Thursday, December 18, 2008

Dates and Spice Cake - Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas 2008.

Ingredients:
  • Eggs 3
  • Butter 2/3 cup
  • Chopped pitted dates  2 cup
  • All-purpose flour 21/2 cup
  • Baking powder 1 1/2 Tsp
  • Baking soda 3/4 Tsp
  • Molasses 1/4 cup
  • Ground cinnamon, nutmeg,  and cloves 1/2 Tsp each
  • Granulated sugar 1/2 cup
  • Brown sugar 1/2 cup
  • Vanilla 1 Tsp
  • Half-and-half or light cream 1 1/4 cup
  • Butter cream icing 3 to 5 cup
  • Salt

For The Cake

Let eggs and butter stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. In a small bowl, combine dates and boiling water and keep it covered. Let it stand for 15 minutes; drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Keep it aside.

In a bowl, beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat  sugar and vanilla well until it combines. Add eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after each. In a bowl stir together half-and-half and molasses. Alternately add flour mixture and molasses mixture to egg mixture; beat on low after adding each until it combines. Stir it in dates. Spread the batter in a prepared pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely. 


Butter Cream Icing

The following amounts of ingredients is considered as a full recipe.

  • Confectioner's sugar 1 lb (approximately 4 cups) 
  • Solid white vegetable shortening 1 cup
  • Meringue Pdr 1 Tbsp
  • Vanilla essence 1 Tsp
  • Milk or Water 2 Tbsp
  • Salt (a pinch)

Meringue powder is a mixture of dried, powdered egg white, cornstarch and gums. It is used to stabilize butter cream icing. 

Vegetable Shortening is a flavourless semi-solid fat made from hydrogenated vegetable oil, used in food preparation, especially in baked goods.

Directions:

Cream shortening, essence and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend an additional minute or until creamy. There are three types of icing consistencies depending on the need:

  • Stiff consistency is used for decorations such as flower with upright petals like roses and sweet peas.
  • Medium consistency creates stems, figure piping, borders and flowers with petals that lie flat. Add 1 Tsp water to each cup of stiff consistency icing. (One additional Tbsp of water when using the full recipe). Mix until well blended.
  • Thin consistency is for writing, making stems, leaves, vines and icing a cake. Add 2 Tsp of water for each cup of stiff consistency icing (2 Tbsp of additional liquid for the full recipe). Mix until well blended.
[Courtesy:
Cake Recipe: Better Homes and Garden
Butter Cream Icing: Wilton Cake Decoration]

View blog reactions

16 comments:

  1. Wow that cake looks so eautiful. It is a wonderful centerpiece for a party.
    Have a wonderful christmas and a Happy Newyear.

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  2. That is so absolutley beautiful.. and some prefessional icing!! happy holidays to u too.

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  3. Teena,thats a perfect christmas attraction..come on,pass my plate on..btw,the icing is too authentic to resist..Its a beauty..
    Happy X mas to you and family dear Teena..

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  4. Adipoli Tina..n there s an award for you..Pls get it from my latest post..

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  5. The cake looks so beautiful,loved the way it has been decorated...awesome :-)

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  6. hey tina..the cake looks gorgeous!!tho i cook a wide variety of foods...I still haven't quite got the knack of decorating it!!
    I am reshma, from
    notesfromamallukitchen .blogspot.com,
    just wanted to say hello...I live in Muvattupuzha, a small town near Cochin..Where do u hail from?keep in touch..it's fun finding good friends on the net..also, wud you like me to place your blog link on my site?and wud u consider adding my blog to your site too??

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  7. Lovely to see a blogger with roots in Kerala :)..Tina you simply rock at this young age!..wonderful WONDERFUL posts all over!..
    Keep up your great work!

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  8. Oh boy! That is a beautiful cake... Wish you a very Merry Christmas.

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  9. looks delicious!
    first time to ur blog and it is very nice!
    do visit my blog when u find time!
    join in the savories event going in my blog!

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  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. THAT'S LIKE THE PRETTIEST CAKE i'VE SEEN IN A LONG TIME :-)

    Sorry, didn't realize caps lock was on. Happy New Year!

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  12. Nags, thanks..

    AnuSriram, nice to know u liked it...

    Happy cook, never thought it could make a centerpiece, thanks... Wishing you the same too..

    Soma,

    Ann, if I could pass a plate, I wud hav surely done so... Thanks and wishing you the same...

    Varsha Vipins, thanks for the award...

    Kitchen Flavours, thanks...

    Usha, thanks that was a quick one for xmas...

    Reshma, frankly I had to go to the Wilton Cake decoration classes to learn it.. those r really good... good to know abt u, I hav added ur blo to my list...

    Bharathy, yes I love kerala home food, those will always remain my favourites... thanks for the compliments...

    anudivya, thanks, wishing you the same...

    SriLekha, will surely join one of the future events...

    Raaga, that was a wonderful compliment, thanks...

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  13. Looks delicious . Yummy !!!!!
    Keep up your great work.

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