so: i baked this before elizabeth came home with willo, two days after her 28th birthday. they drove up after 8 pm in time to get willo abed before pres obama's first state of the union address. i hid the cake behind the toaster but she still spied it. no matter. we lit the sparkler candles and she was pleased, because she hadn't had a birthday cake this year. funny thing, i baked the one last year too. i think if was a chocolate stout cake from smitten kitten site. though she dislikes bananas (which i never believe really, when she lapped them up as a small child; how did that happen exactly? chomosomes? chemical imbalance?), i still made the cake with carmelized bananas - on just half of the cake. okay, it was lopsided. but she was glad. she liked the cake so much that i found that she ate a good amount that was tainted with bananas, as evidenced by the discarded bananas in the sink. it was good cake but the cake could have been a little softer. the icing i made with a combination of butter and cream cheese, and instead of hot water i used hot coffee, to fine effect.
a pair of bananas, fairly ripe, a blob of butter and sprinkling of sugar. Put the butter in a hot pan and as it melts, add the bananas, sliced lengthwise. Don’t crowd the pan, or they won’t have the opportunity to brown properly. Sprinkle with sugar and cook until the sugar melts and the bananas start to brown, but don’t turn to mush. Lift them out and lie them on top of the bottom cake layer, and top with the second. I imagine caramelized bananas would be exquisite between layers of chocolate cake.
Any white or yellow cake can be turned into a spice cake by the addition of cinnamon, ginger (I rarely use ground, but for some reason I do on this occasion) and perhaps some nutmeg and/or allspice. I like to use brown sugar instead of white, too.
for the icing: add some brown sugar to a regular buttercream icing. I could instruct you to cook it with the butter on the stovetop, but then you risk producing caramel. What I did today, purely as a result of circumstance, was beat a blob of butter (about 1/4 cup) until it was creamy, add about a cup of brown sugar (dark is better) and then poured a bit of boiling water over it to instantly dissolve the sugar – something I didn’t plan, but I was making a cup of instant espresso and the kettle started to whistle at precisely that minute. So I beat that, and then beat enough icing sugar into it to make a spreadable frosting. That’s how you make icing – start with butter or cream cheese and sugar, and add liquid – water, lemon juice, milk, coffee – and any sort of extract – vanilla, coconut, maple – and beat until it’s right for spreading. Add more sugar or more liquid as it needs it.
Mom & Anne’s Birthday Spice Cake
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg and/or allspice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter or non-hydrogenated margarine, softened
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray two 8” or 9” round cake pans or one 9″ x 13″ pan with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. In a larger bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer for about half a minute, until it’s pale and creamy. Pour in the sugar and continue to beat for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl whenever it needs it.
Stir the vanilla into the milk. Add about one-third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir it in by hand or with the electric mixer on low speed, just until it’s combined. Add about half the milk in the same manner, then another third of the flour, the rest of the milk, and the rest of the flour, mixing just until the batter is blended.
Divide the batter between the greased cake pans and tap the bottoms a few times on the countertop to remove any air bubbles. To prevent a domed top, spread the top of the batter with a spatula, creating a slight dent in the middle and a raised edge. This compensates for the way a cake tends to rise higher in the middle.
Bake for 30-35 minutes for round layers or 40-45 minutes for a 9-x 13-inch cake, until golden, the edges are pulling away from the sides of the pan, and the tops are springy to the touch. Let them cool for about 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the pans and inverting them onto a wire rack. Cool completely before you frost them. Makes 1 layer cake.
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