Lorraine Eaton

Lorraine Eaton writes about food and spirits for The Virginian-Pilot. Look for her stories in www.hamptonroads.com/flavor

Also, find recipes posted by Lorraine.

Category: Food

■ 15 September 2008 | 7:25 AM

Recipes from Paula Deen Day in Norfolk

There’s a nerve-wracking moment in every Bundt cake’s life that requires prayer and no matter the outcome, ages the baker just a bit.

The aging of the baker takes place at the very moment that the baked cake is turned over on a serving plate and it is revealed whether it stuck to the pan or is a perfect success. The outcome is either A or B; there’s no middle ground, and that moment usually happens in the privacy of our own kitchens.

On Saturday, I had the experience of doing this in the cook-filled exhibition hall of The Ted at ODU, where Paula Deen held court twice.

In honor of Miz Deen, I had baked two cakes (using 2 pounds of butter). At The Pilot’s booth, I had already passed out maybe 150 samples of my amaretto pound cake, which I had turned onto a cake pedestal before coming to the show. It was time to see if cake No. 2 – which had been baked in an intricately creased pan – was a success.

Our booth was right at the front door, and I had no choice but to complete the operation before the endless flow of foodies who were filing past. I loosened the sides of the cake from the pan with a cake server, the only implement I had brought. I silently prayed.

Then, as a few people stopped to watch, one woman crossing her fingers, I inhaled deeply, prayed some more, and turned the cake over. No movement. Nothing. It was like the pan and the cake were one.

I shook the pan a bit and prayed some more and detected some progress. Then, thankfully, those tricky little cake gods smiled upon me and the cake slid out of the pan perfectly.

Within the hour, that cake – a pound cake with coconut, coconut milk, dates and apricots – was gone, too.

Both got rave reviews, and I promised everyone that I would post the recipes for these insanely easy-to-make, one-bowl cakes on my blog this morning. Both are from my 1987 splattered, tattered copy of “New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant,” its back cover was burned off ages ago. I’ve tweaked them just a bit, mostly to make them even easier to make.

Also I wanted to say “welcome” to those of you who are new to my blog. I post most weekdays and if you scroll down past today’s (loooonnnnnngggg) post, you can get an idea of what I’m about.

I would love to hear how these cakes turned out for you. Also, a couple of you wanted to share recipes for your own pound cakes. You can post those here as comments.

Here goes, and don’t forget the prayers at the end!

Amaretto Cake

1 pound butter softened, not melted

3 cups sugar

6 eggs, well beaten

2 teaspoons pure almond extract

4 cups white flour

¾ cups milk

1 cup amaretto

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Generously butter and flour at 10-inch Bundt pan.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and extract and mix well. Blend in 2 cups of flour. Combine milk and ¼ cup amaretto, and stir into the batter mixing well. Add the rest of the flour and the baking powder, mixing well. Fold in the almonds. Pour the finished batter into the pan.

The recipe says to bake for an hour, but I’ve never baked this cake for less than 90 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes, and then pour the remaining ¾ cup of amaretto over the warm cake. Let it soak in and then pray, and invert the cake onto a serving plate.

This is a huge family-reunion sized cake.

Oasis Cake

1 pound butter, softened but not melted

3 cups sugar

6 eggs

4 cups white flour

1 cup coconut milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ cup each of chopped dates, chopped apricots and shredded coconut.

The mixing and baking directions are the same as for the Amaretto Cake above, but when the cake is done, turn it upside down on a plate to cool and leave the Bundt pan on top of the cake for about 20 minutes, so the cake will hold its shape.

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This pound cake is amazing

Submitted by emio25994 on Thu, 09/18/2008 at 10:22 pm.

You have got to try this pound cake it is amazing recipe

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Fantastic Cake (Amaretto)

Submitted by patriciah51701 on Mon, 09/15/2008 at 9:34 pm.

Enjoyed meeting you at the Paula Deen show and I must say your cake was great, came home and baked it today it was so good and had great luck coming out of the pan. Can't wait to try the Oasis Cake, also. Also enjoy your colum especially when you have people judge the different foods, nachos,shrimp etc. I'll keep trying maybe one day I'll be lucky to be picked.

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