients list and directions. Personally, I think it is so delicious because it uses brown sugar in all of its elements; cake, crumble, and glaze. I wouldn’t call it a coffee cake, either. It’s a cake for any time or occasion.
Another cake that is perfect for potluck (and easy) is the Pig Cake. I first saw it at the Pioneer Woman blog.
This recipe relies on prepackaged items like cake mix, canned fruit, and Cool Whip which, of course, makes it faster to prepare. By the way, the first time I made it I used 8 oz. of Cool Whip instead of the 4 oz. called for in the recipe. I loved it that way, and have made it that way since. I took this cake to work for a birthday party, and it disappeared quickly!
Upside-down cakes are favorites of just about everybody, especially men, I have noticed. My SIL and grandson both love pineapple upside down cake, and request it for their birthdays. Anyway, a while ago I was watching reruns of The Great British Baking Show, and one of their challenges was upside down cakes. They made all kinds (one contained parsnips!), but this one caught my eye, Apple, Hazelnut and Calvados upside-down cake:
I haven’t made this one, but here’s the recipe, if you would like to try it – Apple, hazelnut and Calvados upside-down cake.
I don’t keep Calvados (apple brandy) in the house, and if you don’t want to be bothered with it either, you could use apple cider, or a mix of cider and some kind of brandy or cognac.
By the way, the Brits seem to use self-rising/raising flour a lot. I never have it in the house and, if you are like me, here is the substitute:
1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt = 1 cup of self-rising flour.
If you aren’t familiar with the term, caster sugar is just superfine granulated sugar, which is available in some markets; I have heard that you can whizz regular sugar in a blender to make it finer. Actually, regular granulated sugar will work in most applications.
Speaking of British baking one more time, something they make and we in the U.S. usually don’t are steamed puddings (really a cake, or quick bread, like Boston brown bread). My adopted Canadian grandma made a really yummy steamed carrot pudding for holidays that she served with a warm custard sauce. I make a steamed pumpkin and walnut pudding that I sometimes serve with a maple custard sauce. I even have a covered steamed pudding mold! Actually, I made it this past Christmas. The custard sauce is really rich (lots of eggs, cream and maple syrup), but it really makes this dessert.
I would be interested to hear your favorite cake recipes, particularly chocolate cake, or sticky toffee pudding (which I have never made).
Thanks in advance for your contributions!
Stella's Place 
The Tasty Kitchen website has disappeared (was part of the Pioneer Woman website), so here is the recipe for Steamed Pumpkin Pudding.
Ingredients:
2-1/4 Cups AP Flour
1-3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cups unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups light brown sugar
3 whole large eggs
1-1/2 cup canned solid pack pumpkin puree
1 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts
Preparation:
Butter a 2-1/2 quart (10 cup) steamed pudding mold with lid. Butter the inside of the lid. If you don’t have such a mold, use a bundt pan, but you must seal it thoroughly with aluminum foil, first buttering the inside or spraying with cooking spray. No water must get into the pan.
Stir the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside. Beat the butter and brown sugar with a mixer in a large bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating until blended, then mix in the pumpkin puree. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Add the walnuts.
Transfer the batter to your prepared mold and smooth the top. Cover with lid, or seal thoroughly with foil (see above).
Place a rack inside a pot large enough to hold your mold with a 2″ margin all around. A canning kettle or large pasta pot works well. Add enough hot water to the pot to come halfway up the side of the mold. Put your mold into the pot and cover. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer until a skewer inserted near the center of the pudding comes out clean, adding more hot water if necessary – about 2 hours.
Transfer the pudding mold to a rack and let stand for 20 minutes or so. Using a small knife, cut around the edges of the mold to loosen the pudding. Turn the pudding out onto a plate.
Serve with whipped cream, ice cream, or a warm custard sauce:
8 egg yolks
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 cups half and half
1 tsp vanilla
Whisk together all ingredients except vanilla over medium low heat for about 12-14 minutes, or until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in vanilla. Spoon over slices of pudding (and enjoy!)
