Local Eats: Nettie's Bakery & Tea House

If you follow the Endlessly Delicious Life facebook page - which, you should, of course - you may have noticed multiple mentions of Nettie's Bakery & Tea House. I am not in any way affiliated with or sponsored by Nettie's (a girl can dream), but I just enjoy their business so darn much.


Next week, I'm having a mother-daughter 
birthday date (it's the big 3-0, y'all!) at Nettie's and I'm so looking forward to it. In my reading and re-reading of the menu, I've reflected upon previous Tea House joy - which I have to share with you. 

Nettie's doesn't deliver; but occasionally
The Hubs will deliver their goodies to me at work.

Nettie's is just as adorable as it sounds. It's on the cutest little street in a tiny Western North Carolina town, a breath away from Waynesville. Hazelwood's Main Street is just what you'd expect in a quaint Southern block - a local soap company, a meat-and-potatoes brew pub, thrift stores, a Chip and Joanna Gaines-style home decor store, gun shop (welcome to "Home of the Plott Hound" hunting dog), locally owned pharmacy, and this adorable sweet spot. Nettie's is a small bakery with what appears to be an ample kitchen and cozy dining space. You order at the counter, indecisively lingering at the bakery case, and can have a seat at one of few antique tables. Tea house that it is, Nettie's is filled with tea sets - unique, fragile, antique, and miniature. Not unlike so many of our Southern grandmamas' parlors, it's full of "breakables," floral prints, and lace. 

Their regular menu offers a variety of cutesy sandwiches like you'd expect at a ladies auxiliary meeting - such as grape-pecan-chicken salad or homemade pimento cheese; and a rotating selection of fresh pastries. I've never gone to Nettie's for lunch, but we often pop in while visiting Robin Blu next door. Their variety of pastries is ever-changing and always delicious. The cinnamon rolls are huge, the scones are crumbly, the cookies are dappled with big chocolate chunks, and the cakes are beautiful layers upon layers. Personally, I go straight for the more nuanced desserts. Great British Baking Show watch out, because these ladies know how to wow with items like macarons, Viennese whirls, and petit fours. 

The showstopper here is the tea parties. Afternoon and High Teas are available every day (24-hour notice required) and special seasonal tea menus are available throughout the year. Last month, my mom and I attended a Mother's Day tea and I don't think I can do justice to this experience. It was so much fun, completely delicious, and a great adventure to share with my Mama. 

When I was little, I had a pink and white plastic tea set that we'd play with. I vividly remember sitting in a pillow fort, drinking sweet tea, eating the worst tuna salad ever (Peas, mom? Really?) and watching "Anne of Green Gables" together. We were pretending to be fancy, polite and delicate ladies; but Nettie's almost convinced us we were grown-up and elegant. 

The tea events have a set menu with savory and sweet items. The seasonal teas are more high-end with a few additional items. At Mother's Day we were treated to: a salad with oranges, almonds, (fresh!!) croutons and cinnamon vinaigrette; waldorf chicken salad tea sandwiches; pimento cheese and bacon puffs; berry jam scones; doodashes (an eleveated version of your Mamaw's cheese straws); chocolate ganache macarons; bonbons and Viennese whirls. 

Tea Treat Tower!

#SoFancy

It's a tremendous spread, not to mention the tea! A variety of teas are available and you can choose as many as you like. The owner must understand the unsophisticated palates of us low-brow sweet tea drinkers, so she mentioned "if you don't like the flavor, we'll pour it out and try a new one!"  We drank a whole pot of berry tea which required a little experimenting with milk and sugar. Pro tip: un-stirred sugar cubes will sink to the bottom of your cup and give you a final shockingly sweet sip...or so I'm told... 

Basically doing this giddy wiggle
until our next Tea Party

The food was spectacular, but I'm literally giddy trying to describe the experience. They make a real effort for guests to feel special and pampered. From the lace tablecloth (onto which I IMMEDIATELY spilled salad dressing) and napkins, to the real, delicate china tea set, to the silver serving utensil (from which I launched a doodash at my mother) to the tea tray the rolled to our table (IS THIS REAL LIFE?), every detail is curated to develop an authentic, luxurious treat. Downton Abbey, eat your heart out. 

