Cakes

 I made this bread slash cake slash cake slash bread right before I left on vacation. So I had to like, eat a lot of it so it wouldn’t go to waste. And about halfway through, I just started scraping at the bottom with a fork, devouring all of the caramely and sugar-crusted bananas.

This was a wise, wise choice my friends. For once, I did something right.

 2 cups flour 
½ t salt
4 t baking powder
4T sugar
1 egg
6T milk
4T butter

Sift together dry ingredients. Rub in butter till fine crumbs. Beat egg and add to milk. Add to flour/butter mixture to form a ball. Roll out dough to fit a jelly roll pan. Press dough up to make an edge. Arrange fruit on top (sliced apples/frozen  or fresh blueberries, Saskatoon’s, blackberries, rhubarb,  or plums pitted and cut in half).

Mix together & top with :
1cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
½ butter
I usually halved this as it was too much. Make coarse crumbs and sprinkle over fruit
Bake 375F until fruit is done @20 to 30 minutes

1-1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups pureed, cooked beets or a pint of canned beets put through a blender or shredded
2 - 1 ounce squares unsweetened chocolate melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-3/4 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Beat sugar, oil and eggs at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Mix in beets, melted chocolate and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add dry mixture to chocolate mixture, beating until smooth. Turn into greased and floured 13x9x2 pan for 35 to 40 minutes until cake tests as done.
 

½ cup margarine
½ cup vegetable oil
1-3/4 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup buttermilk or sour milk
4 tablespoons cocoa
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups flour
2 cups shredded zucchini

Topping:
½ cup chocolate chips
½ cup ground walnuts (or pecans)

Cream together margarine, oil and sugar. Beat in 2 eggs. Combine rest of ingredients. Put in 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle topping on top. Bake at 325 degrees F for 40-50 minutes.

The first time Curtis ate this, it was almost Chocolate NO-ZUCCHINI CAKE. Auntie S had poured the batter into the pan only to realize that she had forgotten the zucchini. Not to be undone, she simply plopped the zucchini into the pan and mixed. Tasted just fine…or so they said!

So, like… I don’t even know. The cake is fantastic. It is super fluffy and soft, and since you poke holes in it like that old school 90s better-than-sex-cake and it is drenched with a gin glaze, it does get super moist. (And yes, that’s my second use of “moist” in this post because have you checked out a thesaurus? I am not describing this cake as clammy, damp, drippy or soggy.) Let’s just say: it totally depends on your gin tolerance. You MUST have somewhat of a palate for it.

I highly suggest taking the gin glazes and beginning with a base of 1-2 tablespoons of gin, then tasting from there. We adored the strong gin flavor mixed with the thick lime cake, but it may be a little too much for some people.

If you can’t handle gin whatsoever… if you tossed your cookies one too many times in college or had your own turkey baster incident, I would not make this cake. I mean, you could totally try, but I do not want to witness the aftermath of your first bite. Stick with something lime-ish and only lime-ish. I’ll have your share of gin.