"Voracious" & "The Book Club Cook Book" - Red Flannel Hash and Angel Food Cake for National Library Week (April 9-April 15)

Date I made these recipes – April 9 – April 15, 2017 – National Library Week

Voracious – A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way Through Great Books by Cara Nicoletti

Published by Little, Brown and Company

ISBN: 978-0-316-24299-8; © 2015

Recipe:  Red Flannel Hash (from the short story "The Best Girlfriend You Never Had" by Pam Houston) – p. 261-262

The Book Club Cook Book – Recipes and Food For Thought From Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp

Published by Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin

ISBN: 1-58542-322-X; © 2004

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores, Richfield, MN

Recipe:  Mrs. Nesbitt's Angel Food Cake with Lemon Cream from the book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt -  The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

How is it possible that I just this year learned about National Library Week?  How?  Because I tell you what folks, the title of one of today's cookbooks, Voracious [reader] fits me to a "t."

Not too long ago, my brother commented on how he couldn't believe the speed with which I plowed through my book stacks as a child, and I wish I could show you film because his imitation of me was pretty hilarious.  According to his re-enactment, I would speed read a book, slam it down, pick up another, rinse and repeat.  I wish I had kept track of how many books I read but if memory serves, the answer is "a lot."

My love of books was such that when my 10^th grade English teacher asked us to think about a college major, I thought to myself "Well, I like to read and write and so English, final answer."  Three years later, I enrolled at Northern Michigan University as an English major and I never looked back.

Let me just say that the sheer volume of reading to be done as an English major made me happy that I was an unofficial student of the Evelyn Woods Speed Reading method[1]otherwise, I would have died on the vine.  Most of my classes were comprehensive reviews of literature from either a country (American Lit, British Lit) or an author such as Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, etc.  And by "comprehensive," I mean that we ready everything – everything - by these authors such that to this day, Shakespeare, who is most people's favorite, remains among my least favored, certain works excepted, for example, I loved Hamlet. (And if you ever get a chance to see the movie Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead, you must.  In Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are childhood friends of the Prince of Denmark and are only briefly mentioned.  This movie expands their roles and turns them into comedic characters.  My husband and I love this movie.)

Many years after these exercises in torture, I enrolled in law school.  Law school also requires a lot of reading (and analyzing but in a different way) and thanks to some friends who had gone before me, I did not bat an eyelash when each professor assigned 200 pages or more of reading to be done by the next class.  You should know that sometimes "the next class" was the next day.  Since each law school student took four classes a semester (sometimes five), that meant that we read 800 pages a night (4 classes x 200 pages per night).  Yes, you may insert a "wow" emoji here.

Alas, because all this class reading took up so much of my time, reading for pleasure was difficult and my library use decreased dramatically.  That made me sad but it was only a little blip in the scheme of things.  In fact, let's take a look-back at my library history starting with grade school.

Believe it or not folks, my tiny little Catholic school had also a tiny little library.  To this day (many, many years later), I still remember the layout and recall also, that I read every Nancy Drew book there was to be read.  Those Nancy Drew books pretty much got the ball rolling for me and libraries.

My next library was the town's public library that was housed in the combined junior high and high school.  I can't say as I remember too many townspeople coming in to check out books, but I sure did.  One of my mom's friends told her that when her daughter checked out a book about the circus, my name was all over the borrower card. I have vague recollections of the book and wish I could remember it so I could see if I could acquire it after all these years.

By the way, please tell me that you remember "borrower cards?"  Please.  If not, Google that term and you'll see exactly what I mean.  Borrower cards were lined paper cards that were housed in the front of the book in a little - what shall we call it – pouch?  The borrower in question wrote his/her name on the card and the librarian stamped the card with the due date and kept it so they would know when the book was due.  The librarian also stamped the "pocket" with the due date so the borrower knew when the book was due.  When the book was returned, the card went back inside its little pocket all set and ready to go for the next borrower.  It sounds complicated but it was really very easy.

When I was in 12^th grade, I became a student librarian, and let me tell you, a lot of power and authority came with the [use of that] stamp!  I loved stamping books!  Loved it.  Stamping [checking out] books was way more fun than shelving them or typing up library classification cards for the card catalog.[2]

In college, and in law school, my semesters were spent reading assigned books for my classes so reading for pleasure (and borrowing from the library) was out of the question.  But once the semester was over, and with apologies to DJ Khaled, all I did was "read, read, read, read, read."  In college, I took perverse pleasure in reading the "trashiest" (my mother's words) novels I could find; my mother's literature selection was pretty tame.  It didn't really matter the book's topic so long as it was entertaining and believe me, after reading serious literature during a 16-week semester, just about everything was entertaining.  I repeated this same process while on break from law school although this time around my "trashy" novel selection was pretty tame and not coincidentally, focused on law or law-enforcement related novels.

These days, I am happy to report that I am devoted to my local St. Paul Library (housed in a beautiful Carnegie library building) and am also a Friend(s) of the St. Paul Library (Friends are donors/supporters).  From time to time, I give to and borrow from the Hennepin County (Minneapolis) Library although the St. Paul system is closer to me.  (Happily, one card serves two library systems as well as the Ramsey County system of St. Paul.)   Right now, I finishing up the second of two books I borrowed and am on the wait list for the latest David Baldacci novel.  I have no problems with putting a book on hold and waiting for it although some authors seriously need to cut down on their pages because it can be a challenge to get through 650+ pages in three weeks! Just sayin'...

And now we come full circle to two cookbooks related to books and reading and I thought it would be perfect to make something from each in observe of National Library Week.  True confession:  I was/am way behind schedule on cooking and blogging, oh well.

Each book's Table of Content includes books that I read (borrowed from the library or purchased) as well as some I wish I had read.  Let's take a look:

Voracious – 23 books read out of 50

A sampling of what I read includes:

• Pippi Longstocking (Recipe: Buttermilk Pancakes – p. 64)
• Nancy Drew (Of course!  Note there are 64 N.D. books total) (Recipe:  Double Chocolate Walnut Sundae – p. 19)
• Anne of Green Gables (Recipe:  Salted Chocolate Caramels – p. 47)
• Homer Price (This book is a "classic" from the 1940's and recalls fictional character Homer Price's very bad but very funny day working in a doughnut shop) (Recipe:  Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts – p. 53)
• Lord of the Flies (Recipe:  Nope, not even going to go there.  If you read the book, you can probably guess what the recipe was.)
• Great Expectations (Recipe: Pork Pie – p. 124)
• Moby Dick (I hated this book.  During the course of my high school and college English major studies, I think I was assigned this book to read three times, maybe four.  Hated it then, hate it now.  Hate.) (Recipe: Clam Chowder – p. 130)
• A Confederacy of Dunces (Hil-larious!) (Recipe:  Jelly Donuts which will make sense to you if you read the book – p. 191)