My husband, y'all. #HappyWife

If you're ever in Hazelwood, it's imperative you stop in for a snack. But really, I'd recommend making a trip just for a bakery case treat. Also, be sure to follow them on Facebook where they share upcoming events - like seasonal tea schedules - and exciting deals - like this fancy Valentine's Day goodie box with shortbread, chocolate-covered strawberries, champagne cupcakes and macarons. 


And folks, this place can save you the heartburn of trying to find a unique way to show someone in your life that you love and care about them. Fellas and kiddos: brush your hair, wash your hands and take your lady and/or your mama out to tea. And gals, this would be the place to get in some super sweet girl time with your friends, the expectant mama who needs to savor quiet time, or a stressed out soon-to-be bride! 

Big, obnoxious hats are optional. 

Week Eight: A Cake for Eight Nights (All the Cusswords x 2)

FYI - I started writing this really sweet, emotional post Friday night, during Part One of the cake preparation ... before it fell all to hell, resulting in an over-the-top display of emotion, screaming, all the cusswords x 2 and not allowing the cake out of the house. Bear with me on this. 

Happy Hannukah! It's day five of the Festival of Lights and I'm 18 hours into my most challenging cake to date. It's a riff on the traditional Hannukah dish, sufganiyot or jelly-filled donuts.

Foreshadowing via Facebook. Follow us on FB at Endlessley Delicious Blog

Obviously raising a little donut lover -- at Duck Donuts

I found this recipe in the same "15 Unusual Cakes You Should Make Right Now" listicle from Buzzfeed (this weird post brought us last week's Tomato Soup Cake, too) when I started considering this ten-week adventure. It appealed to me right away, because I'm always looking to expand my cultural and culinary horizons; I've been making my previous boss, a Brooklyn Jew with the world's largest sweet tooth, traditional NY/Jewish/holiday treats for years; and because donuts.

These fairly shallow reasons were enough to convince me to bake this overgrown donut cake; this was actually the first cake I knew I would include in my ten week challenge. This week I really got to thinking about the purpose of this challenge and what it's meant to me so far. I was thinking about the meaning of Hannukah and realized this cake, and how I intend to share it, was really important and true to the Jewish tradition.

In 168 B.C.E. the Syrian-Greek soldiers overtook the Jewish Temple. The following year, they prohibited the practice of Judaism, began executing resisters, and stealing traditional homeland. The resistance continued to grow, becoming a group called the Maccabees. They successfully reclaimed their homeland and eventually the Temple. Greek occupiers defiled the Temple, by practicing religious acts to their foreign gods and sacrificing swine on sacred ground. The Maccabees were determined to purify their sanctuary and intended to burn ritual oil in the Temple's menorah for eight solid days. However, they only had enough oil to last a single night. But by a miracle of God, the oil lasted night after night after night until the eight nights of purification were completed. Each year, Jews across the world celebrate the miracle of God's protection, generosity, and power, by lighting menorah candles for eight nights.

Eating fried food is an almost universal tradition during Hannukah. The foods, fried in oil, are a delicious symbol of the lasting menorah oil. The global relationship of food and faith is beautiful and especially tasty.

I decided almost 2 months ago that I wanted to make this cake, and here we are at Hannukah and the perfect occasion arose. We belong to an adorable, wonderful and totally unique church in our hometown. It's a non-denominational, contemporary church that started in 2005. The Summit was the first church of its kind in a heavily traditional, rural part of the Bible Belt, which did not go unnoticed. 

We wear jeans to worship; we are music-heavy with loud, contemporary songs played by (STELLAR) musicians whose secular band has frequent gigs at bars, clubs and casinos; children dance in the aisles; and until recently, a largely un-churched congregation.

 

HIT PLAY! #SoundOn Who wouldn't love a church

 with tiny costumed conductors? 

