Naked Wedding Cake

My eldest daughter, Amanda, was married on December 23 to her Marine, Tyler.

During the planning for the wedding, she told me she wanted me to make her wedding cake. I'd made my own, using tips gathered when I worked at The Flying Dutchman in Anchorage, Alaska. I had confidence I could do this for her. Then she said she wanted a Naked Wedding Cake. Wait, what?

A Pinterest search later, and I had a grasp of what was going to be needed. NO FROSTING! For a Rustic Look. During our search, we spotted some pine cones as a cake topper with a little top hat and a veil. We immediately tweaked the idea (when haven't we tweaked?) and her sister, Bethany, and I decided to make a Marine Corps Cover and a Nurse's Hat with a veil out of FIMO clay. Tyler sent me pictures of what his hat looked like so we were making the right version. We then found the perfect candle ring to surround the two pine cones. At Target we found the cutest little red berry picks that we then placed around the base of the cake. We lightly glued the topper to a cardboard circle that we then placed on the cake.

After the wedding we glued the pine cones to a base for display in their new home.

I made my own cake pan wraps out of towels to help the cake bake more evenly. Will admit to having made a couple test cakes! I was worried that the cake would get those dry, crunchy edges once we set it up. So one test cake was left on the counter for the day. It actually stayed nice and moist! I had read that if one used the bigger pans, one would need "cores" to make the centers cook clear through. I didn't need it for the 12 inch layers. We used a 14 inch Wilton plastic footed circle under the bottom cake as a base.

For the bottom layer, Amanda chose Black Forest Cake. I mixed and baked two cakes mixes separately in the 12 inch pan. And instead of using oil, I melted butter and added a splash of vanilla to the chocolate fudge mix. I read where one should use HOT water in a chocolate cake mix as it activates the chocolate. I don't know if that's true, but I did it. And the cake tasted great.

The middle layer was Red Velvet Cake. Again, I mixed and baked the two layers separately and used butter in the mix instead of the oil. The pan I used was a 10 inch pan.

The top layer was Italian Cream Cake from scratch. The recipe can be found here: Italian Cream Cake. I used 8 inch pans for the two layers (while I usually use three pans when I make the recipe). These two I baked in the oven at the same time.

I made the cakes the week before the wedding. When each layer was totally cool, I placed it on a cardboard circle and double wrapped it in cling wrap and froze them. Yes, we had tested the method earlier. The test cakes thawed out nicely. I also tested the way the cake topper would fit on the top layer.

While the layers were naked, we used homemade cream cheese frosting for the filling on all three cakes. It was just softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla. The day before the wedding, I put the layers together with their fillings while they were still frozen, and then re-wrapped them and put them back in the freezer.

I added pureed cherry pie filling to a dollop of the frosting for the Black Forest Layer. First though, I piped a dam of frosting around the edge of the bottom-most layer to keep the filling from spilling out. I made a sort of pattern with little "puffs" of frosting.

The Red Velvet and Italian Cream cakes had the cream cheese frosting between the layers. I also "puffed" out the frosting to keep the pattern the same between the layers on the entire cake.

From my research, I knew to use wooden dowels for support. That Italian Cream cake, in particular, is very heavy! After I got the layers together and placed on cardboard circles slightly smaller than the cake itself, I measured and cut the dowels and poked them through the two stacked layers. I used at least six in each one, making sure to put one in the middle of the cake. I cut them off just a smidge above the cake so that the cardboard would sit on the dowels, and not on the cake below it. The dowels keep the layers from SLIDING apart! We certainly didn't want the WEDDING CAKE sliding!

We took the frozen layers to the church on the wedding day. I set the cake up about two hours before the ceremony. We sprinkled powdered sugar (and I wish I had sprinkled a thicker layer) over the entire thing, then set the cake topper on it.

The Italian Cream cake was still a bit frozen when my new son-in-law started the traditional cut. He had to work at it a little bit! The other layers had thawed enough for our wonderful wedding coordinator, Thersa, to slice it for our guests. The guests liked having the choice of what kind of cake to eat. And they were welcome to have seconds or thirds. We had about 80 people at the reception, and still brought home about half the cake! We froze the leftovers and have been consuming it slowly.

We are very pleased with the outcome. Everyone loved the cake topper. And people raved over the taste of the cake itself.

Photo credits go to me, Pam R., and Marissa.

Another recipe from the White River. Doug's mom used to make these and Myra passed the recipe along to me when I was wrangling horses for them.