The Book Club Cookbook – a paltry 30 out of 100?  How is that possible?  (Likely answer:  because I haven't been in a book club for a couple of decades?)  A sampling of what I read includes:

• The Da Vinci Code (Recipe:  Rosemary Spaghetti – p. 85, and Death By Chocolate – p. 85)
• The Devil Wears Prada (Never, ever did I picture Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly while reading this book and yet it works, right?) (Recipe:  Sun-Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Pizza – p. 95)
• The Grapes of Wrath (Recipe: Artichoke-Jalapeno Spread with  Tomato Bruschetta Topping – p. 167)
• Nickel and Dimed (Recipe: Mozzarella Sticks – p. 300)
• Jane Eyre (Childhood favorite) (Recipe:  Walnut Cheese Sandwiches – p. 210)[3]
• My Antonia (Recipe: Spiced Plum Kolaches – p. 281)
• The Poisonwood Bible (Recipe: Tropical Fruit Salad – p. 353)
• A Prayer for Owen Meany (Recipe:  Banana Pineapple Smoothie – p. 363)
• A Walk in the Woods (I have not seen the movie and don't plan to because the book stands on its own.  It's side-splittingly funny.) (Recipe:  Very Yellow Lemon Meringue Pie – p. 473.  By the way, this was a strong contender for a while.)
• The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (Hmong Eggrolls with Hot Dipping Sauce – p. 410)

If you have not heard of or read the last book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, you must get on board right now.  MUST.  It's the story of a Hmong family that includes a daughter with epilepsy.  This family did not understand epilepsy but believed in their hearts that her ailment was because "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down."  For the longest time, they tried traditional Hmong methods to rid the daughter's body of this spirit, but when that didn't work, they sought out western medicine assistance with mixed results.  This book chronicles the family's quest to fix their daughter and the inevitable clash of east meets west.  It was both heartbreaking and enlightening and I loved it.

Even though I could wax poetic about even more books included in these two cookbooks, we'd be here all day so let's get on with my selections:

From Voracious, I selected "Red Flannel Hash."  I love beets (thus, the "red flannel" and I love hash.  I opted not to make the poached eggs accompanying this dish but will include the recipe anyway; the hash itself is very filling. This recipe was inspired by the story, "The Best Girlfriend You Never Had."  I have not read this story, nor am I likely to read it, but this should not dissuade you from trying out both the recipe and the story. 

I have to confess that I also never read the book, Charlotte's Web (I know, I know:  what is wrong with me?  In my defense, this was just not in my children's literature library), and was sorely tempted to make Pea and Bacon Soup – p. 75-77 – but could not bring myself to do so because, you know...bacon.

From The Book Club Cookbook, I selected the absolutely delicious "Mrs. Nesbitt's Angel Food Cake" inspired by the book No Ordinary Time:  Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt – the Home Front in World War II by noted historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.  I love Doris and her books but this book weighs in at 759 pages and that many pages requires a time commitment I don't have right now.

I hope it didn't escape your attention that I have not read either of these two writings which is somewhat cosmic and certainly not planned, but there it is.

Before I get into the recipes themselves, let me just say that I think a James Beard Award is in order for the company(s) that decided to separate egg whites and egg yolks and to put each product in a carton for ease in use.  Brilliant!  Smashing! Capital!  Why am I so excited? Well, you need 10-12 egg whites for the angel food cake and the thought of separating all those eggs, never mind trying to figure out a use for the leftover yolks gave me pause.  Pause, I tell you!  You can find these liquid egg whites in most grocery store's eggs and dairy sections. 

Here then are your literary recipes both of which were fantastic.  As to the books, I waxed nostalgic over many of the titles in each but just don't have time to reread them all as I have plenty of books on my "To Read" list for this year.  As always, there are too many books, not enough time.

And although I am terribly behind on posting this salute to libraries, I once again have to commend our public library system and all the librarians and support staff working in them.  "Free" is a good thing – free access, free lending, free classes and services and frankly, free education.  When I was a youngster in 7^th grade, I had to give a speech for a class and I'll never forget my theme:  "Reading is your road to learning." (Feel free to quote me!)

Go "learn!"

Red Flannel Hash – Serves 4 generously

For the hash

1 ½ pounds fingerling potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

2 medium beets, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

1 pound thick-cut bacon, cut into chunks

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

4 thyme sprigs

For the poached eggs

¼ cup white vinegar

4 large eggs

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Set a steamer basked over a large pot filled with enough water to just reach the bottom of the basket.  Place the fingerling potato and sweet potato cubes in the basket and bring the water to a boil over medium heat.  Cover the pot and steam the potatoes for 7 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl.

Next, steam the beet cubes for 12 minutes.  (Ann's Note:  You may want to steam all vegetables a bit longer than directed to ensure doneness.)

While the beets are steaming, fry the bacon in a cast-iron or other heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat until lightly crisp. (Ann's Note:  I've cooked thick-cut bacon many times but it doesn't crisp the way regular bacon does.  It still tasted great but I don't think it ended up "lightly crisp" and I cooked it a long time.)  Add the chopped onion and minced garlic and cook over low heat.  Once the beets are steamed, add them to the skillet, along with all of the potatoes and the thyme.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are crispy, about 20 minutes.  Discard the thyme sprigs.

To poach the eggs

Fill a sauté pan or skillet with water.  Add the vinegar.  Heat the vinegar-water over medium heat until very hot, but do not let the water come to a boil, or even to a simmer.  You want it to be at the point where bubbles are forming at the bottom of the pan and steam is rising from the surface.

Crack 1 egg into a ramekin and create a whirlpool in the water with a spoon.  Gently slip the egg into the water and let it cook for 20 seconds.  After 20 seconds you can start very gently nudging the white around the yolk.  If the egg is sticking to the bottom of the pan, just use a spatula to loosen it. Cook for about 3 minutes – the white should look cooked, but you should still be able to see the yolk wiggling around inside.  Lift it out with a slotted spoon, place it on a paper towel to drain, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve on top of the red flannel hash.

Repeat with the remaining eggs.

Mrs. Nesbitt's Angel Food Cake with Lemon Cream – Yield:  8 to 10 servings

For the cake

1 ¼ cups egg whites (10-12 eggs) (Ann's Note:  Make your life easier and buy egg whites in a carton found in your store's refrigerator section.  You will need just over one carton for this endeavor so buy two.)

1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

½ teaspoon almond extract

1 cup sifted cake flour

¼ teaspoon salt

For the Lemon Cream

½ cup heavy cream

¼ cup confectioner's sugar

½ cup lowfat lemon yogurt

Preheat oven to 375F.  Beat the egg whites until foamy.  Add the cream of tartar, then gradually add 1 cup of the sugar, beating continually, until the whites stand up in peaks.  Beat in the almond extract.  Sift flour.  Sift together the remaining ½ cup sugar, flour, and salt.  Gently fold flour mixture into egg whites, ½ cup at a time, just until flour is moistened.  (Ann's Confession:  I used my Kitchen Aid and might have over-folded by just a bit but it didn't seem to matter as the cake baked perfectly."

Pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan and bake 30-35 minutes, until the top feels springy to the touch.  Invert the cake pan and stand it on a bottle to cool.

When cake is completely cooled, loosen its edges by running a spatula or thin knife around the edge of the pan.  Gently shake the cake onto a serving plate.  Top with Lemon Cream and garnish with strawberries.

To make the Lemon Cream, beat the whipping cream and confectioners' sugar until soft peaks form.  Fold in the lemon yogurt.  Serve immediately.

Ann's Note:  Damn, this was good! 

---

[1] Remember Evelyn Woods Speed Reading courses?  When I was growing up, Evelyn advertised her services everywhere – comic books, magazines, newspapers.  I am totally joking about speed reading although I do set a brisk pace when it comes to reading books.  At any rate, those of a certain age will hopefully get this reference.  Please feel free to chuckle.

[2] Three words:  Dewey Decimal System. Loved it then, love it now.  That is all.

[3] First, I am doing you a solid by not requiring that you name all the authors of these books.  You're welcome.  If you were an English major though, it was/is practically a degree requirement such that all these years later, I can still rattle off most authors, even contemporary authors.  And as an aside, I'll never forget reading Jane Eyre for a high school class – maybe 10^th grade – and then getting tested on it.  One of the questions asked was "What was the name of Mr. Rochester's horse?" and I wrote "I don't know.  Trigger?"  This was absolutely incorrect but it made my teacher laugh.  Why?  Because at the time, singer and actor Roy Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans, were very famous "Western" stars and Trigger was Roy's horse.  Once again, those of a certain age...

"The Great British Bake Off Perfect Cakes & Bakes to Make At Home" - Bitter Chocolate Stout Cake for my husband's birthday

Date I made this recipe:  March 4, 2017 for my husband's 60^th birthday

The Great British Bake Off Perfect Cakes & Bakes to Make at Home by Linda Collister, with recipes by Mary Berry & Paul Hollywood and the Bakers of 2016

Published by Love Productions/Hodder & Stoughton

ISBN: 978-1-473-61544-1; © 2016

Purchased at Bibelot, St. Paul

Recipe:  Bitter Chocolate Stout Cake – p. 40-42

Well folks, my darling husband just commenced firing on his 6^th decade which gave me the perfect excuse to make a recipe from this book.  And not just any recipe, reader, but a recipe involving chocolate and chocolate stout (beer) which he considers to be food of the gods.  I cannot argue with that!

Now even though Andy has a mean hand when it comes to making cakes, pastries and pies, particularly pies, I did not buy this book for him because he wouldn't have used it.  Instead, I do what I often do for Christmas and that is to buy a bunch of cookbooks for myself that I label as being from him; he does the same with bicycle parts that he wants and it works like a charm! In this case, although I would have purchased this book anyway, (from "me" to "me"), as soon as I saw the Bitter Chocolate Stout Cake recipe, I knew I would earmark it for his upcoming 60^th birthday because that's the kind of spouse I am!

I've mentioned in previous blogs how much I love The Great British Bake Off, the TV show responsible for cookbooks like these of the same name, and I won't go into a lot of detail here except to say I have updates and folks and fans, they are not necessarily good updates so brace yourselves: the show is leaving the BBC for another network that is not the BBC.  There, I said it.

You may be thinking "Well, so what?" but apparently this decision might just derail the show all together because judge Mary Berry, and hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc decided not to make the move and so are- gasp- out!  Double gasp!  How can this be?  The only one left standing who decided to try out the new network is judge Paul Hollywood. 

I am trying, unsuccessfully, to imagine a show with only Paul as the host.  I loved those three other ladies.  Loved them.  Now what?

Well not only did all of Britain have a collective meltdown but here in the U.S. we are left wondering "what next" as well because the show aired for us here on PBS which often rebroadcasts BBC shows.  So no BBC in Britain likely means no PBS rebroadcast here.

I shall stay as on top of this situ for you as I can.

Meanwhile folks, back to the cookbook and here is where I must take a few moments to critique the cookbook which I now call The Great British Bitch-off.  Why?  Because of the countless challenges I encountered while trying to pull together a simple birthday cake.  A simple chocolate + stout birthday cake.

First, and in case you didn't know, England uses mostly the metric system for measuring things which means that instead of ounces, we're talking grams, instead of fluid ounces, we're talking liters and so on.  And while conversion charts abound (including one in the back of the book but not the front of the book which would have been more helpful), almost none of the measures I needed was on that inconvenient chart which meant I had to weigh them out anyway.  Besides, all the chart did was convert grams to ounces and I do not keep a runny tally of ounces needed in my head:  it's "cups" or bust!

But then to really yank this Yank's chain, some of the ingredients were in teaspoons and tablespoons.  Well fine, then, be that way.  In my opinion, not enough of the ingredients were in teaspoons but I take my wins where I could find them.

Still in all, measuring grams or ounces required a kitchen scale and let me say right now and we shall consider this a new and mandatory rule:  if you don't have a kitchen scale, get one. If you don't want one, this is not the recipe or cookbook for you.  Even then, by the time I finished measuring out the ingredients (both on a scale or by hand), I'd say a good hour had passed and I hadn't even started baking yet.  Major point deductions for that, folks.  Major.

Then there was the "guess what this ingredient is called in the U.S." game that I had to play with a couple of the ingredients listed in this recipe such as "light muscovado sugar" (light brown sugar), or "icing sugar," which is confectioners' sugar.

In fact, small story here about confectioner's sugar.  I Googled "icing sugar" and finally found a video of a British baker mixing regular sugar and cornstarch together in a Cuisinart.  So then I Googled "sugar and cornstarch" and up poppef "confectioners' sugar."  Ah ha!  So I doubled checked C&H's (sugar producer) website but couldn't find confirmation that icing sugar and confectioners' sugar were one in the same.  And the customer service person was no help.  When I asked her if "icing sugar" was the same as "confectioners' sugar" she said "I have no idea."

Really?  I mean, you work for a sugar company, surely you'd know this.  So I put on my best attorney voice and then said "Well, can you at least confirm (or deny – your choice) that confectioners' sugar is a mixture of regular sugar and cornstarch?"  "Yes, I can confirm that."

Now really, was that hard?

Okay then, so once I resolved those two issues, I was almost ready to go.  Still to be resolved:  how to make "self-rising" flour at home because I sure as heck wasn't going out to buy a large bag that I would never use.  This one was easy:  mix 1 cup of flour with 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder with ¼ teaspoon salt. Piece of cake, 'scuse the pun.  Except folks, it wasn't exactly a piece of cake because I needed more than 1 cup self-rising flour.  In fact, I needed 250g or 9 ounces.  Well, I was all out of patience with today's math problems so what my husband suggested and what I did, was to make up another cup of the mixture then measure out the 9 ounces I needed on my kitchen scale and then toss the rest.  I hate wasting ingredients but at this point, I just needed to get this cake done already.

