Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Icing #Recipe Peg Cochran/Margaret Loudon

 

If everyone is sad because the Thanksgiving pies are all eaten, whip up this spice cake from Sally's Baking Addiction.  It's quick and easy and has all the warm spices we enjoy in pumpkin pies.  

CAKE

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 cup vegetable oil

1 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract 

1 cup shredded apple (can substitute shredded carrot or zucchini

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 ounces full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 cups confectioner sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a bowl

Whisk oil, brown sugar, oil applesauce, eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well.

 

 Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes

Cool cake on a wire rack.

 

FROSTING 

In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with whisk or paddle, beat the cream cheese and butter at high speed until smooth and creamy.   

Add confectioner's sugar, vanilla and salt and beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes.

 

Spread on completely cooled cake.

 

 It's Here!

 A Berry Suspicious Death is now out!

 

    AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE    

 

Weddings are murder in the new Cranberry Cove Mystery from USA Today bestselling author Peg Cochran!

The cranberry bogs at Sassamanash Farms have never looked more festive than when Monica’s half-brother celebrates his wedding there. It’s a genuinely joyous occasion, and even greeting a strange assortment of guests and witnessing a heated argument can’t spoil Monica’s mood. But that all changes when one of the guests is found murdered at the reception—and then one of Monica’s employees is accused of doing the deed to get his hands on the dead woman’s money.

It doesn’t take long for Monica to discover that the victim had amassed her fortune by marrying a very wealthy—and very ill—older man. What’s more, the old man’s daughters despised the scheming, gold-digging woman, and thought the inheritance money should have been theirs. That seems like motive enough for murder, but Monica suspects there’s more to this case than simple greed. With her employee in hot water and time running out, Monica will have to act fast to catch the killer, before a case that started with a family wedding ends with her own funeral . ..

 

AMAZON

                BARNES & NOBLE

 

Website

Facebook Page

 

 

1920s Spice Cake @MaddieDayAuthor #giveaway

MADDIE DAY here, jumping up and down with excitement! Next Tuesday is the official release day for A Case for the Ladies, a novel of historical suspense long in the making. Also, today is International Women's Day in Women's History Month.

You heard more about it a couple of weeks ago when the Spotlight was on me, but for now let it suffice to say that the story takes place in summer of 1926.

So I went hunting for recipes from the 1920s.

I found a simple spice cake in The Perry Home Cook Book.

Okay, so "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach" might be a bit dated, but I love that the compilation from the good women of Perry begins with this:

The following recipe is earnestly recommended: Take of Charity, 25 parts; Justice 25 parts; Patience ten parts; Cheerfulness ten parts; to be blended and highly seasoned with plenty of Common Sense, Regard for the Rights of Others, and the saving Sense of Humor. To be taken in large quantities constantly or oftener.

--K. M.

Nobody can argue with that, right?

Spice Cake

Here is the recipe as written in the book - Mary is a tad short on procedure:

¼ cup butter; 1/8 cup lard; 1 cup sugar; ¾ cup brown sugar; 3 eggs. 2½ teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; ¼ teaspoon cloves; ½ cup water; ¼ cup milk; 2 cups flour; 1 teaspoon nutmeg; pinch of salt; vanilla. Mix same as plain cake and bake in a loaf.

--MARY QUANEY

I hope what follows is more usable.

Ingredients

3/4 stick butter, softened, plus more for greasing pan

1 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

2 cups flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch of salt

½ cup water mixed with ¼ cup milk

Directions

Grease loaf pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugars. Beat in vanilla and eggs.

Add spices and salt to flour. 

Add dry ingredients alternately with liquid in three parts, beating after each.

Pour into loaf pan.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack for ten minutes. Run a knife around the edges and turn out onto the rack. 

Slice and enjoy warm or at room temperature with a hot drink or a glass of sherry.

Readers: Share an old-fashioned food you enjoy making or eating. I'll send one of you a recipe postcard!

At the start of this post, I mentioned the official release date. But the book came out early! I hope you love A Case for the Ladies as much as I loved writing it.