For over a decade we've met on Sundays at an area school gym, which means every Sunday morning we roll out floor mats, set up 100+ chairs, sit in them for an hour then pick them back up and re-roll the mats. All of our equipment, supplies, and tools are unpacked then repacked every single Sunday. We do own property, and this summer completed the work for a picnic shelter with bathrooms. But we refuse to take on great debt for a building; our church isn't four walls and a cross on the roof, we are the people in the seats, any seats. It's empowering to know we're not a church driven to pass the plate to pay a mortgage; but set up and break down is exhausting and we long to be able to expand our programming beyond Sunday mornings.

Twelve years ago, no one outside of our core church family thought we had enough "oil" to last one year.

Our great music (seriously, y'all, the best), casual atmosphere, and openness (to visitors, to the unsaved, to doubt) could explain one year of success; but no way we could keep the candles burning for five years.

The creative worship - like a series (complete with costumes) about faith through the decades, and lasting service to the community - like our bus parked at a college bar on Thirsty Thursday taking kids home safely,  could sustain us for five years, but without a building of our own, we certainly weren't going to last ten years. There just can't be that much oil. 

But here we are. Twelve years old. With a core of people who've been there from the beginning, families who have grown with us, and others who visited by chance and fell in love, we've lasted. The Summit isn't the suck-your-teeth, flash-in-the-pan church anymore; we're a part of the community and we're on the cusp of another great change.

This fall we called a new pastor to lead us and within the last month we signed a lease at a location where we'll have a permanent set up, our kiddos will have dedicated space to cry and play and learn about God, our Pastor and Minister of Worship will have an office instead of squatting at a local coffee shop, and we can meet any evening or time on the weekend. Praise sweet baby Jesus.

This weekend crews came together for #DemoDay and a painting party to prepare our new space for a January move. The candles were burning (maybe at both ends?) with a surplus of oil. It's really happening for us. And like the Maccabees, we don't know where we're going or how this will turn out, but it's God and the gifted oil of time, talents and love of church family members that sustains us.

For more Summit shenanigans, follow us on Facebook 

This was the time to bring a symbolic dessert to the folks working through their weekend to knock down, then rebuild and paint walls.

But I told God my plan, and y'all know how that usually turns out. It had been put on my heart to feed my friends in this beautiful way, and then life got in the way, effed it up and I said screamed a lot of unbecoming words. Jesus, fix it.

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Sigh, here we are at Week Eight. For the first time in this challenge, I'm actually counting down "WHEN WILL THIS BE OVER?!?!" instead of "ooh, what will I make next week?" 

To recap:

Week 1: Coconut Cream Poke Cake 

Week 2: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting 

Week 3: Orange Chiffon Cake with Candied Zest 

Week 4: Upside Down Banana Toffee Cake 

Week 5: Maple Bundt Cake 

Week 6: Little French Fudge Cakes 

Week 7: Tomato Soup Cake  

Week 8: Sufganiyot (Jelly Donut) Cake from Food52

I'm terrified of dry active yeast. I've always heard you need warm liquid to "wake up" your yeast - not too cold or it'll die, not too warm or it'll die. No pressure. Strike 1 for this recipe. 

Plus it needs to rise for three+ hours before chilling overnight and I couldn't start it until after Baby went to bed, therefore it was a long night of deflating bread. Strike 2 for this recipe. 

But it looked so pretty in the morning light and after it's final rising. 

And then it died a horrible death. Strike 3, 4, 5. 

Spoiler alert: my oven needs recalibrated. You're supposed to cook the two dough balls, which will become two loaves of brioche aka giant donuts, for 25-35 minutes at 400. I know my oven runs a little hot, so I try to check in early on most things I bake. 

At 13 minutes, the loaves were dark brown around the sides and bottom, but I could see raw dough at the crack on top. I couldn't stand it at 15 minutes and took them out. They were cooked, not as nicely as I'd have liked, and burnt...big time.

Commence screaming, crying, screaming, dramatic texting. Repeat for ... awhile. 