The last thing I needed to do was to convert the measurements for the British baking pans and that was somewhat easy:  two 20.5cm pans are equal to two 8" round cake pans.  I know this because I have a tape measure in my kitchen with inches on one side and those ghastly centimeters on the other.  Not that I keep it around for projects like this but since I did and it was handy, it saved me yet another trip to my computer.

Please note that between tax, license, Google searches and measurements, the total elapsed time was now about two hours.  Good thing I decided to give this recipe a dry run the night before I served it.  Also?  This was one of the easier recipes in this book!

Speaking of which, please do make a note that the subtitle of this cook is "Perfect Cakes & Bakes To Make At Home," and no offense to the show, but are they kidding me? Let's take a look at our chapters and then we can talk:

• Cakes ("Greek Lemon-Yoghurt Loaf Cake;" "Bitter Chocolate Stout Cake")
• Biscuits & Teatime Treats ("Mexican Wedding Cookies;" "Posh Granola Bars")
• Breads ("Sprouted Wheat Bread;" "Cobbled Chocolate Loaf")
• Desserts & Puddings ("Chocolate-Hazelnut Rochers;" "Grand Strawberry Mouse" with homemade ladyfingers, no less.)
• Sweet Pastry & Patisserie ("Bitter Chocolate and Pear Tartlets;" "Gateau St-Honore," and even though "gateau" is the French word for "cake," you should run away from recipes like this because they are involved.  Very involved.)
• Savoury Bakes ("Roast Vegetable and Cashew Pie;" "Duck and Pistachio Pate En Croute."  Let that last recipe just sink in, okay?)

Some translation is required and so please make a note that:

• Biscuits = cookies
• Puddings = other desserts and not necessarily [Jell-O]pudding as we know it.
• Savoury, or as we say in America "savory," are things like crackers or canapés.

Far be it from the Brits to call a spade a "spade!"

Anyway, in my opinion, the degree of difficulty rises as we move from chapter to chapter.  The first one – "Cakes" – is relatively harmless except for the time spent measuring and "translating" ingredients.  But by the time we hit "Desserts & Puddings," my baking poker hand was getting weaker, by "Sweet Pastry & Patisserie," I was  bluffing badly, and by "Savoury Bakes," many of which require the use of phyllo dough, I folded!  Now then, will the person who makes "Duck and Pistachio Pate En Croute" at home on a regular basis please contact me ASAP?  Thank you.

And so now back to our recipe, already in progress!  Once I got everything measured, putting it all together didn't take long but cleaning up afterwards did.  I don't know about you, but I find working with melted chocolate to be a challenge because the cocoa "butter" in the chocolate itself makes it greasy and greasy items take some real elbow grease to get clean.  And since I had to melt chocolate a few times over for this endeavor, I was constantly wiping down melted chocolate from pans and bowls and spatulas and walls since it splattered here and there. 

So I tell you what, if it wasn't for my husband's birthday and his love of the two primary ingredients, I might have been tempted to chuck this book into the nearest dust bin (British-speak for "waste basket") but a birthday comes but once a year and a 60^th birthday is special.  Plus, and this is the big thing, the cake was delicious.  The cake itself was a little dry but only a very little, probably because I baked it the full 25 minutes but that's because it was still soupy at 22 minutes (baking time was 20-25 minutes).  Fair warning then: somewhere between 23 and 24, but not 25 minutes, is where you want to land.  Had judge Paul Hollywood sampled it, he would have likely said "It's good, but the sponge – which he pronounced "spooonge" is a little dry," so thank goodness for the frosting which was the real star of the show.

I have previously mentioned in this blog that I am all about the frosting as the cake doesn't interest me much at all, and this frosting was delicious.  That "icing sugar" (!) was just the ticket and I could have eaten the entire bowl and skipped putting it on the cake all together except Andy had some guy friends over and we needed to be able to serve a frosted cake to our 15 or so guests. Said guests then inhaled every single crumb of this cake, every single piece and so my plan for leftover frosting (and oh sure, the cake, too) went out the window.  Damn and blast!

Now then, I have one last piece of unfinished business to discuss and it's the alcohol in this cake.  For those of you with concerns, let me just talk out loud about a couple of things:  You might (emphasis on "might") be able to substitute a chocolate syrup mix for the chocolate stout if you wish; consider the "Hot Bitter Chocolate Sauce" recipe on p. 20 of the book.  You might also consider using a slurry (I just love that word) of chocolate syrup, malt powder (used in the recipe) and milk instead of the alcohol.  Or, you can think of it this way:  the recipe calls for 150ml of chocolate stout (or porter) which is the equivalent of just over 5 ounces (8 ounces is a cup).  Andy cut this cake into 15 slices and so it you divide out that 5 ounces into 15 slices, you basically have about an eye dropper full of chocolate stout per piece which is to say not much of anything.  That said, I am not here to encourage you to cook with alcohol if you're uncomfortable, but I think it was there to just enhance the flavor and add to the volume without intending to give anyone a hangover.

All in all, my husband had a great 60^th birthday and this cake helped a lot.  He was a little nervous about inviting "the guys" over since sometimes men can be reticent about going to a birthday party, but a good number of them came over and enjoyed the cake and other savoury/savory items, and it was a lot of fun.  I'm still on the fence about the level of fun I experienced making the cake but that is to be expected as the bakers in this cookbook were all (2016) contestants on the show and they could out-bake me with their hands tied behind their backs.  In the end, I'll take the fact that I didn't go nuts, didn't scream at anybody and didn't burn down the house as my own version of a "win" on The Great British Bake Off – "At Home with Ann and Andy!" 

Bitter Chocolate Stout Cake – serves 10-12 – Ann's Note:  it helps to have a kitchen scale

For the sponge

40 g cocoa powder

1 tablespoon malted-milk drink powder (use "original," not diet or flavoured versions)

150 ml chocolate milk stout OR porter

150g unsalted butter, softened

120g caster sugar (Ann's Note:  a/k/a superfine sugar)

120g light muscovado sugar (Ann's Note:  a/k/a light brown sugar)

2 medium eggs, at room temperature, beaten to mix

4 tablespoons buttermilk, at room temperature

250g self-raising flour (Ann's Note:  *see below for how to make this at home)

¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (Ann's Note:  a/k/a Baking Soda)

Good pinch of fine sea salt

*The standard "recipe" for making self-rising flour is to add 1 ½ tsp baking powder and ¼ tsp salt to 1 cup All Purpose Flour.  Since you will need more than that for the recipe, make a double batch of the recipe then weigh it and subtract out what you don't need. 

