from Tracey G.

Vanilla Cake Pan Cake from King Arthur Flour

I’d had my eye on this cake for awhile, in fact I’d printed it off to make for fun right before the flu struck. It never got made, so I was happy to see cake recipes come up in the recipe rotation! Finally! I’d get to make this cake!!

There is a chocolate version of this cake that I’ve made before and can be found in our post Food Friday – Cake Anyone? , and it’s called King Arthur Flour’s Original Cake Pan Cake. It’s super easy and yummy as well!

But, anyway, back to the Vanilla Cake Pan Cake! This cake was a HUGE hit with my boys and myself! The hint of almond extract really gives it a great flavor. Harry has asked for seconds each time we had it, as did Jeremy – and I’m here to say it didn’t last long around here! It was gone in 2 days! I was sweating it after I took the photos, hoping at least one turned out, because the cake was already history!

I did do a double-take when I read through the recipe the first time – the cake doesn’t use eggs, milk or butter! (And you can make it gluten free too!) My kind of cake when I’m interested in my cholesterol numbers! The frosting (optional) does use butter, but they state you can use a vegan version too.

The cake ingredients are:

*Flour

*Salt

*Baking Powder

*Baking Soda

*Water

*Vegetable Oil

*Granulated Sugar

*Cider or White Vinegar

*Vanilla Extract

*Almond Extract

That’s it! It’s mixed a little differently, combine all dry I ingredients, except for the sugar, in a medium bowl. In another small bowl (I used my 2 cup liquid measure) combine the water, oil, vinegar, granulated sugar and the extracts. Then, add that mixture to the dry ingredients, and pour into a greased 8″ square pan or 9″ round pan. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting or skip the frosting and serve warm out of the oven!

The frosting is super simple and yummy as well. My guys don’t like a lot of frosting (which really kind of takes some of the fun out of my cake decorating hobby!), and this makes the perfect amount for the cake!

The frosting ingredients are:

*Butter

*Powdered Sugar

*Salt (if using salted butter omit the salt)

*Vanilla

*Water

I combined the powdered sugar, salt and butter in my stand mixer, and beat until combined. Add the vanilla and enough water to make spreadable – that’s it! Frost the cake right in the pan – that’s one of the best aspects of this cake, it’s frosted and served right out of the pan!

This cake is SO easy! It’s one of those recipes that’s fabulous to have on hand for when you need a yummy cake fix now! And if you’re out of eggs, or milk or butter (or all 3!) it doesn’t matter – you can still make and enjoy this cake!

 

from Kris B.

Brown Sugar Sour Cream Pound Cake

After a crazy month or so, we are almost back on track…and it feels good.  I must say, however, that I almost postponed writing my part of writing this post to go bake Tracey’s Pan Cake.  It looks so cheerful and delicious!  But, I am being a good adult.  I’ll get my work here done first.  Then eat Brown Sugar Sour Cream Pound Cake.  And then maybe make and eat Vanilla Pan Cake. 🙂

Pound cake is probably my favorite kind of cake to both make and to eat.  I like the making of it because it is not a fussy cake in terms of ingredients or the making process.  It is a mix it up and pour it in a pan kind of cake.  If you want it to look fancy, you can make it in a fancy pan.  No expert cake decorating skills needed.  Pound cakes also are versatile when it comes to serving them.  Serve a pound cake with fruit, with ice cream or flavored whipped cream, glazed, sprinkled with powdered sugar, or plain.  None of these possibilities is a bad choice.

The one twist to this recipe is its use of brown sugar.  The recipe calls for light brown sugar.  I had only dark and that is what I used.  This gives the cake a slightly richer flavor…and a slightly darker color.

Ingredients:

• butter
• light brown sugar
• granulated sugar
• eggs
• baking powder
• salt
• baking soda
• All-Purpose Flour
• sour cream
• vanilla extract

To give you an idea of how easy and low stress this recipe is, I made it at 10:00 at night after a full day of work, book group, and having had only five hours of sleep the night before.  I can honestly say that I actually enjoyed the process.  This may be because it seems like forever since I have baked something.  It may also be because I was looking forward to eating a piece of cake.

The butter and sugars are creamed together for two minutes in a stand mixer.  The eggs are then added one at a time, followed by the baking powder, salt, baking soda, and half of the flour.  The sour cream is then stirred in and the rest of the flour is added.  A one-bowl recipe, another plus!

The batter is poured into a prepared 9 or 10 cup bundt pan and baked for 55-60 minutes.  My pan may have been a little too big because my pound cake was done in 55 minutes, which is unusual for my oven.  I always have to bake things for at least the maximum time suggested and often longer.  I’m afraid that if I had left this cake in the oven any longer, it would have been on the dry side.  As it is, it’s perfect!  The Brown Sugar Sour Cream Pound Cake has a great texture; it is full but not too heavy.  I would suggest checking your cake at the 55 minute mark, or perhaps sooner if you have a “hot” oven.

It definitely feels good to be cooking and baking again!  I had a small slice of cake after I finished the photos.  Yum!  I’m looking forward to a bigger piece with some berries for dessert tonight!

Happy baking!!!