I refused to take this to share with my "Maccabees." Flat out refused. Symbolism and community and fellowship be damned. 

But J convinced me to at least make half of the filling, prepare one "donut" and force it upon him and my parents. I grumbled through the whole thing "Oh, don't eat that bite, it's too burnt" and "No, no, you don't have to finish it." 

I'm still bitter about this one (probably from that carbon taste lingering on my tongue), so I'll give you a very short-run down on the recipe (which I refuse to type out for you):

1.  It's a recipe of good intentions, but even it it worked out, it's incredibly time consuming. Unless it was a 10/10, I'd probably never make it again. 
2. The brioche (between the burnt parts) was lovely - a little sweet but so buttery and smooth. However, Aldi US has a delicious line of flavored brioche products. Buy those. F this. 
3. I've never had a jelly AND cream filled donut. Novel idea, very yummy! 
4. The butter/sugar coating on top was genius, very true to a real jelly donut and added some much needed bold sweetness. 

I still feel the same hope and mushiness for our church, but as far as this challenge is concerned: What's the Hannukah equivalent of "bah humbug?" 

Week Seven: "What on Earth Would Possess You to Make a Tomato Soup Cake?"

You poor readers are constantly hearing how strapped I am - for time, for cash, for motivation - and this week's cake is a wonderful reflection of (and solution to) that. 

Some of my favorite recipes were designed with such shortcomings in mind. There's a whole world of "substitution"cooking that helped families get through tough times, like war-rationing, without losing delicious food. 

For example: mock apple pie is quite possibly the best apple pie you'll ever eat. But it doesn't include a single apple, it's made of Ritz crackers. 

A few years ago, we found a handwritten recipe inside of an old church cookbook (the sacred tomes of all cookbook-dom) for "imitation pecan pie." And girls, I get it, pecans are EXPENSIVE. They're also my favorite nut to mindlessly eat from the freezer (or dig out of cans of mixed nuts before anyone can catch me); so any way to save money or pecans, is a win. This pie is actually made with pinto beans and corn syrup, but nary a nut. It was good, but probably better when you don't know you're eating bean pie. 

Women, we are so resourceful and determined to serve our families in a meaningful way. Yeah, we might have to make meatless sausages (like Welsh Glamorgan sausages, popularized in WWII), vinegar pies, or repeatedly thinned out stew; but we try so hard to make sure our families are fed something tasty. 

And sometimes, maybe most of the time, you aren't strapped for ingredients, but you're short on time and won't have the chance to develop deep flavors. Thank you, God, for things like bouillon cubes. This week recipe is from the 50's, when mothers' time became even more precious and the scientific future was becoming a reality. Post-war, U.S. life was largely improving, women had more options outside of the house, and tools of convenience - from shiny appliances to instant Jell-o pudding - were everywhere. Instead of laboring over the stove to create home cooked meals, you could open a box or a can or even throw a TV dinner in the oven. 

Which brings us to a recipe that would make both Andy Warhol and Betty Draper proud. 

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We're seven weeks in and drifting into the "unusual" recipe pile. Ages ago, I saved a Buzzfeed listicle of "15 Unusual Cakes You Need To Make Right Now" and this week's 
recipe (and next's) came from it. 


To recap:

Week 1: Coconut Cream Poke Cake 

Week 2: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting 

Week 3: Orange Chiffon Cake with Candied Zest 

Week 4: Upside Down Banana Toffee Cake 

Week 5: Maple Bundt Cake 

Week 6: Little French Fudge Cakes 

Week 7: Tomato Soup Cake from Food52

Some 1950s/60s meals of convenience were downright TERRIFYING. Recipes leaned too heavily on mayonnaise and Jell-o (even together!) and provided us some of the scariest recipe cards I've ever seen. But I promise you, this use of a totally random, processed food is brilliant and delicious, and makes for quick prep. 


First things first: no, you can't taste the tomato. No, the cake isn't bright red. No, it doesn't smell like condensed soup. 