Amid Prohibition, Irish gangs, the KKK, and rampant mistreatment of immigrant women, intrepid private investigator Dorothy Henderson and her pal Amelia Earhart seek justice for several murdered young women in 1926 Boston. As tensions mount, the sleuths, along with their reporter friend Jeanette Colby and Dot’s maiden Aunt Etta Rogers, a Wellesley College professor, experience their own mistreatment at the hand of society and wonder who they can really trust.

📖🍷🥗

Deep Fried Death, #12 in the Country Store Mysteries, is out!

Murder Uncorked, Cece Barton Mystery #1, released in late October.

Next to release, after A Case for the Ladies, is Murder at the Rusty Anchor in late June. It's the sixth Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery.

Check out all my writing:

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.

Caramel Apple Bundt Cake for Book Clubs

Welcome to all our readers who belong to book clubs! While I agree with Victoria Abbott about chocolate, both MURDER, SHE BARKED, and THE GHOST AND MRS. MEWER take place in the fall, so apple cake seemed appropriate. In the books, Holly Miller is taking up her grandmother's offer to become a partner in the Sugar Maple Inn on Wagtail Mountain.

The inn serves breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea, so there are always wonderful goodies available. If your book club is meeting for dinner, you might want to try Oma's Hungarian Goulash, which you can prepare in advance. But I would guess most book clubs really just need some coffee or wine and a delicious cake. This is the kind of thing that would be served at afternoon tea at the Sugar Maple Inn.

I was inspired when I saw a recipe for an apple cake with caramel on top. We have gobbled this up – just can't get enough of it. The cake is packed with applesauce and grated apples, which make it very moist and the overly sweet caramel on top is irresistible.

Two tips for making this cake. First, when you add the grated apples to the batter, take a minute to rinse off all the parts of your food processor. It will make cleanup so much easier!

Second, use sugar instead of flour to prevent the cake from sticking to your bundt pan. I just read about this and did a quick Internet search to be sure I was doing it correctly. There's nothing to it. Be sure to butter your pan very well, then just sprinkle sugar on it, much like you would flour. The key is to do it just before adding the batter so that the sugar doesn't start to melt. I have never had a bundt cake turn out so easily and perfectly before. Plus, it adds a little sugar to the cake. You'll notice that I removed one tablespoon of sugar from the recipe, just so the cake won't be overly sweet. Then I added one more tablespoon to get full greasing coverage on the pan.

All you need now is a good book, good friends, and a great cup of coffee.

Caramel Apple Bundt Cake

Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup pecans
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) butter at room temperature + extra for greasing the pan
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar + extra
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup applesauce
2 medium apples, peeled and cored

Place flour, pecans, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a food processor and pulse until the pecans are fine. Transfer the flour mixture to a bowl. Insert the grating disk and grate the apples.

Preheat oven to 350.

Take 1 tablespoon of sugar out of the plain sugar and set it aside. Cream the butter with the sugars. Beat in the eggs. Alternate adding applesauce and the flour mixture until completely combined. Stir in the grated apples.

Grease the bundt pan liberally. Sprinkle the extra sugar on the butter. You may need another tablespoon of sugar for full coverage. Use a cooking spoon to ladle the batter into the bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake 40 minutes or until it begins to pull away from the sides and a cake tester comes out clean.

Allow to rest on a baking rack about 5-10 minutes. Loosen the edges, and flip onto the rack. When cool, top with caramel.

Caramel

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 heavy cream

Place the ingredients in a deep microwave safe dish (I used a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup). Microwave in short bursts, stirring occasionally, until it bubbles up and the sugar melts. (You may find that you even like it if the sugar doesn't melt!)

Pulse pecans with the flour and spices.

Sugar the pan instead of using flour!

Spoon in the thick batter.

Before adding caramel.

So moist!

Coming December 2nd

Where it all started . . .

In honor of Book Club Week, I'm giving away a Mystery Lovers' Kitchen tote bag to one lucky person who leaves a comment on this post before midnight September 3rd. Good luck, everyone!