For the chocolate filling and frosting

85g dark chocolate (about 70% chocolate solids)

1 ½ tablespoons malted-milk drink powder ("original")

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons boiling water

115g unsalted butter, softened (Ann's Note:  one stick of butter is 113g so you will need a little more from another stick)

25g light muscovado sugar (Ann's Note:  a/k/a light brown sugar)

75g icing sugar (Ann's Note:  a/k/a Confectioner's sugar)

Good pinch of sea salt flakes, or to taste

To finish

15g dark chocolate (about 70% cocoa), grated

Pans

Ann's Note: You'll need two 20.5cm round, deep sandwich tins, greased with butter and base-lined.  Translation:  two 8" round cake pans, greased then lined with parchment paper. I have no idea why round cake pans are called "sandwich tins," but mine is not to question why, mine is to Google search to figure it out!

Heat the coven to 350F.  Measure the cocoa and malted milk powders into a small pan, add the milk stout and set over low heat.  Whisk constantly with a small hand wire whisk until the mixture is smooth and comes to the boil – take care it doesn't catch on the base of the pan.  Remove from the heat and leave until cooled to room temperature.

Meanwhile, put the softened butter into a mixing bowl, or the bowl of  free-standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, until creamy and mayonnaise-like.  Scrape down the side of the bowl, then beta in the caster sugar.  As soon as it is thoroughly amalgamated, beat in the muscovado (light brown sugar) sugar (press out any lumps first).  Once combined, scrape down the side of the bowl again, then beta for 2 minutes to make a soft, light creamed mixture.

Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition and scraping down the side of the bowl from time to time.  Beat in the buttermilk a tablespoon at a time, adding a tablespoon of the weighed flour with the last 2 additions.  Sift the remaining flour with the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and salt into the bowl.  Add the cooled cocoa mixture.  Mix in using the whisk on its lowest speed, stopping as soon as the mixture is very smooth.

Divide the mixture equally between the 2 sandwich tins and spread evenly.  Bake in the heated oven for 20-25 minutes until the sponges are well risen and springy when gently pressed in the center. (Ann's Note:  20 minutes is too short.  Twenty two minutes was also too short. Twenty five minutes was too long.  Try for 23-24 and then stop.  Immediately.)  Remove from the oven and run a round-bladed knife around the inside of each tin to loosen the sponge, then turn it out on to a wire rack and leave to cool.

When sponges have cooled to room temperature, make the chocolate mixture for the filing and frosting.  Gently melt the chocolate then leave to cool until needed.  Put the malted-milk powder and cocoa powder into a small heatproof bowl, add the boiling water and stir to make a smooth paste.  Leave to cool.  (Ann's Note:  this didn't really make a paste as it was more like a thick syrup.  No matter, it worked.)

Beat the butter in a mixing bowl until very creamy using a wooden spoon or hand-held electric whisk, then beat in the muscovado sugar (press out any lumps first).  Add the cooled melted chocolate and beat well, then beat in the cooled cocoa liquid.  Sift the icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) into the bowl and beat, slowly at first, until the mixture is very smooth and light in texture.  Sprinkle over the salt and stir in.

Now set one sponge, crust-side down, on a serving plate.  Spread over half the chocolate mixture.  Set the other sponge on top, crust-side up.  Spread and swirl the rest of the chocolate over the surface.  Grate the dark chocolate on top – or decorate with chocolate curls shaved off with a vegetable peeler.  Leave the frosting to firm up for at least 2 hours before cutting the cake.  Store in an airtight container and eat within 4 days.

Ann's Final Note:  I didn't have time to let the frosting firm up but it was just fine and met my strict frosting requirements, thank you very much.  Also, intriguing as it is to know that this cake lasts 4 days, I don't think it lasted for four minutes once Andy started cutting it. Of course, it helps to have 15 people helping to eat it but still, this was one tasty cake.  It looked like hell but I was not trying for bakery-competition worthy so there you go. 

"Great (Minnesota) State Fair Recipes" & "Blue Ribbon Winners - America's Best State Fair Recipes" - Chocolate Drop Cookies and German Apple Cake - It's State Fair Time!

Date I made these recipes:  August 27, 2016 – it's State Fair time here in Minnesota!

Great State Fair Recipes – A Collection of Minnesota State Fair Sweepstakes – Winning Recipes from 1906 to 1975 (spiral bound), edited by Karen Humphrey

Published by Minnesota State Agricultural Society (State Fair) and the American Daily Association of Minnesota

© 1976

Gift from a friend

Recipe:  Chocolate Drop Cookies submitted to the Fair by Mrs. Merle Robertson of Minneapolis, MN  - p. 32

Blue Ribbon Winners – America's Best State Fair Recipes by Catherine Hanley

Published by Smithmark

ISBN: 0-8317-0310-5; copyright 1993

Purchased at BCPA (Bloomington Crime Prevention Association) annual sale, 2015

Recipe:  German Apple Cake made by Joyce Dubois, submitted at the South Dakota State Fair- p. 67

Quiz time:  What phrase gets uttered more times in Minnesota in the month of August than any other?

Answer:  "So, are you going to 'The Fair'?"

'Round here, "The Fair" needs no explanation.  While county fairs and city fairs and festivals abound, there is only one big daddy and it's the Minnesota State Fair, now in its 157^th year.  On average, 150,000 people per day stroll through the Fairgrounds during the Fair that starts on the last Thursday in August and ends on Labor Day.  I know people who go to the Fair every single day as well as those who go every year. 

My husband and I have been rather slow to embrace this thinking, having gone about every five years or so.  Unlike the vast majority of people who attend the Fair, we're more interested in the music than anything else and the Fair provides a lot of stages and artists from which to choose.  We're on deck to go next weekend although we haven't decided on the musical act we want to see.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my friend, Laura, asked if I wanted to go to the Fair with her this past Friday, Day 2 of the Fair, and I said "Sure, why not?  Nothing says I can't go twice!"  We had a blast.  We have similar tastes when it comes to what things to see and do and in the almost six hours we were there, we managed to put some respectable miles on our shoes.  

One of the exhibits I make sure to tour are all the craft and cooking projects in the aptly named Creative Activities Annex building.  There you will find sewing projects, needlepoint, knitting projects and other crafts and then in the back you'll see the baked goods winners, pickling and preserve winners and other related food offerings.  This year though, and I cannot believe we did this, I was so focused on finding the award-winning knitting submission from my friend, Bonnie, that I forgot to go in the back and look at the food!  Just means I have to go back and look another day.  (PS—Congratulations, Bonnie!)

To be clear, I have never entered or will enter a food competition as that job is best left to the "professionals" i.e. those individuals who have been baking and canning and submitting their treats to the Fair for years and years and years.  I've always liked how the judging is done by trained "professionals" instead of letting "America vote" as happens on popular TV competitions.  These judges know their stuff and can tell in a nanosecond if someone's bread or rolls didn't rise (mine don't rise) and so there's no sense subjecting my offerings to these judges. "pre-emptive self-elimination" is the way to go, folks, and for that, I am sure the judges thanked me.

