This week we have guest blogger Jocie Plath aka Cakelover!
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I’ve been in the wine and spirits industry my entire career, and have worked in several restaurants along the way. A total foodie with a sweet tooth, I’ve enjoyed baking, entertaining and eating cake my whole life. I love all kinds of cakes- chocolate cake, carrot cake, cupcakes, crab cakes, pancakes, and Scottish oat cakes. It’s a good thing I like to exercise because I love cake.
My first birthday is marked with three classic photos of me- utter delight at first sight of my cake, frosting all over my face with fists full of cake, and then an empty plate and big smile on my round, pudgy cheeks.
Enjoying my very first cake!
My mother was a classic homemaker, and I didn’t have a store-bought birthday cake until junior high. Every year I got to choose my cake flavor, and every year I chose her Puddle Cake. This is a rich chocolate cake made by drilling a “well” into the dry ingredients and making a “puddle” with the wet ingredients. It’s frosted with chocolate butter cream and I love it to this day. Her fine baking is where my passion comes from. Each recipe has meaning and history, my collection is gathered from friends, family, and people who have either served me a great piece of cake, or showed me how to make one!
With the holidays upon us, my entertaining calendar is marked with three occasions I am hosting, and the cakes I’ll make for them. I start with Thanksgiving, and will be making Carrot Cake. This year I tasted one that I think is the ultimate and I will make that this year. I’ve never met the author (Cindy Dzida) but I’ve been told she brings this to most get-togethers, including funerals. It must be because it is very rich and comforting. It barely fits into a 9×13 inch pan! It is incredibly moist and chock full of carrots, raisins, coconut and nuts. It’s glazed while warm and then frosted with a cream cheese frosting spiked with orange zest! I think it’s the best carrot cake I have ever tasted so I’ll be making this one from now on.
For Christmas I love to serve a gorgeous Red Velvet Cake. I use Paula Deen’s red velvet cake recipe, but frost it with my own cream cheese frosting. While I consider myself a “Cake” lover, I’m really a FROSTING lover- that’s why I bake cakes! I always cut my cakes horizontally so I can get extra layers of frosting in between- I think this why people love my cakes- they love the extra frosting just like me! I like to decorate my Red Velvet Cake with red cake crumbs and tiny silver balls on top- just perfect for my holiday table.
My Red Velvet Cake is ready for Christmas!
For New Year’s Eve we serve Moet Champagne, and design our night around that. It is The Champagne Holiday of the year, so everything should revolve around it. I love to serve my fabulous Coconut Cake. It’s a beautiful white cake, and since it is so sinfully rich and fattening, December 31st is a good day to have it- come January 1st it’s back to dieting. My coconut cake is a recipe I created from a couple of different sources. I bake a Coco Loco based coconut cake, layer it with a pineapple macadamia nut filling and then frost it with a coconut cream cheese frosting. I sprinkle flaked coconut on top for a snowy effect then watch as its demolished, minutes after serving.
From one cake enthusiast to others, here’s to serving a slice!
-Cakelover