I performed an experiment to make sure the cake was 1. delicious and 2. not a tomato-y disaster. I made the cake alone in the kitchen and served it to my husband and parents, asking only if they could find my secret ingredient. They all picked up on the strong spices and could point out the cinnamon and nutmeg (I was out of cloves). 

When I told them it was made with tomato soup concentrate, they were all flabbergasted. J actually made me dig the can out of the recycling bin and then ate three pieces "just to be sure he didn't taste tomato." 

Honestly, I have NO idea why this recipe exists or what ingredients/preparation you might need to create a similar flavor and depth sans soup. But, since it was originally on a Campbell's label, I imagine it came from their burgeoning research and development department. And, it was so successful, unlike this "tuna 'n waffles" gem, it was allegedly included in the first edition of "The Joy of Cooking." 

This isn't a vegetable pun, but if you enjoy carrot cake, I think you'll really enjoy this cake. It's rich and spicy; those flavors that are so comforting and warm. Usually you add one of the major "mulling spices" - cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice - but this recipe uses three. And the raisins add a bright burst of sweetness and juicy texture to an already soft, moist cake. 

And that sweet, thick cream cheese frosting. I'll be honest here, since the target audience of the original recipe was housewives who didn't have time to mess around, I totally used canned frosting. And no, I didn't do a crumb coating and piped rosettes; I followed the instructions of the author's mother and spread frosting between the layers and on top, nothing on the sides. Brilliant time savers, these ladies really had the right idea! 

This was a perfect cake for our surprise snow day Friday. We were unprepared with supplies and hankering for something comforting and sweet. Snow days are notoriously my best cooking (and eating) days, but we were hopelessly short on junk food staples. The snow kept piling up (9+ inches!), but a little digging in the pantry made for a delicious 3.5" of cake! 

If you're looking for a walk on the wild side, something out-of-the-ordinary, or a retro centerpiece, this is the recipe for you. It sounds outlandish, garish, and totally unnecessary, but it truly is a tasty, moist, and beautiful cake. 

Week Six: Little Cakes are Still Cakes

Eureka! By George, I've found it! Huzzah!

What, you might ask, have I found? Why, nothing other than the core of this challenge! The recipe for a PERFECT cake!

When I started this adventure to make a cake per week until the New Year, I was hoping to pare down my ragged pile of recipes torn from magazines and my out-of-control "Recipes: To Try" Pinterest board. I wanted to find delicious recipes that aren't just good for that one time your wife wants a cake shaped like a cat on a surfboard (ask my husband) or for an unexpected Russian/Olympics themed dinner party. I wanted to find a cake so good, so delicious, and so reasonable (in price and time) that you could - and would - make it over and over again. 

So let me start over...

EURKEA! BY GEORGE, I'VE FOUND IT! HUZZAH!

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I've officially finished the majority of this end-of-year baking! I've completed sixty percent of my challenge - welcome to Week 6! 

To recap:

Week 1: Coconut Cream Poke Cake
Week 2: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Week 3: Orange Chiffon Cake with Candied Zest
Week 4: Upside Down Banana Toffee Cake
Week 5: Maple Bundt Cake
Week 6: Little French Fudge Cakes from The Splendid Table*

First of all, if you aren't listening to, subscribing by email, or otherwise digesting content from The Splendid Table  you are officially missing out. TST is dedicated to "life's appetites" and their weekly show (check your area NPR station or listen online) includes famous chefs and restaurateurs and a variety of other foodies who discuss trends, techniques, recipes, cookbooks, science, and more! The diversity of topics and recipes is astounding. Looking through their recipe collection (you can sign up for weekly recipe emails, too. YES, PLEASE!), you'll find so many things you've never tried (to cook or eat) or even heard of. Sometimes the ingredients are weird, hard-to-find, or expensive; but in my experience, they recipes are always good. So when comparing this to their other great recipes, would it be in poor taste ( bad pun #1) to say that this recipe takes the cake (bad pun #2)? Because it does. 