In fact, I tend to live my life by this (very real) motto:  "Why do for yourself when you can pay others to do for you?" And this is exactly why I would rather spend money on purchasing and then using cookbooks by award-winning state fair bakers than trying to create a special something on my own. 

Happily this year, I have two such cookbooks that fit the bill nicely and both of them contain recipes from state fairs around the country.  Both books pretty much have the same table of content that mirrors state fair categories:  "Pies and Pastries;" "Family & Party Cakes;" "Yeast Breads;" "Quick Breads;" "Special Cookies;" "Candies and Snacks; "Sweet Spreads (your jams and jellies)," and "Pickles and Condiments."  And no, the sweet stuff does not really go with your pickled stuff but these are state fair rules and so by god, we are following them!

The Great State Fair Recipes cookbook (collection of Minnesota sweepstakes winners from 1906 to 1975) also features award-winning recipes from these historic years:  1906, 1927, 1939, 1949, and 1962.  A little history recap is provided for each historic year and this is how I was reminded that the "March King" a/k/a John Philip Sousa was the 1927 opening day attraction.  According to the recap, JPS was approached by the U of MN to compose a march for the university and that is how the Minnesota March came into being:  "March on, march on to victory!/ Loyal sons of the varsity/ Fight on, fight on for Minnesota/ And the glory of the old maroon and gold...."  I played this piece so many times while in my community band that I have my clarinet part memorized. This march is now part of the standard repertoire played by the University of Minnesota Marching Band at every pep rally, game, or performance, including the Minnesota State Fair. (Small disclosure:  although I do not root, root, root, for the U of MN teams, I do love marching bands and did love playing all the U of MN fight songs while in community band.)

Also notable and slightly off point:  JPS was also commissioned to write the Foshay Tower Memorial March in honor of the opening on the (then) tallest building in Minneapolis, the Foshay Tower.  There is a long story behind this piece and in the interest of time, I won't bring you down that road but it's a great march and one I even conducted once with my community band.

At any rate, this cookbook is pretty fun and all the recipes sounded great.  The one that "sold" me though, was Chocolate Drop Cookies.  Aside from being something even I could bake without fear, I love it when cookbooks contain hand-written notes such as this:  "Very, very good.  1986." I don't know who wrote this next to the chocolate cookie recipe but that is what sealed the deal for me.  A second note also said "Chocolate is very mild!"  I have no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing but there you have it.

As to the second recipe book – Blue Ribbon Winners – this book contains recipes from state fairs across the United States and I tell you what, selecting a recipe to make from this book was no easy feat. I looked over everything, paused for quite some time on the candy section (divinity—yum!) and even considered, albeit briefly, making some canned items even though I have not one piece of equipment to properly do so – (small detail).  In the end, I tagged about five recipes, one of which was Marjorie Johnson's "Jelly Roll" (a word on that in a minute) before deciding on the German Apple Cake.  I like apples, I have a little bit of German in me, and I was in the mood for another taste sensation besides chocolate...not that there's anything wrong with chocolate.  (There is NOTHING wrong with chocolate.  Ever.)

So German Apple Cake it was but first, a word on master baker, Marjorie Johnson, from Robbinsdale, MN.  And while once upon a time, nobody knew who Marjorie was, this woman has won so many ribbons at the Minnesota State Fair (over, 2500, of which 1,000 were blue ribbons) that she attracted the attention of national talk shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  Besides being a highly-decorated baking contest winner, Marjorie (whom I met and have talked to) is a delightful talk-show guest because she has a great personality that is packed into her very petite 4' 8" frame.  The only reason that Marjorie does not stand out in a crowd is because she disappears! 

Although Marjorie has "retired" from competitive baking (no doubt a sigh of relief was heard by her competition around the state), she is still up for making appearances at the Minnesota State Fair this year.

Now Marjorie's "Jelly Roll" recipe doesn't seem hard but jelly rolls can be tricky and it would be most unfair of me to "ding" Marjorie because of my failure to come up with something that even approximates a jelly roll, never mind a blue ribbon appearance.  And since I could about bet the farm(!) that my efforts would fail, I settled on the German Apple Cake and I was not disappointed.

Both of these recipes "halved" very easily which is a good thing as I would rather savor a small batch of cookies and cakes rather than freeze the leftovers or worse, toss them out after swearing a week later that I could not eat another bite.

And so bakers or aspiring bakers, if you're feeling in a State Fair kind of mood, check out these recipes and these cookbooks and have at it.  I managed to time the making of these on a cool and rainy Saturday and they were the perfect thing to motivate me to stay in the kitchen which, despite all my cooking, is still something of a rare occurrence.  When the weather's warm out, I'd rather be outside soaking up the sun while I can. 

And finally, and apropos to nothing discussed above, since I am a musician, I often have ear worms running through my head at all times and it's often music to fit the occasion.  In my last blog post about the Olympics, I mentioned a few tunes about Rio or Brazil that came to mind.  This time around, here are some State Fair favorites.

From the movie State Fair (1962, starring Pat Boone and Ann-Margret) there's the song of the same name – State Fair – written for the musical and movie by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.  And how can you not like these lyrics:  :  "Our State Fair is a great state fair is a great is a great is a great state fair hey!" (Love the "hey!"  It just pulls it all together.), not to mention "It's dollars to doughnuts that our state fair is the best state fair in our state."  I mean, I use the term "dollars to doughnuts" all the time but I'm old!  Older than this movie "old."  And as long as I'm at it:  of course "your" state fair is the best STATE fair in the "YOUR" ("OUR") state.  What else could it be?  But, and with all due respect to Rodgers and Hammerstein, this movie is really hokey and not one of their best and so there you go.

Not all the music from State Fair was that ridiculous though.   The movie also contained two other songs that I love and that I used to play on piano:  "It Might as Well be Spring," and "It's A Grand Night for Singing."  (Shall I just tell you though, that once I get past "It's. A. Graaaaannnnd. Night for signing..." I'm rather lost when it comes to the lyrics?  I can still envision the piano part but after the first line, I've got nothin'.)

From the musical/movie Camelot, written by Lerner and Lowe, we have the song "Then You May Take Me to the Fair."  This song, sung by Julie Andrews (on Broadway), is rather amusing and it still makes me laugh to hear it.  This is the lyric that sticks the most:  "Then you may take me to the fair, if you do all the things you promised/In fact, my heart would break should you not take me to the fair!" 

Finally, and a bit more contemporary, there's Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair," a tune my glee club sang while I was in high school.  I can still remember my part when singing the lyrics (which I hope you know!):  "Are you going to Scarborough Fair/Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme/Remember me to one who lives there/She once was a true love of mine."

Oh sniffle.  I love this song, love Simon and Garfunkel, love, love, love.

