Cookbook Project, Books #4 and 5

[ladysprite]

So far, I've been pulling books off the shelf at random, and forcing myself to pick a recipe from there. This is a good way to get me to use books I otherwise wouldn't - the threat of No Dinner unless I choose something is a strong one, and it gets me to make foods I normally wouldn't choose, so far with remarkably good results. Both of these books, however, were chosen due to the combination of my husband's desire to eat snickerdoodles and my desire to not bake cookies for at least a little while, after my recent holiday baking binge. This led me to comb through my baking books in a desperate search for some kind of cinnamon cake recipe, with almost no success....

Cookbook #4 - "Desserts," by Miriam Canter

This is a tiny (index-card sized) spiral-bound book of recipes that I think I found in a hotel gift shop when I was about 14. (Yes, I've been collecting cookbooks that long.) I have no idea whether I've used it before - I've just had it long enough that it's just become a fixture in various kitchens and pantries, usually stuck on the edge of a shelf because it's too small to shelve regularly with the other books.

It was also the first one I found, after checking half a dozen other books, that had something close to what I was looking for. The recipe, for Spice Marble Cake, bore a much stronger resemblance to quick bread than to anything I'd call cake, but it was still yummy, and it makes an even better breakfast the next day, toasted with a little bit of butter.

Cookbook #5 - "The Cake Mix Doctor," by Anne Byrn

Before y'all decide to shout at me that Real Cakes Don't Come From Mixes, or Real Cooks Never Use Cake Mix, or that I am just an evil, bad poser, let me explain.

This book was a birthday present from my mom, since she caught me eying her copy while I was down to visit over the holidays a couple of years ago. And you know what? Some of the recipes aren't half bad. They start with cake mixes as one of a half-dozen or so ingredients, and they come up with some flavor combinations that I haven't seen in other cookbooks.

Also... I was born and raised white trash. I'm a good cook - I can make bread, and bagels, and risotto, and gingerbread houses and polenta all from scratch. But I also have no problem using recipes that include Velveeta, and Cool Whip, and cake mix. These are the foods of my people.

And you know what? Her snickerdoodle cake recipe, which starts with white cake mix and ends up nowhere near there, with homemade cinnamon buttercream icing, is awesome.

So. Cinnamon craving resolved, all parties happy. Next week, on to goodness-knows-what. I think maybe something casserole-y; it's that kind of weather....

Comments

[gyzki.livejournal.com]

Spice Marble Cake is teh yum. Cake mix as an ingredient is an interesting idea.

Go you.

[suzilem.livejournal.com]

The "Chocolate Cake Doctor" book is good too. I cook and bake from scratch (note recipe tag on my LJ) but using shortcuts is a great idea and sometimes makes the difference between having something yummy on the table or having nothing there.

[felis-sidus.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. "Real cooks" are people who cook, regardless of what ingredients they use. Where is it written that more work makes a cake taste better? Besides, shunning any particular ingredient strikes me as self-limiting. And that snickerdoodle cake sounds yummy!

[kittyblue.livejournal.com]

My mom can make flourless chocolate cake with white ganache and raspberry sauce from scratch, and she still reaches for the Cake Mix Doctor book when she feels like baking. ^_^ It's a good book.

I HIGHLY recommend the fresh orange cake. It's the household favorite here.

[dreda.livejournal.com]

Somewhere I have a recipe for doctoring yellow cake mix with sherry and white wine - very tasty. (I should find it - thank you for the reminder!)

[go-lemmings.livejournal.com]

For the English contingent... wtf are snickerdoodles?

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

They're a kind of cookie - like a sugar cookie dough, with cream of tartar to change the texture a little, so they're just a little crispy on the outside, but still soft on the inside; then they're rolled in cinnamon sugar before they're cooked. Utterly delicious.

Somehow, the name has been generalized to refer to almost any baked good that's primarily cinnamon-flavored.

[go-lemmings.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I love your blog. There's barely a post which hasn't made me laugh, smile or taught me something!

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Anybody who gives you grief about cake mixes, send them over here for a good thwacking. Cake mixes fall into the same category as gift bags; they allow even the clumsy and craft-challenged to produce a creditable result. Griping about that is like asking a fanfic writer why they aren't writing REAL books.

[mermaidlady]

You know I'm a serious cook and baker, right? Okay. That's out of the way,

One of my standard party desserts many moons ago was Southern Comfort Cake. The core ingredients were a package of yellow cake mix and a package of vanilla pudding mix. I recently thought about reconstructing it to be from scratch because I'm a snob that way. I realized it's just not going to be that much better to be worth the extra work. What everyone tastes is the SoCo anyway.