DEL.ICIO.USIn the South, cakes take center stage
With practice and precision, even inexperienced cooks can turn out an elegant dessert
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Even with the current cupcake craze, classic old-fashioned, made-from-scratch cake, like poundcake, is still the dessert centerpiece of Southern gatherings.
“It’s almost expected,” says Sonya Jones, chef and owner of Sweet Auburn Bread Co. in Atlanta. “If you have a tea, or Sunday dinner — especially as it gets closer to Easter — or when there are special occasions, like bridal showers, you want one of these cakes. These aren’t everyday cakes.”
LOUIE FAVORITE/lfavorite@ajc.com
To complement the lemon-lime flavor of the soft drink used in 7Up Poundcake, the cake also gets a lime glaze.
LOUIE FAVORITE/lfavorite@ajc.com
Vanilla wafers are often used to make a crust. In Vanilla Wafer Cake, they go in the batter with the other ingredients, such as coconut and nuts.
LOUIE FAVORITE/lfavorite@ajc.com
Orange slice cake incorporates the fruity candies.
• Southern Recipe Restoration Project
Recipes:
• Never-Fail Poundcake
• Orange Slice Cake
• 7Up Poundcake
• Vanilla Wafer Cake
In our continuing series Southern Recipe Restoration, Edith Flowers Kilgo’s mother found it a challenge to make poundcake. “It was just something that eluded my mother,” Kilgo says.
She’s not alone. Many people shy away from baking cakes because of the precision necessary to balance flour, butter and eggs — let alone remove the cake from a tube pan unscathed.
“All cakes take time and patience,” says Jones, who advises those home cooks who have trouble with poundcakes to simply keep making them. “They are very delicate. They take practice.”
The secret to making a good cake, Jones says, is to develop a sixth or seventh sense, so that you know when the batter “has the right feel.” She explains that one must learn when eggs have reached the right volume so that batter is not overmixed.
“Making cake isn’t a free-for-all. You have to follow the steps with precision. And you have to follow the order of the ingredients.”
Jones helped us with the recipes for several old-fashioned cakes. We chose them, not only for the contributor’s story, but also for their unusual ingredients, such as orange candies and vanilla wafers. We also liked the versatility of these cakes, which allow room to improvise with glazes, nuts and other ingredients for heightened flavor and texture.
— Jamila Robinson