Let Us Eat Cake

Some of my cherished childhood memories are based in the kitchen, helping my mother mix up myriad flavors of cakes for any number of occasions. Of course, my main role was to lick the beaters and the mixing bowl, so I wasn’t really helping. They’re marvelous memories, nonetheless.

Cakes are the favored dessert of many people, and they are the chosen sweet for celebrations of all kinds. In our house, birthdays signaled the time to make a special request for cake (mine was always chocolate, and my dad changed the rules to ask for lemon pie). Mom always obliged, and our birthdays were sweeter – both from the dessert and the love that went into the baking.

Some of the cakes we’ve included in this issue are a little unusual. They all sound delicious, though, and I’m taking home a few for my recipe collection. Be sure to check out the question included in the Mincemeat Bundt Cake section – we’d like to hear your opinion on this recipe and others, as well as your experiences in and memories of the kitchen. Write Recipe Box, c/o Grit, 1503 S.W. 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609, or email us at RecipeBox@Grit.com.

Bundt and mincemeat

Kathy Moore, of Paris, Texas, requests a recipe for a mincemeat Bundt cake – a recipe she had 30 years ago that called for a portion of mincemeat placed in the Bundt pan along with sugar, butter and pecans. The remaining mincemeat was mixed with the batter.

While none of these recipes specifically indicated that mincemeat was placed in the cake pan before the batter was poured in, it seems to make sense that the mincemeat could be divided, with a small portion placed in the pan and the remainder mixed with the batter. Several recipes used the mincemeat solely in the bottom of the pan, for an upside down cake, but none of these were in Bundt pans. What do you think, readers?

Donna Berberick, of Edwardsville, Kansas, sends this version, found at CanadianLiving.com.

Mincemeat Bundt Cake

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups mincemeat
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
Topping:
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
2 tablespoons orange juice