Zoom in to see all that glorious gooey chocolateness! 

If you like lava cakes or brownies, you'll love this. It's both gooey and cakey. 

Made in cupcake tins, the batter cooks quickly to get a nice fluffy breading on the outside and top. But with the extra bite-sized pieces of chocolate and short baking time, the center is still soft. It doesn't flow like molten chocolate sauce, but it's still creamy and soft (especially if you eat it warm, and let's be real here...warm chocolate cake!). 

If you like chocolate, you'll love this. It's FULL of dark chocolate, and a surprise. 

Boasting over six ounces of dark and unsweetened chocolate (that's an ounce/cake!), these little cakes pack a chocolatey punch! It's a rich and deep flavor for a dessert meant to be savored. But you also add ground cinnamon and the way it blooms to come through the chocolate is such a surprising and delicious accompaniment. 

If you like short recipes and only two dirty bowls, you'll love this. It's beyond simple. 

I'll happily re-type this recipe because it's basically three steps: melt some chocolate, stir into other ingredients, bake. And it's all done by hand without even dirtying a mixer! 

And that's not all, here are some other reasons you're sure to love this recipe:

Gooey cake + ice cream/whipped cream = a dream 

You have your own individual dessert, sharing is optional. 

It's easily doubled with no extra trouble, which makes it great for date night or a dinner party crowd.  

You can add a bit of sugar to make it more kid-friendly.  

Allegedly, they're good cold and will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days (who are these monsters?) 

Long story short, this is THE RECIPE. Six weeks in and I've peaked. 

The Hubs would happily settle for four more weeks of Little French Fudge Cakes, but we press on! 

*As a fair disclosure, I have won a sweepstakes from TST (5 lb block of grana padana cheese, cheese knife, planner and cookbook!), but this is not a paid ad or sponsored blog; they just rock! 

Week Five (almost a week late): Maple Bundt Cake (and a BONUS!)

My current feeling about this challenge is so indicative of my life and personality type. 

I am fascinated by personality and learning style quizzes; and also those Buzzfeed gems like "Which pop singer should you listen to based on your favorite Lay's potato chips?"(Apparently, I need more Adele in my life..also, more chips). 

But I haven't really invested much time in them other than taking the ones required by various leadership courses. However, I have a friend who knows her type and is firmly entrinched in her Myers Briggs personality description; so I did some more research a few weeks ago (because I honestly couldn't remember mine -- EN what?). After multiple tests, I kept coming up as ESFJ (T) or what 16Personalities calls "The Counsel." This person is Extroverted, obServant, Feeling, and Judging. All this means we ESFJs enjoy being around people, we love throwing parties and making people happy through "participat(ion) in a meaningful way." 

But that little (T) add-on to the personality is an identity of Turbulence. 

And here we are. I'm determined to work 40 hours a week, be a good mom and wife, do a zillion errands, explode Christmas cheer onto everything and make a cake every week. The cakes are being made but the writing about said cakes is lacking and/or lagging. 

But luckily for this T, my turbulence has chilled out some in motherhood. I'm still self-conscious and sensitve to stress, and my range of emotions has not diminshed. However, my push to be perfect, incredilby well liked (I mean, a couple folks could like me..)  and desire to always improve at everything I do has gone the way of the dinosaur. Sorry folks, park's closed; moose outside should've told you. 

And that just might mean that the blogs aren't written while the cake's still hot or even still in existence. But I'm trying. And I'm determined to complete this challenge, with a wide range of T emotions thrown in!  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway, poor attitude aside, here we are: Week Five! Fifty percent completion! 

To recap:

Week 1: Coconut Cream Poke Cake 

Week 2: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting 

Week 3: Orange Chiffon Cake with Candied Zest 

Week 4: Upside Down Banana Toffee Cake 

For Week 5 I made a Maple Bundt cake, another gem from Martha's cookbook, for a work Thanksgiving meal. (P.S. we've made over a dozen recipes from that book in the last month and I will sing its praises forever! Maybe in a blog post later.)

