Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Shoo-Fly Cake...

I recently joined a group called The Cake Slice.  A cake cookbook is chosen then each month a recipe is voted on and the group all make the decided on cake.  What a great way to try out new recipes and to meet new bakers!



The cookbook that we will be working through is Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson .  And the first cake that we are baking is the Shoo-Fly Cake.  You like Grandma's kitchen and warm gingerbread?  You will enjoy this cake... for dessert or with coffee in the morning.






I love that the recipes give weights for the ingredients! Folks get yourselves a scale and weigh your stuff - it is the best way to insure consistent yummy results.


Let's get going with the topping.  Butter, flour and brown sugar is not a bad way to start off!


Now the recipe says to use your fingers to get the topping to a crumb.  Well I have fingers nails and that just isn't a pretty mess so in my house we use a pastry cutter.  Quite the handy tool - try it for mashed potatoes sometime. Once crumbled put the mixture into the fridge for some chill time.... then remember that you haven't turned the oven on to preheat and do that.



I also don't do much sifting.  I use a whisk for the dry ingredients first then move onto the wet. Did I mention weigh your ingredients?!


Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.  At this point I realized that I had actually drank the coffee that I need for the cake and take a break to make a new cup. Gives the oven more time to heat up. ; )


So for the next part of the recipe we whisk together all the gooeyness!  Melted butter, molasses eggs, sugar and vanilla. The sugar likes to clump up so be sure to show it some gentle muscle.

  

Time to make it all work together.... coffee, gooey, flour, coffee, gooey, flour.  Scrape and whisk.


Pour into a buttered pan and sprinkle the topping all over.  Time to get baked!


The Shoo-Fly Cake Recipe can be found in the cookbook Vintage Cakes.


A couple of side notes....
I used a 9" square pan.  The recipe calls for a 9" round pan.  Neither of these pans is big enough for this recipe.  Due to the small pan size my cake did not bake evenly.  When all was said and done it was yummy served with a dollop of whipped cream but I will remake this cake and use a more appropriate sized pan.



Visit the other Cake Slice Bakers here.

:)

16 comments:

  1. I used to never sift my ingredients, even when told to do so... but it turns out that my favorite chocolate cake, when not sifted, is a crumbly mess... and when sifted is moist and perfect... I had no clue "sifting" could be soooo important for some cakes, so now I always sift when the recipe calls for it... LOL! I am glad this wasn't the case! Your cake looks lovely and delicious! I am glad it worked for you! Great first cake!

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  2. brilliant idea on using a pastry cutter to avoid your hands from getting all gooey and buttery ;) btw, I love your idea of doing a step by step process to show how you did the whole cake.

    We'll have even more fun next month :)

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  3. Love the look of the crumb on your tall cake. Tender texture in the cake!

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  4. Nice post. I don't have a pastry cutter - maybe that's where I am going wrong? :)

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  5. Thanks gals!
    Yes there are definitely instances where a sift is still necessary but luckily not all the time.
    I doubt you are going wrong without a pastry cutter but it sure is a handy tool.
    :)

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  6. Holly, your step-by-steps are so helpful! I agree, it was quite a bit of batter for a 9" pan. Yours turned out beautifully, anyway! :)

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  7. You're absolutely right that the prescribed pan size didn't quite work...I have burnt batter on the bottom of my oven as a result. It was a delicious cake, though!

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  8. Oh your cake is so pretty. You got great height! And your crumb topping looks perfect! : )

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  9. I used to have a pastry cutter that mysteriously disappeared... my girl was in a stage of "throwing everything in the trash" so I am sure it's in some city dump somewhere! :( ... I use the fork now. LOL!

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  10. Your cake looks lovely and all your crumb topping stayed on! Welcome to the group :)

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  11. Holy moley! That is quite a but of crumble topping on top of that cake! Your cake turned out lovely! :)

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  12. YOur cake turned out beautiful despite the pan issue!

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  13. Thanks so much ladies. :)

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  14. Loving the rise in your cake, and the whipped cream looks like the perfect accompaniment to the cake. Charlene, Fellow TCS member x

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  15. Love your pics, I think with ice cream or custard is the only way to go with this one!

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  16. Welcome to our baking group! Im so glad you pointed out to weigh our ingredients, it didn't even occur to me! I just figured cup measurements are equal! Thank you for the tip!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by my blog and even more for posting a comment! :)