And now, bake to baking!  Your recipes await below:

Chocolate Drop Cookies – makes 36 cookies - Recipe submitted by Mrs. Merle Robertson of Minneapolis, MN

Ann's NOTE:  Mrs. Robertson says to frost these cookies with chocolate butter frosting while they are very warm,  but she did not provide a recipe.  And when I Googled one online, I found I did not have all the ingredients to make chocolate buttercream frosting, so we ate them without and they were fine.  Frosting though, would probably make them sensational.

½ cup shortening

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

1 egg

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup milk

1 2/3 cup flour

½ teaspoon soda

½ cup chopped nuts

In a small saucepan, melt shortening and chocolate.  Cool.  Beat egg; stir in sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Add chocolate mixture and mix well.  To this add alternately the milk and flour-soda mixture.  Stir well.  Add chopped nuts.  Drop from teaspoon to ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes.  While still slightly warm, frost cookies with chocolate butter frosting.

Ann's Note:  I was in a hardware store the other day, when I spotted this dinky little measuring cup, meant for ¼ cup or less.  I love gadgets like this so I bought it and I used it to "halve" the egg needed to make a half recipe of the cake.  It was perfect, just perfect, and now I want to go get a few more.  And by the way, if a recipe calls for half an egg, simply crack an egg into a measuring cup (yield is about ¼ cup), stir it to mix, and then use only half of that mixture.  The dinky little measuring cup helps a lot.

Also, if you Google "Chocolate Buttercream Frosting" (a/k/a Chocolate Butter Frosting), you'll find endless recipes for that frosting.  And if another type of frosting is more to your liking, then run with that.

German Apple Cake – makes one 9 x 13" cake - Recipe from Joyce Dubois from Wolsey, South Dakota, submitted to the South Dakota State Fair.  According to her bio, she started submitting recipes around 1968 and entered (at the time the book was published) about 100 items (not all of them cooking items) to the State Fair each year.

2 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

4 cups finely chopped apples

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F (175C).  Great a 13" x 9" baking pan.  In a large bowl, beat eggs, oil and vanilla; gradually eat in sugar until mixture is thick and creamy.  Sift flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a medium-size bowl.  Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, stirring until well blended.  Fold in apples and walnuts.  Spoon into greased pan.  Bake in preheated oven about 45 minutes or until cake has started to pull away from sides of pan and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.  Sever slightly warm or cool.

"The Secret Lives of Baked Goods - Sweet Stories & Recipes for America's Favorite Desserts" - Smith Island Cake (8 layers of decadence for my husband's birthday)

Date I made this recipe:  March 1, 2016 – my husband's birthday!          

The Secret Lives of Baked Goods – Sweet Stories & Recipes for America's Favorite Desserts by Jessie Oleson Moore

Published by:  Sasquatch Books, Seattle

ISBN:  978-1-57061-853-6

Recipe:  Smith Island Cake – p. 45-48

People my age often bemoan the fact that cursive – a/k/a handwriting – is a dying art.  These days, you can't walk two feet without seeing somebody punching out a message with their thumbs on the world's smallest keyboard ever, contained in a Smartphone.  Frankly, I don't know how they do it because I'm all thumbs myself (pun intended) and so when I send a message, I type it out with my finger.  Takes longer but there are fewer errors.

Yet even with fancy technology with my fingertips, I still take notes in cursive, in pen, on a pad of paper, rumors of their impending demise be damned!  And I still like to use a paper daily planner rather than electronic to note different events such lunch appointments, due dates for library books (it follows that I like actual books as well) and birthdays like the one my husband celebrated on March 1^st.

This year, I didn't just mark down my husband's birthday, I left myself a note about what to make for that day.  In cursive.  But kids, just because I wrote it myself, doesn't mean I had an easy time translating it, especially since I penciled it in way back in January when I got the calendar.

And so it took me a minute to figure out what this notation "Mke Smith Island Lake from the Secret Liver of Bakel Goods" meant and it was...drumroll...  "Make Smith Island Cake from The Secret Lives of Baked Goods."  Oh so close, right?

You should know that I got consistently "C's" in penmanship when I was in grade school.

And so it came to pass that Andy's birthday cake this year was a Smith Island Cake from this newly-purchased cookbook.  I'm not sure why I selected it although I'm guessing it was because of the photo of this 10-layer cake, all bathed in chocolate frosting.  Well that, and the challenge of making something so tall and so "fancy." 

Still, every single recipe in this book was pretty much mouth-watering, even the "Toaster-Style Pastries" on p. 158 or the "Animal Crackers" found on p. 141.  Both of these recipes prompted a fond walk down the memory lane of my childhood.  I remember well when Pop-Tarts®(a/k/a "Toaster-Style Pastries") came on the market.  When I was younger, we traveled a lot and to save money, had breakfast in our room.  Pop-Tars® could be eaten warm or cold and so we often snacked on them before hitting the road.

And although I have very fond memories of one of my grandmothers giving me money so I could buy "Animal Crackers" (or whatever other sweet treat I could afford with a dime or a quarter), my best memory is a photo of my dad when he was about three, circa 1927, clutching the string from a box of "Animal Crackers" while posing for a formal photo.  I think that is just the coolest thing and might have to make the crackers "just because."

If you are craving "Whoopie Pies," you'll find the recipe here.  If you want to attempt "Girl Scout Cookies," look no further than p. 143.  And if you are feeling really daring (I wasn't), then try your hand at a "Baked Alaska" on p. 89.

All in all, this is a very fun cookbook and I'm glad someone (not me) took the time to unearth these classic favorites and publish them.  There was just one teensy, teensy problem with the recipe I selected and that was that the author left out instructions on how and when to incorporate the milk listed as a frosting ingredient.  She also did not designate a measure for the cocoa used in the frosting; all it said was 2/3 but 2/3 what?  Teaspoon?  Cup?  Other?

[Insert gasps of horror here!]

Faithful readers of this blog know that I am never amused when instructions are missing and/or unclear.  And really, there's no excuse for a modern day cookbook (or any book, really) to leave out something so critical; this is what editors are for!  So for that one tiny error, I have to ding the author and yesterday, I emailed her regarding the omission and that is all I have to say about that.  Well, not all...keep reading.

So the Smith Island Cake is a thing of beauty what with its 10 layers and all.  Or, if you are me, 8 layers.  Do know that I put all the batter into a measuring cup and then divided it by 10 so I knew how much to measure out for each layer and yet, 8 layers was the best I got.  You should know though, that I got about the same grades in math that I got in penmanship so...

Also?  Some of the layers needed extra baking time and I don't know why because they all had about the same amount of batter but such is life—the "secret life" – of baked goods.  At any rate, plan on baking them for a couple more minutes and just know that you'll still come away with moist layers. 

Okay, so let's turn our attention to the Smith Island Cake Frosting Debacle of 2016.  The ingredients were:  1 cup butter; two 12-ounce cans evaporated milk; 2/3 (cup?  All it said was "2/3") and 8 cups confectioners' sugar.  Easy enough, right?