This recipe (like this week's blog post) was incredibly simple - no complicated ingredients, weird preparation, or difficult techniques. And to my great excitement, it looked JUST LIKE the picture! 

I was seeking an autumnal cake for this gathering and maple is such a comforting, warm flavor it saddled up nicely beside other dishes featuring cinnamon and nutmeg. The cake was delicious, but I must say it was very understated and simple. It really is a no-frills pound cake with a hint of maple; the flavor and sweetness of which didn't shine unless you included the suggested topping of whipped cream and a tiny drizzle of extra syrup. Which makes me feel that this is more of a casual dessert, like you might have around for with ladies while drinking tea; it's not a head turning dessert. But as my cousin pointed out today "not everything has to be a showstopper;" if that's not some great bumper sticker life wisdom, I don't know what is. 

Click HERE for Martha's recipe for Maple Bundt Cake

ALSO - despite my current battle with laziness and insane schedule, we managed to make TWO "cakes" last week. I use quotations because despite "cake" being in the name, I don't consider cheesecake to be cake. I think they're pies. I'm sure this is a much contested question, not unlike "is a hot dog a sandwich?" I'm strongly of the opinion that a pie has crust and a filling, while a cake should have an element of bread-iness. Cheesecake is blatantly a pie, but I digress. J made a quick and easy Butter Pecan Cheesecake from Kraft's Food and Family publication for one of our family luncheons over the holiday. It was so pretty and tasted darn good too, especially if you enjoy less-sweet desserts. 

Click HERE for the Butter Pecan Cheesecake Recipe

Thank you dear readers for sticking with me this long. And since I've procrastinated on writing, it's already time to make the cake(s?!) for Week Six. See you again soon!

Week Four: Upside Down - no, not THAT upside down - Banana Toffee Cake

We aren't venturing into The Upside Down a la Stranger Things, but rather, this week's cake was upside down! 

When I look at my pile of "to try" cake recipes, some themes certainly emerge: chocolate, old-fashioned pound cakes, quirky (giant chili dog cake, anyone?) and upside down/skillet, so this week, I tried my hand at a new upside down cake recipe made in our handy cast iron skillet. 

Homemade pineapple upside down cake was one of the desserts I mastered (thank you, 11th grade Foods & Nutrition class) and is likely one of the fastest cakes to throw together. If I got a call that friends were coming over, I could easily make a pineapple upside down cake within half an hour with pantry staples. 

Since I'm confident with the classic, I decided to mix it up a little with an Upside Down Banana Toffee Cake recipe that I pinned a zillion pre-baby years ago. 

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Week Four! We're closing in on the half-way point of my bake-till-2018 countdown!


To recap:

Week 1: Coconut Cream Poke Cake 

Week 2: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Week 3: Orange Chiffon Cake with Candied Zest

Week 4: Upside Down Banana Toffee Cake 

This cake was pretty darn delicious right out of the oven; but really, what cake isn't? And because the recipe suggests that "The cake is really at its best on the first day" we did our darnedest to eat as much as we could and what was left actually served as Sunday night's dinner. Isn't adulthood great? 

The author complained her 12-inch pan made for a very thin cake, but our 10-inch skillet brought us a beautifully thick and fluffy cake beneath the sticky bananas. However, her instructions to cut the bananas lengthwise, halve and cut into 1.5" slices made for a cake that 1. didn't match her beautiful photos and 2. made for clunky slicing.  

The real beautiful thing though, is the flavor of this cake. I used almost an entire airplane bottle of Bacardi in the toffee and batter and I was seriously worried it would come off as too boozy. I imagine everyone who drank (underage) for drinking's sake has at least one liquor/cocktail/punch that was ruined by a night of overdoing it. Just the thought of Parrot Bay coconut rum makes my skin crawl, so I was nervous. But I had faith in the flavors of bananas foster and wasn't disappointed. Bananas and rum pair together so beautifully, and the nutmeg and cinnamon in the cake batter were a perfect fit. The rum didn't stand out, it only enhanced the warm spices and tropical banana flavor. Praise the Lord. 

