I have told you about my Aunt Pat before here. Last night, I dreamed about her and my Uncle Dub (mom’s brother). We were in a car, at night driving down the road singing – Pat and Dub loved to sing in the car and a favorite song was “Side by Side”.
This is Uncle Dub when he was in the Navy.
My beloved Aunt Pat in 1993 at my Nana’s 90th Birthday – I cannot find a picture of the two of them without others in the pix!
“We ain’t got a barrel of money, maybe we’re ragged and funny, but we’re travelin’ along, singin’ our song —– Side by Side…” In case you’ve never heard it before here is the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis’ version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50xGa0rQ3s4
Then, Aunt Pat turned to me and said that she knew that I like more than just Nana’s Chess Pie for my birthday; I loved HER cake and icing, had I forgotten? Well, honestly, it has been so many years since I’ve had it, I HAD forgotten. She also reminded me that she had given me the recipe years ago so I should find it and make it. I’m not one who dreams about family who has passed on much, really just one other time years ago I dreamed my dad told me to check the plumbing. I blew it off and then 2 weeks later it sprang a leak in mom’s backyard and there I was, digging it up with a shovel for hours on end.
First thing this morning, I got out of bed with purpose. Mr. Picky Eater asked what I was doing digging around in my closet – when I told him I was looking for Aunt Pat’s cake, he rolled his eyes and asked what kind it was going to be………..those of you who have read my blog for a while know he pretty much likes two kinds of cake: chocolate with white and white with chocolate so I smiled really big and said, “One of your favorites, hun, chocolate cake with white icing”. He perked up after that.
I’m not really sure why I jumped up and had this cake made, photographed, and eaten…..once piece…….by 2:00PM but maybe it’s because I didn’t want to spend next week digging up the backyard! This is a great dish and I hope you will take the time to make it – the cake is tender and moist while the icing is fluffy and billowy. You won’t be sorry!
Cake Ingredients:
2 Cups All Purpose Flour, sifted with all dry ingredients except sugar
¾ Cup unsweetened Coco Powder
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
2 Cups granulated Sugar
1 Cup Warm Black Coffee
1 Cup Olive Oil
1 Cup Buttermilk
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Directions:
Sift all the dry ingredients except sugar.
Whisk in sugar.
Mixing by hand, add in all the wet ingredients until just combined.
Pour into two 9 inch round cake pans that have been greased and floured. I also recommend parchment paper in the bottom of the pans.
Bake in a 325F pre-heated oven for 40 – 50 minutes, checking with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.
Pull them out when done and allow cooling until warm – pop out of the pans and allowing cooling completely. Meanwhile, make the icing…….
Ingredients for 7 Minute Icing:
1 ½ Cups white Sugar
1/3 Cup water
¼ teaspoon Cream of Tartar (you can sub in 1 Tablespoon white syrup if you have to)
2 egg whites
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract – It will be SO much whiter if you use clear vanilla. Makes a huge difference, but it is not necessary.
Directions for Icing:
You will need a double boiler or a heatproof bowl that fits on top of a sauce pan.
Put all ingredients except vanilla into top pan of double boiler or heatproof bowl.
Using a hand mixer set on medium setting, mix for 1 minute.
Move pan/bowl onto bottom pan of boiling water (DO NOT allow hot water to touch bottom of top pan/bowl because it will make the icing grainy).
Turn the hand mixer onto high and mix for 7 minutes – again, never let the boiling water touch the bottom of the pan/bowl. You may need to turn down the heat to keep it from doing that.
At the end of the 7 minutes, take the top pan/bowl off the bottom pan and then ice the cake.
I set mine in the cake holder then into the garage where it is colder than if I had put it in the freezer – and the prospects of it warming up anytime soon is slim to none.
As I write this, it is 4:20 PM and half the cake is gone – Mr. Picky Eater REALLY likes it – so I hope there’s some left when Top Girl gets home because she loves it too! I’m sure Rocket will be saying, “Cake!” “Cake!” all evening long too.
This cake takes a little time but you will not be disappointed if you put out the effort, I promise!