Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood: Stories and Recipes to Share With Family and Friends (18 page)
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Authors: Trisha Yearwood
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For the glaze, mix the sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon zest and juice, water, and coconut in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly, then, using a toothpick, poke several holes in the top of the cake and drizzle the glaze over the cake.
Grandma Yearwood, Beth, and me, 1967.
with lemon sauce
My memory of this spice cake is of coming home from school and slicing a piece right out of the pan, putting a little lemon sauce on it, warming it up in the microwave for a few seconds, then sitting down to watch a
M*A*S*H
rerun on television before I had to start my homework. Heaven! We used a really tangy lemon sauce for years, but our longtime family friend Miss
Betty Maxwell turned us on to this sweeter version of the sauce and it’s so good. I make this cake at the first sign of fall. The smell of it baking in the house gets me excited because I know Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner!
MAKES ABOUT 22 (2-INCH) SQUARES
Cake
2½ cups sifted self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup granulated sugar
⅔ cup light brown sugar
⅔ cup vegetable shortening, such as Crisco
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
Lemon Sauce
3 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
Juice of 3 lemons
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour the bottom of a 9 × 13 × 2-inch baking pan.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. With an electric mixer, cream the sugars with the shortening. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the buttermilk alternately with the flour mixture, beginning and ending with flour, stirring until no flour is visible. Don’t overbeat. Spread the batter into the pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done. Cool the cake slightly in the pan and turn out onto a long rack while still warm.
To make the sauce, whisk the eggs and sugar over medium heat in the top of a double boiler. Stir in the lemon juice, zest, and butter. Cook the mixture until it thickens, about 30 minutes.
Cut the spice cake into squares and serve warm with lemon sauce.
FROM BETH:
The lemon sauce may be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
cake
This recipe came from Mrs.
Gail Sealy. She taught first grade at my school, alongside my mom, who taught third grade for twenty-three years. Before we knew her, my sister and I called “Miss” Sealy the movie star lady because she was, and still is, stunningly beautiful and had this exotic look about her. She also drank Tab all the time. I thought she was the coolest! I don’t think she drinks Tab anymore, but I still think she’s cool.
SERVES 12
Cake
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1¾ cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2-ounce bottle red food coloring
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1-pound box confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Mix the sugar and eggs. Add the oil, slowly beating well as the oil is added. Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour and mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and food coloring. Divide the batter evenly among the pans and bake for 40 minutes, testing for doneness with a toothpick. Cool the layers in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto racks to finish cooling while you prepare the frosting.
Cream the cream cheese and butter. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until the mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla and nuts, reserving 2 tablespoons of nuts for garnish. Spread the frosting between the layers, on the sides, and on the top of the cake.
FROM BETH:
Leave the sides unfrosted if you like, to let the vibrant red show.
Chocolate Cake with Divinity Icing
with divinity icing
I loved my
grandaddy Paulk, my mom’s dad. He always made us feel like we were the most special children in the world. When he and Grandma would come to visit, he had a smile for everybody and a laugh that was contagious. He loved a good meal. Grandma was such a wonderful cook, and she always had an amazing meal waiting for him when he would come in from working in the field or at the dairy barn. When he came to our house for his birthday, my mom would make this cake for him.
SERVES 12 TO 15
1 cup water
2¼ cups sugar
4 ounces (4 squares) unsweetened chocolate
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour, sifted
4½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
4 large eggs, room temperature
¾ cup milk
In a small saucepan, combine the water, ½ cup of the sugar, and the chocolate. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick (
see Note
). Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 9-inch round cake pans by greasing and lining each with parchment paper.
Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt onto waxed paper. Cream the butter and the remaining 1¾ cups sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and beat until smooth. Add the sifted flour mixture alternately with the milk, starting with a third of the flour, then adding half the milk, and ending with the flour. Stir only enough after each addition to blend the ingredients. Pour evenly into the pans and bake for 35 minutes, or until done. Judge doneness by appearance—layers will begin to pull away from the sides—or by inserting a toothpick in the center of a layer. The toothpick should come out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto racks. Remove the paper and cool completely before frosting. Spread the icing between the layers and on the top and sides of the cake.
NOTE: The chocolate may be melted with ½ cup of sugar in 1 cup of water in the microwave.
FROM GWEN:
My mother, Lizzie, used one large marshmallow for each egg white for perfect divinity icing.
icing
MAKES ICING FOR THREE 9-INCH LAYERS
3 large egg whites, room temperature
⅛ teaspoon salt
3 cups sugar
¾ cup water
3 tablespoons white corn syrup
¾ teaspoon white vinegar
30 miniature marshmallows or 3 large marshmallows, cut up
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Put the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a mixer that uses 2 beaters. Beat the whites until smooth but not stiff. They should not form stiff peaks when the beaters are lifted up.
In a large saucepan with a cover, mix the sugar, water, corn syrup, and vinegar. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then cover and cook for 3 minutes to melt any sugar crystals that may be on the sides of the saucepan. Remove the lid and continue cooking for about 12 minutes, until the mixture reaches the hard ball stage, about 265°F on a candy thermometer. The syrup will spin a long thread when poured from the edge of a spoon. Remove the syrup from the heat and stir in the marshmallows. The mixture will be foamy. With the mixer running at high speed, stream the syrup into the egg whites, following the groove the beaters make as the bowl turns. Beat well and add the vanilla.
