Spattered Chocolate & Lemon Cake

Posted by ExtremeBaking on 5 August 2008 under Cakes | No Comments

This unusual cake is a big hit with both adults and children; especially the frosting. The original version of this recipe is from The Birthday Cake Book, by Sylvia Thompson. It is a tartly filled, marbled buttermilk cake, frosted with creamy lemon, splashed with chocolate.

    For the cake:

  • 1 firm lump of unsalted butter
  • 2 & 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 & 1/4 sticks mushy, softened, unsalted butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 extra-large egg whites, warmed in shells before separating
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
  • 6 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate (2 for the cake; 4 for the decoration)
  • pinch of cinnamon
  • optional: 2 bright Meyer lemons (for decoration)
    For the frosting:

  • 1 stick mushy, softened, unsalted butter
  • 6 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup chilled heavy cream
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Run the lump of butter over the bottoms of two 9 x 1&1/2 inch round cake pans. Smooth a round of waxed paper into each. Then butter the papers.
  3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy.
  5. Continue while sprinkling in the sugar, a tablespoon at a time. Beat until very light.
  6. Add the egg whites one at a time; beat until blended after each one.
  7. Then beat until the mixture is very light and creamy.
  8. Sprinkle the flour over the bowl in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk in two parts, while beating at the lowest manageable speed, and only beating until each addition disappears.
  9. Fold the batter with a large flexible rubber spatula to finish blending thoroughly.
  10. Turn half the batter into another bowl. Fold the lemon extract into one batter; fold 2 ounces of melted chocolate, plus the cinnamon, into the other batter.
  11. Now divide each of the two batters in half; one half for each pan.
  12. In each pan, smooth just enough lemon batter over the bottom to cover it. Drop half the chocolate batter in random spoonfuls around the the pan. Then smooth it over the lemon with the back of the spoon. Repeat with the rest of the lemon; then with the rest of the chocolate.
  13. To create the marbling effect we want, push the batter slightly up against the sides of the pan. Then send the tip of a knife straight down in the center of the batter, just short of the botom. Genty lift and turn the knife over, folding the batters together. Repeat every two inches around the pan.
  14. Bake both pans in the middle of the oven, stagering them on the rack. Bake until a toothpick emerges clean from the center of the cakes; 25 to 30 minutes.
  15. Cool in the pans, on racks, for 15 minutes; then turn out onto the racks, top side up, to cool completely.
  16. For the frosting, cream the butter in a mixer at medium speed.
  17. Gradually blend in the sugar, lemon juice, and cream.
  18. Beat on high speed until fluffy and light; be careful not to overdo it; don’t let it thin out.
  19. Assemble the cake up to six hours before serving: Set the first layer, bottom side up, on a platter. Smooth 2/3 of a cup of the frosting over it.
  20. Set the second layer on, top side up. Frost the top and sides of the cake.
  21. Wait for the frosting to set.
  22. While someone holds and tilts the platter for you, dip a fork into the remaining 4 ounces of melted chocolate, and splash and snap and swizzle it, first over the sides, then the top.
  23. Keep cool until served. Optionally, just before serving make a border of overlapped lemon slices around the platter, round sides out. Or make fancier “flowers” of the lemons if you prefer: Make grooves in the lemons from stem end to blossom end with a canelle knife; then slice the lemons very thin and make a border of these “flowers” around the cake.


This clever, Italianate cake is incredibly light on the day of baking, but the baked layers can be wrapped airtight and kept in a cool place for one day. The frosting can be made one or two days in advance and stored in a refrigerator if tightly covered. If necessary, beat it again to restore creaminess before spreading.

Enjoy!

Maple Walnut Gingersnaps a la Atkins

Posted by berniewagner on 5 August 2008 under Cookies & Bars | No Comments

Years ago, a teacher who was also a nurse pointed out that every “body” is different. I’m reminded of that teacher now that my husband follows a supervised Heart ‘N Wellness Program, while I comply with the directives of Dr. Robert Atkins to stay within given limits for my diabetes. Except for various and ample soy products and many fresh-grown foods, we might be the 21st Century equivalent of the old children’s verse about Jack Spratt and his missus.

This delicious cookie recipe is adapted from The New England Yankee Cookbook, first published in 1939. I use the Atkins Bake Mix for simplicity, though it could represent the same thing to use soy flour and add leavening. I add Atkins Maple Pancake Syrup to the sucralose. Extra light olive oil is used for easy measuring and in cleanup. The original calls for butter. Cinnamon and cardamom are a current addition. Next time, I plan to add more flour and let it be gingerbread men.

  • 2 c. Splenda (Sucralose)
  • 4 cups Atkins Bake Mix
  • 1 T. Atkins Maple Pancake Syrup
  • 1 T. ginger
  • 1 c. extra light olive oil
  • 1/4 t. cinnamon
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/4 t. cardamom
  • 1 c. sour cream
  • 1/4 t. salt (optional)
  • 3/4 c. chopped walnuts
  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Tear or cut brown parchment paper to pan size (and bake on that) to avoid cleanup.
  3. Cream sugar, syrup, oil and eggs all at once, in a large measuring cup or bowl.
  4. Mix flour and spices (and salt if used). Add the flour mixture to the first mixture alternately with the sour cream.
  5. Roll thin, or shape as walnut size and flattened with back of spoon.
  6. Either way, sprinkle on walnuts and press them in lightly before baking.
  7. Bake eight (8) minutes if rolled thin; or twelve to fourteen (12-14) minutes if shaped. Note: These will bake to a pretty color but watch that bottoms don’t burn.

Pimiento Piccolino (heart-healthy)

Posted by berniewagner on 5 August 2008 under Vegetarian | No Comments

Another delicious heart-healthy meal. Use chicken fryer or covered fry pan…

  • 3/5 GimeeLean roll (beef flavor)
  • 1 tofu frank, diced
  • pkg. Firm or extra firm tofu, thawed and diced
  • 2 c. Health Valley f/f chicken broth
  • 1 flame broiled red pepper, peeled and diced
  • 1 large zucchini,diced
  • 1/2 can chick peas
  • 1 ear cooked corn, cut from cob
  • 6 salad size carrots, sliced 1/4 to 1/2 ” thick
  • 12 stalks asparagus, steamed
  • Marjoram, frozen, loose fistful of leaves
  • Parsley, same as above
  • Garlic powder, 3/4 t. or to taste


Mash the Gimmeelean into the broth, add everything else except the asparagus, and simmer covered for half an hour or so (until the liquid is all taken up). Divide the asparagus on top and warm through before serving.

Suggestion: Side dish of Brussel sprouts, or cauliflower, or Broccoli rabe (rapini).

For non-f/f guests, may add pitted mild black olives plus a 10 oz can of white meat chicken, and stir in a lump of ghee (any or all).

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