Sure.  So I started making the frosting, as directed, melting the butter and cocoa powder in a pan but then the recipe unraveled.  After whisking that mixture until smooth, I was to return it to the stove to cook for about 10 minutes.  Then I was to add the confectioners' sugar.  As to the milk, your guess was as good as mine.  I read and re-read and re-read the instructions some more and could not see where I was to add the milk.  And so I scanned the page and sent it to my birthday-boy husband asking him to find the milk instructions.  He could not.  They were not listed. He suggested looking on the internet to see if I could find a similar recipe for the frosting and I did and then ended up using that...but more on that in a bit.

Okay, so...punt, right?  So I decided to add the milk to the melted butter and cocoa powder mixture then cook that for 10 minutes and then add the confectioners' sugar because that just felt right to me.

And it might have been right had not the entire mixture boiled over when I glanced away for a second.  A second!  And I didn't even have the chance to cook it on medium-low as directed.

Excuse my language, but this was a total WTF moment for me.  I rarely have something go wrong but now I had the cake frosting go wrong in such a way that I spent a half hour just cleaning the junk off my stovetop.  You should know that when sugar contacts a gas burner, it basically turns the mixture to brittle and it was a bitch to clean!

At this point,  Andy came home from work and I wished him a happy birthday, got on my coat, got my car keys and told him I'd be back soon as I had to make another grocery run because I used up every ingredient I needed for that freaking frosting!

And so onward to Rainbow (grocery store) it was but this time around I Googled "Smith Island Cake Frosting," found two recipes, one from the source itself – Smith Island – (www.visitsmithisland.com) and purchased the ingredients listed there.  You should know that Smith Island Cake (and frosting) is the "official" dessert for the state of Maryland.  The things I learn....

At any rate, the ingredients of the "official" frosting recipe were a little easier to work with but I was still not satisfied with the appearance of this frosting.  It tasted great (as did the cake) but it was very grainy.

In the end, all that mattered was that Andy liked his birthday cake and he did and so that's all there is to that.  And okay, so I would have been bounced from a CIA (Culinary Institute of America) test kitchen because my god, the mess these recipes made was unbelievable but all we care about is the end result.  And given that Andy spent last year's birthday stuck overnight in Newark's airport with me due to a snowstorm, a little cake batter here and a little (read: lot) of boiled-over frosting there still made for a most-excellent birthday. 

Please note, I'll list both frosting recipes below and if I hear from the author, I will post a correction.

Smith Island Cake – makes one 9-inch 10-layer cake (16 servings)

As the author notes, this cake takes some time to bake and assemble so gird your loins, bakers!

Cake Batter

3 ¼ cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 ¾ cups sugar

5 large eggs

1 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup whole or 2% milk

6 ½ cups Chocolate Frosting

Chocolate Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

Two 12-ounce cans evaporated milk

2/3 [cup?] unsweetened cocoa powder

8 cups confectioners' sugar

*Ideally, you would use 10 separate 9" cake pans to make these recipes but if you don't have 10 (and really, who does?), then let the cake layers cool then remove them and clean the pans to reuse.

Position a rack in the center of the oven; preheat the oven to 350F.

Grease then line with parchment paper all the cake pans you have gathered. 

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, pausing after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Beat until smooth.  Add the flour mixture, 1 cup at a time, to the butter mixture.  Beat on low speed after each addition just until incorporated.  With each addition, scrape down the sides of the bowl.

With the mixer running, pour in the evaporated milk, then the vanilla and milk.  Mix just until incorporated.  Pour 1/10 of the batter into each of your prepared pans, using the back of the spoon to spread the batter evenly so that it covers the entire bottom of the pan.  If you run out of batter before you've made 10 layers of cake, do not despair; you can just make thicker layers of frosting between the cake layers.

Ann's Notes:  1) most recipes that use evaporated milk call for one cup and yet the can size is 12 ounces.  I hate that. 2) The easiest way to pour 1/10 of the batter into each pan is to pour all the batter into a large measuring cup and then divide that by 10.  Plus, it's easier to pour that way.  That said, and despite my best math skills, I only got 8 layers. 3) The author said not to despair if we got 8 layers and I did not "despair" that I only got 8 layers but still, when a recipe says 10, I planned for 10!

If you have room in your oven, bake several layers at a time for 6 to 8 minutes.  (Ann's Note:  more like 8-10 minutes.)  You're looking for a dull finish on top and just slightly golden edges – not golden brown or crispy.  Let the layers cool for a couple of minutes in the pan before removing them; then run a spatula around the edge of the pan and gently transfer the layers onto sheets of parchment paper.  If it tears slightly, don't panic: you can cover up a lot with the icing.

To assemble, set the first slightly cooled layer on your serving plate and spread it with a thin layer of frosting, covering the entire surface of the layer.  Add the next layer, frost, and repeat the process until the batter is gone (hopefully, you'll have 10 layers!).  Finish by frosting the sides and then the top of the cake; I find that starting on the top, and smoothing the frosting that has dripped down the sides, is the way to go with frosting this cake.

Let the finished cake chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving, so that the frosting can set.  Slice while still lightly chilled.  Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Smith Island Fudge Frosting, Part 1 (NOT the one I ended up making but it came with the cake recipe) – makes about 6 ½ cups frosting. 

Ann's Note:  as a reminder, here are the ingredients:  1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter; two 10-ounce cans evaporated milk; 2/3 [cup?] unsweetened cocoa powder; 8 cups confectioners' sugar.

Melt the butter over low heat in a large saucepan.  Remove from the heat, and add the cocoa powder and whisk slowly until smooth.

Return to the heat, this time on medium-low, and cook for approximately 10 minutes, but don't let the mixture come to a boil.  Stir continuously so that it doesn't scorch.  Once warm and just beginning to thicken, remove from the heat.

Whisk in the confectioners' sugar 1 cup at a time, until it's all incorporated.  Return the pan to low heat, stirring constantly until it has thickened to the point that it forms a ribbon when you drizzle a spoonful back onto the mixture.  The mixture may bubble, but don't let it boil.  You want to keep the frosting slightly warm to keep it from setting in the pan; it is OK to return to low heat or add a small quantity of water to the mixture to keep it spreadable.

Ann's VERY IMPORTANT Note:  For 10 points and the win, please tell me where you see instructions to add the two cans of evaporated milk.  I'll wait.  Can't?  Told you so.  I added it to the butter/cocoa mixture and then cooked that for 10 minutes and then added the confectioners sugar but given that it all boiled over, I had to start from scratch and when I did so, this is the recipe I used:

***Smith Island Cake Frosting from www.visitsmithisland.com – This is the one I used.

2 cups sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the sugar and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add the chocolate and butter; warm through, stirring, until both have melted.  Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract, stirring to combine.  The icing will be thin but will thicken as it cools. 

Ann's Note:  this icing was thin but because it was, it made it easier to spread around the sides of the cake.  Basically, just "scrape" excess frosting from the very top layer over the sides and frost!