How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
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Usually during Thanksgiving, I let my mom slave over the hot stove while my father and I get pumped for some turkey bowl football. This year, instead of grabbing a coke and hitting the couch, I decided to grab an apron and help my mother in the kitchen. After spotting the raw, 11-pound turkey sitting on the counter and the dozens of potatoes needing to be peeled, I quickly came to the conclusion that I was going to make dessert. Instead of the usual pumpkin or sweet potato pie, I decided to mix things up with my mother's very own spice cake with cream cheese frosting.
Spice cake
— 4 eggs
— 1 cup vegetable oil
— 2 cups sugar
— 2 cups flour
— 2 teaspoons baking powder
— 1 teaspoon baking soda
— 1/2 teaspoon salt
— 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
— 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
— 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
— 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
— 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional for those with allergies)
Cream cheese frosting
— 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
— 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
— 1 tablespoon milk
— 1 teaspoon vanilla
— 4 cups sifted powdered sugar
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, oil and sugar. Make sure you blend it well or your cake will come out lumpy. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. For those that don't know how to sift, just grab a sieve or some other straining device and pour the mixture into it, letting the mixture slowly pour through the holes and into another bowl.
Now it's time to use a little muscle. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the egg mixture by pouring it in with one hand and stirring with the other. Once again, make sure you blend well or your cake will have lumps and chunks. Once there are no more bubbles or floating chunks in the mixture, pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Make sure your pan isn't coated; you only need to spray a little Pam at the bottom and lightly sprinkle the flour. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake turns a dark golden color.
Once the timer goes off or the cake looks done, lightly test it with your finger. If the cake springs back when you touch it, it's time to take it out. Before it's time to start frosting, let the cake cool on a wire rack.
Even though cream cheese is traditionally used for bagels, once it's mixed with a little sugar it's great for cakes. In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter with a mixer until the cream is light and fluffy. Next, beat in the milk and vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until the cream is of spreading consistency. Once your cake is cool to the touch, the frosting can be spread on evenly, making sure to cover all bare sides of the cake.
And after you ice the cake, you get to lick the spatula. This spice cake and cream cheese frosting duo is great for after that big turkey dinner or for breakfast the next morning with a cup of coffee. Baking may be all chemistry, but even an English major pulled this off.
