7-Up Cake

If you want to win Tim's heart via his stomach, then whip up one of his favorite childhood treats ...

7-UP Cake

1 ½ cups butter
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons lemon extract
¾ cup 7-UP

1. Cream sugar and butter together and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Stir in flour. Beat in lemon extract and 7-UP.

2. Pour batter into well greased and floured jumbo fluted mold. Bake at 325° for 1 - 1 ¼ hours.

Source: Mom State

Pound Cake

This is one of my favorite treats. I love it for breakfast, dipping in chocolate fondue or covered in fresh fruit and whipped cream.

Pound Cake

½ pound butter
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
pinch salt
1 2/3 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 cups sifted cake flour

1. Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Soften the butter and add the nutmeg and salt. Beat 4 minutes by electric beater or 8 minutes by hand.

2. Gradually blend in the sugar until fluffy, beating 2 minutes by electric beater or 8 minutes by hand.

3. Beat in 4 of the eggs, 1 at a time. Total beating time should be 1 minute by electric beater or 2 minutes by hand.

4. Stir in all the flour at one time and beat 2 minutes by electric beater or 5 minutes by hand.

5. Blend in remaining egg, 15 seconds by electric beater or 33 strokes by hand. Turn the mixture into a well-greased, lightly floured 9 x 3½-inch tube cake pan.

6. Place in a cold oven and set the control to 300°F. If the cake is mixed by electric beater, bake 2 hours; if mixed by hand, bake 1½ hours. (Because the electric beater entraps a little more air into the batter, it produces a cake that is a little thicker and lighter.)

7. Cool the cake in the pan 10 minutes. Turn out on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Source: The New York Times Cookbook

Carrot Cake with Maple-Cream Cheese Icing

The fridge is overflowing with fresh carrots from the weekly Angelic Organics CSA veggie boxes. My last attempt at carrot cake, Martha let me down. I told her I had to work late Thursday night and hung out with Epicurious.com.

Epicurious provided me with a boost of confidence and a no-frills carrot cake recipe. I went to work measuring and grating.

After adding the final swirls of Maple-Cream Cheese Icing, I cut a couple of slices and let my tasters at it. They were raving. One, after taking his first bite, proclaimed, "This is damn good!".

I'm off to exercise - I ate more than my share.

Old-Fashioned Carrot Cake with Maple-Cream Cheese Icing

2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups finely grated peeled carrots
1 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped

Maple-Cream Cheese Icing

24 ounces cream cheese, softened
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (1 Ã?‚Ã?½ sticks)
24 teaspoons maple syrup or honey

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350Ã?‚Ã?°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, oil and eggs in large bowl until well blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt; beat until blended. Stir in carrots and walnuts. Divide batter between pans.

2. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 32 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on rack 15 minutes. Run small knife between pan sides and cakes to loosen. Turn cakes out onto racks; cool completely.

3. Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread 1 cup icing over. Top with second cake layer, flat side down. Spread remaining icing over top and sides of cake. Refrigerate cake 1 hour or up to 1 day. Serve at room temperature.

4. Maple-Cream Cheese Icing: In a bowl beat together frosting ingredients until smooth and chill.

Servings: 10