Molasses Sugar Cookies

Doug Vaden on the White River

Cream Together:

1 1/2 Cup Shortening

2 cups sugar

1/2 Cup molasses

2 eggs

Sift together and add to above:

4      Cups flour

4      Teaspoons baking soda

2 Teaspoons cinnamon

1 Teaspoon ground cloves

1 Teaspoon ginger

1 Teaspoon salt

Mix well

Form into 1 inch balls and flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar or roll out and use cookie cutters. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes

Half recipe:

3/4 Cup Shortening

1 cup sugar

1/4 Cup molasses

1 egg

Sift together and add to above:

2   cups flour

2 Teaspoons baking soda

1 Teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 Teaspoon ginger

1/2 Teaspoon salt

We like to cut out bears and decorate them. We've also made house fronts and little houses with this dough and decorated them. We all love this cookie. One thing, when we do use cutters, we don't reuse the rolled dough. We just bake off the little bits and eat them. Too much flour added, like you need when you re-roll the dough, makes it tough and not quite as tasty.

This cookie will keep for ages in a zip-locked bag or airtight canister. They are really yummy dunked in coffee.

Easy Chocolate Roll-Up

I received this recipe when I was working as a horse wrangler at a hunting lodge along the White River in Alaska. Doug Vaden's cook, Myra, gave it to me. This is a staple of our Christmas celebrations. This past year I made three.

White River Valley, Alaska

Easy Chocolate Roll-Up

Kathie L. Spitz

PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 degrees

FILLING:

1/4 cup butter

1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1 can Eagle Brand CONDENSED Milk (not evaporated)

LINE 15x10 inch cookie sheet (WITH SHORT SIDES) with tin foil

SPRAY with PAM

MELT butter in pan in the oven, watch carefully.

REMOVE from oven and SPRINKLE the melted butter with nuts and coconut

DRIZZLE with entire can of condensed milk, make sure to get to the edges in the corners

SET ASIDE

Cake Batter:

2      eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

2/3 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup water

BEAT eggs by hand

ADD all the rest and BEAT by hand together

POUR evenly over butter/nut/coconut/milk mixture in pan

BAKE at 375 degrees for 18-22 minutes

DO NOT OVER BAKE

SPRINKLE immediately with powdered sugar

COVER with a SMOOTH tea towel or pillowcase

TURN the pan over CAREFULLY

REMOVE the tin foil IMMEDIATELY

Starting with the 15 inch side ROLL UP TIGHTLY, jelly roll fashion

BE SURE AND MOVE THE TOWEL!!!!! Pictures below

LEAVE wrapped until cool

SLICES easier when totally cool

I like to mix the coconut and nuts together before I sprinkle it on the melted butter.

Besides pecans or walnuts, we've also used sliced almonds and pecans.

Totally YOUR choice of nut...

Make sure to get the filling mixture clear to the edges

Again, make sure the sweetened condensed milk is evenly drizzled over the filling mixture

I also like to mix the flour, sugar, soda, salt and cocoa together in a small bowl before I add it to the beaten eggs

This is one batter we don't like to lick the bowl over as it's a bit bitter from all the cocoa. Pour it evenly over the condensed milk and filling mixture. 

Hmmm...looks red, don't know why...

When it's done (don't over bake!) IMMEDIATELY sift some powdered sugar over the hot cake.

Then place your pillowcase or smooth towel over the sugared cake and 

FLIP it over onto a flat counter.

QUICKLY and CAREFULLY remove the hot pan

...and IMMEDIATELY peel the tinfoil off the hot cake. 

You may have to use a knife to put some of the sticky filling back onto the cake

Then you start rolling the cake along the LONG side. This is the "magic" part. DON'T ROLL THE TOWEL INTO THE CAKE. 

Why yes, I am using my TEETH as a third hand. 

Roll it somewhat tightly, using your hands to keep the roll smooth and compacted. Continue rolling until it's all neat and tidy.

Finish by continuing to roll the towel AROUND the hot roll-up.

Leave it on the counter until it's cool.

Or...leave it for a short while, until you can't stand it anymore, 

and then unroll the towel and cut a slice...or three...off and eat!

It does cut MUCH easier when it's very cool.

Having a glass of hot water to dip your knife in (then wipe the water off) 

makes it easier to slice, too.

My children always used to think it was MAGIC...the way the towel didn't roll into the cake. 

This one is a FIVE STAR RATING from the entire family. 

We hope you enjoy it too!

Steamed Cranberry Pudding

Steamed Cranberry Pudding sounds "not so good," doesn't it? Steamed pudding? With cranberries? And just LOOK at it, it looks like, gasp, FRUITCAKE:

Many years ago, a lovely friend of ours, Mary Ellen St. John, of Wenatchee, Washington, made this dessert. My mom pushed her slice around on her plate for several minutes, trying to get the courage to taste it. She had said something like, "Icky, this looks icky."

