Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day

I want to wish each and every one of you Happy Mother's Day. Whether you are a mother, a grandmother, or just a significant person in someone's life, you have played the role of a mother...so this wish is for all of you.

I have spent the morning baking a cake for our family gathering in an hour. The family is gathering to honor my grandmother. She is an amazingly strong woman and has outlived both of her sons and then her husband. She will be 90 on her next birthday. When I lived in Hawaii (1995-97) she came to visit us.....so she was 76 at that time. We hiked a mile up a mountain to go see a waterfall. We couldn't keep up with her! Kept having to ask her to slow down for us. LOL She always has food frozen so that if she has unexpected guests or isn't in the mood for cooking she can pull somethings out and heat it up. She always has at least one buttermilk pie in her freezer. YUM! So today I made something that reminds me of when I was a little girl. She used to make chocolate mayonnaise cake. I made one for her today. I'm making a fluffy white icing with it too, just a little twist on the way she made it. I'm sharing my recipe with you all.

CHOCOLATE MAYONNAISE CAKE
3 c. unsifted flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. cocoa
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. real mayonnaise
1 1/2 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Grease 2 (9" x 1 1/2") layer pans; line bottoms with waxed paper. Sift together dry ingredients into a large bowl. Stir in real mayonnaise. Gradually stir in water and vanilla until smooth and blended. Pour into prepared pans. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool. Remove from pans. Frost with chocolate frosting.

Here is the icing that I used:

WHITE FLUFFY CAKE ICING
1 c. milk
5 tbsp. flour
1 stick butter
1/2 c. Crisco
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
Beat together milk and flour. Stir on low flame until thick. Then place aside to cool. Put butter, Crisco, powdered sugar, and vanilla in bowl and beat together until creamy. Then add top ingredients and beat together until stiff.


I'll post an image. I'm having to put it in a carrier so it won't be a beautiful cake pedestal.