Perhaps it is a bit rude to poke fun at a small group utterly convinced that our judgement was upon us. But when I came across this cake recipe from the 1950's I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate what very well might have been our last hours...baked goods and friends....
Well, the supposed hour of the rapture has come and gone, and perhaps those who fell until the spell of this small groups is a little wiser for it...and hopefully prepared for a much longer stint on Earth than they planned for. But at least there's still cake!
Cake adapted from "Pepper's" recipe at allrecipes.com
Frosted adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
Yeilds one 9 inch 2-layer cake
The Ingredients:
Cake
1 3/4 c cake flour
1 1/2 c white sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c shortening
3 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup shredded coconut
Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
8oz sour cream
2 lb powdered (confectioner's) sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp milk
The Process:
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 inch, round cake pans.
Sift together cake flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add shortening, chocolate, buttermilk, and vanilla; beat for 2 minutes. Add eggs, and beat for 2 minutes. Stir in coconut. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool, and frost.
For the frosting:
In large mixing bowl beat softened butter with mixer 30 seconds; beat in sour cream. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla and milk. Use at once or refrigerate up to 3 days. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before using.
My Modifications:
A few commented how un-chocolatey this cake was, and perusing the ingredient list I was inclined to agree. I did not wish to over do it, but I did opt to add 1 Tbsp of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients.
And I forgot in a moment of distraction to flour my cake pans...which led to some choice words that probably would have condemned me to the next several months of hell on Earth should the rapture have come to fruition. Ross stepped in and managed to free the cakes...mostly intact...
The Review:
Of our Rapture eve tasters there were many a mixed review. No one hated. Some of us found the cake sort of boring and dry. Others found it perfect because it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet. Ross and I thought the frosting was on the verge of putting us into a sugar comma...neither of us were able to finish the more frosting coated bits on our plate. However one among us absolutely loved the frosting and practically licked the plate clean.
This was my first attempt at a frosting from scratch, and I was pretty disappointed. The consistency was runnier that I expected...causing most of the frosting to sigh under its own weight and settle around the base of the cake before it finally decided to settle. I am by no means an artist at frosting.
Overall, I may make the cake again, though I do need to find a way to make it more moist. And perhaps make it batter more fitting to the chocoholic. But this frosting was definitely not a good pairing...
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