After taking a deep breath, Mom took a bite. And then another. Once finished, she asked Mary Ellen for another slice. And she said, "No, make your own." At least she did give us the recipe and it's now a staple in our holiday baking. We had it for our Christmas Dinner Dessert this year for the umpteenth time.

That "icky" response is generally the one we get when we make this and people see it for the first time. It does look like fruitcake, which is not the favorite of a majority of people, if my unscientific poll is even close to the truth.

But one taste of this usually means that people are asking for more. They also tend to lick their plate when they think no one is looking.

The recipe is incredibly easy. And I hope you let me know if you liked it.

Cranberry Pudding

Ann Morrow from Mary Ellen St. John

PUDDING:

1 1/3  Flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup hot water

½ cup molasses (light or dark, whatever you have on hand)

2 cups whole RAW cranberries

SIFT flour and soda together

ADD hot water and molasses

ADD RAW cranberries

POUR (batter is REALLY stiff) into one greased LOAF pan

SEAL with tinfoil @@@

BAKE at 350 for 1 hour

SAUCE:

½ cup butter

1 tsp vanilla or other flavoring (rum, or ?)

½ cup evaporated milk

1/3 cup sugar

HEAT all just until butter melts---***DO NOT BOIL!!!

SLICE pudding (warm or cold) into half inch thick slabs and spoon sauce over it.

REALLY YUMMY!!!! 

Two pieces is the normal serving ;)

@@@This is very important. The pudding needs the foil to keep the STEAM in. One of my aunts made it and didn't do this step. She told my mom that it turned out horribly.

***This is another important step. Boiling makes the sauce totally weird. Just heat it until the butter is melted, that's all. 






My hubs will eat a slice, but since there's no chocolate, he'd rather pass. But I'm giving this a FIVE CHERRY Rating anyway, because the rest of is like it enough for him:

White Texas Sheet Cake



White Texas Sheet Cake



Before I made a Texas Sheet Cake to take to the therapy riding stable we volunteer at, the family and I went to see PACIFIC RIM. I didn't know a lot about the movie. All I heard was that it was a combination of GODZILLA and TRANSFORMERS. I like action movies and I liked both of those movies, so this seemed like a WIN.

OH MY GOSH WAS IT!
Non-stop action...CUTE Guys...ROBOTS...MONSTERS...EXPLOSIONS...a TOUCH of ROMANCE. Yep, this had it all. I guess it isn't doing so good in the box office and I'm not sure why. It had all those SUMMER FUN aspects. In fact, I think I have to see it again! There was just so much happening, that I think I missed some of it. Yes, it was good fun.

Okay, on to the cake. Last week I saw a recipe on Pinterest that looked pretty good. The blog post was a riot and she really sold me on the cake. Her recipe is slightly different than mine, because, you know I had to tweak it to suit the ingredients I had on hand.

I don't think it hurt this at all. WE LOVE IT. And I'm pretty sure the kids at stable are going to love it too.

You really should read the blog post where I got this. It may tickle your funny bone, too:

Fudgy Vanilla Brownie

Author: Kristen Duke

My Tweaked
WHITE TEXAS SHEET CAKE recipe:


Heat oven to 350

Grease and flour jelly roll pan (9x15)

Cake:

Mix together in a large bowl and set aside:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

In a small pot, melt together over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring often:
1 cup butter
1 cup half and half (original recipe called for heavy whipping cream, which I didn't have)

To the flour add:
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (recipe called for sour cream, which I didn't have)
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract (original recipe called for 1 tsp almond, not nearly enough for our tastes!)

Pour the hot cream/butter into the flour mixture and stir to combine.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Prepare frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup milk
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract (you don't really NEED this much, but we like to TASTE it!)

Spread over warm cake

Enjoy!
 

THIS is a FIVE OUT OF FIVE from the family!

AND the stable family loved it, too:

 

 

Updated 8/7/2013

I made another one of these for Amanda's Child of God Day. What's a Child of God Day? Well, since she and my middle daughter share the same birthday, two years apart, we decided that we would celebrate their Baptism Day...not with gifts, but they get to choose the dessert of the day.

Today Amanda chose the White Texas Sheet Cake, but with THREE different glaze flavors. We have the almond, chocolate, and lemon! We just divided up the almond frosting into three bowls and put cocoa in one, and the zest of one lemon and about a tablespoon of the fresh lemon juice.

It turned out YUMMY!

And it's pretty, too!