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This is the best cake I have ever had in my whole life. I made it once, and while it was delicious, I was, of course, unable to make it as beautiful as shown here. So, one year as a Mother’s Day treat to myself, I had a lady who does custom cakes make it for me. It was certainly worth the small extravagance.
It melds two of my all time favorite flavors, blueberries and lemon. There’s lemon frosting, with real whipped cream, and lemon curd. This one ought to be a bucket list cake, IMO!
https://sweetapolita.com/blogs/recipes/triple-lemon-blueberry-layer-cake
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One of these days I will try this recipe! I once made a birthday cake for a friend that was all lemon. Lemon cake with lemon curd (homemade) filling and lemon Italian buttercream icing. It took forever to make, but it disappeared in a few minutes!
ADD: Sort of like this one.
https://www.sweetandsavorybyshinee.com/lemon-layer-cake-with-lemon-swiss-meringue-buttercream/
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Saved this, thank you!
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I also make lemon, blueberry, and a combination of both in the ableskivers when we do them. Haven’t doesn’t them in awhile, and the family is beginning to ask for them again.
I’m thinking of getting an electric pan for them.
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Correction: I think it was a Swiss buttercream. If you have never made either of them, they are very rich and not so sweet as frosting made with powdered sugar. I highly recommend.
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I found the recipe that I used for the lemon buttercream. Here it is:
Lemon Buttercream
Ingredients
• 1/2 cup(s) (about 3 large eggs) egg whites
• 1 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 1 pound(s) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon(s) finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon(s) fresh lemon juice
Directions
In a large stainless-steel bowl placed over a pot filled with 1 inch of simmering water, place the egg whites and sugar. Use a whisk to beat the mixture until it is very hot to the touch (about 160 degrees F).
Remove from heat and, using a mixer set on high speed, immediately begin whipping the mixture until it is cool, thick, and glossy and has tripled in volume — about 5 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to medium and add the butter — about a quarter cup at a time — allowing 5 to 10 seconds in between each addition. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and continue to beat until smooth and fluffy.
I also have a recipe for mango buttercream that I used on a white cake roll. It’s delish.
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Thanks, I’m saving this!
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That coffee cake up top looks to die for! But, I too have forsaken the flour and the sugar. I had two small pieces of chocolate last weekend. One, a more decadent dark chocolate with a ganache filling was exceptional. I had a mini Mr. Goodbar and the taste was not good at all. Makes me sad, but I can’t eat a bunch of chocolate every week and get to that class reunion figure we all aspire to! 😉
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When I have an urge to eat sweets, I have a big spoon of peanut butter. It helps.
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My favorite at the moment because I want to recreate the original recipe, which was lost. This is the closest to the one I remember.
Blackberry was the jam used inside the cake and between the layers.
(Blackberry) Jam Cake with Penuche Frosting
“Moist and pretty in color when blackberry, currant, or some such jam was used, [jam cake] was a favorite with pioneer women, for it kept well,” James Beard wrote in his American Cookery (Little Brown, 1972). The only thing more that might be said about jam cake is that it is delicious.
Ingredients
For the cake
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup blackberry jam
1/2 cup raisins – not used in the version I remember.
3/4 cup chopped pecans – black walnuts were used instead.
For the frosting
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Make the cake:
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a loaf pan, 9 by 5 by 3 inches. Into a bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the salt, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, and the cloves. In another bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter with the brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately in batches with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating well after each addition, and stir in the jam, the raisins, and the pecans. Pour the batter into the pan and bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 55 minutes to 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes and turn it out onto the rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting:
Step 2
In a saucepan combine the brown sugar, the cream, and the butter, cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved, and boil it, without stirring, washing down any sugar crystals clinging to the side of the pan with a brush dipped in cold water, until it registers 238°F. on a candy thermometer. Transfer the frosting to a bowl and beat it until it is just of spreading consistency. (The frosting will still be warm.)
Step 3
Working quickly, spread the frosting over the top and sides of the cake.
(The frosting is more like a fudge than a frosting, and must be spread quickly over the cake before it hardens.)
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My mother used to make an applesauce cake with penuche frosting.
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That sounds good, too!
Just noticed that the cake is made in a loaf pan. I’ll have to convert it into a layer cake, to have jam between the layers.
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