I will say though, that the preparation was a little more daunting than my traditional pineapple upside down cake and I may have been a bit meek in my execution. I normally make my pineapple cake in a cake pan without actively cooking the topping (I just mix the sugar, butter and *pro tip: pineapple juice* in the pan itself before arranging the fruit). The distinction here (as you can see in her photos) is that this is supposed to be more reminiscent of a toffee/caramel on top. Caramel is basically burnt sugar, however, there is a fine line between burnt, beautiful, smooth caramel that coats fruit but slides gently out of the pan and burnt, stringy, forever-stuck-to-the-pan gunk. I live in fear of that distinction and likely under-cooked my "toffee." It was still fairly blonde and I could still recognize some sugar crystals instead of pure smoothness. But it came out of the pan perfectly; again, praise the Lord. 

And that darn toffee and upside-downness brings me to two important points about upside down cakes, and this one in particular. 

Clunky 'naners and a pitiful "platter"

First, everyone needs to invest in a big platter or heavy-duty cake stand/carrier for upside down cakes. We have a zillion tools, appliances and do-dads in our kitchen that make our culinary lives so much easier. But some of the simplest things, like having a flat surface big enough to flip a cake onto and then serve from, escape us. So pardon the tackiness of my cake on a neon green cutting board. 

Secondly, everyone needs to invest some time into lining their oven and cleaning it regularly. Apparently my toffee bubbled and sizzled and oozed its way right out of my skillet and onto the bottom of my oven. Of course I didn't notice until I began preheating the oven to make dinner last night and our kitchen filled with billowy dark smoke. My holiday break is going to be spent with some heavy-duty chemicals and a Brillo pad. I highly recommend a product like this that you can use in your oven and remove to clean, instead of breaking your back scraping burnt toffee (maybe someday I'll listen to my own advice). And/or consider putting your skillet (or God bless you, a springform pan) on a baking sheet. 

So grab yourself a big ass plate, a huge can of oven cleaner and an industrial fan (ventilation is important), a pint of vanilla ice cream, and dive into the project of making (and cleaning up after) a delicious banana upside down cake. 

Week Three: All the Cusswords AKA Orange Chiffon Cake

This has been a doozy of a week. I've had a work conference for three days which has meant being at work at 6 a.m. (pitch black) and returning to campus after 6 p.m. (also, pitch black). Plus, I'm trying to get a 16-month-old to understand Daylight Saving Time. I was just starting to relax on Tuesday night when I remembered I had to make this week's cake. Commence all the cusswords. 

Then I realized how many eggs I had to separate. Cuss. 
Then I remembered how much zesting I needed to do. Cuss. 
Then I struggled to differentiate soft peaks and stiff peaks. Cuss. 

Thank goodness we don't use a Swear Jar. If we did, Mama's bank account would be overdrawn. 

But all the cussing certainly made for a damn good cake (another quarter to the Swear Jar). 

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Hello, Week Three! We are approaching one-third completion of the cake-a-week journey to 2018. 

To recap: 

Week 1: Coconut Cream Poke Cake

Week 2: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Week 3: Orange Chiffon Cake with Candied Zest, also from Martha Stewart's Martha's American Food

When I started this challenge, I created very limited, yet important, criteria and this recipe fit the bill. 

First, I want to try a variety of new recipes that cover a litany of dessert categories; "they can't all be chocolate or pound cakes or include cream cheese icing." I have never made a chiffon/angel food cake before and I distinctly remember being very young and asking my dad about them, he sucked his teeth and said "Ohh, those are hard." So, yeah, let's make one after a 12-hour work day. Great idea.

Secondly, I want to find reliable, tasty recipes for both unique and traditional cakes. Angel food cake is such a classic "dinner on the grounds" (church picnic for y'all Yankees) cake, I just had to give it a shot. Now, I'm equipped for any potluck or ladies' luncheon.

Third, I need to share as much cake as possible. Thankfully, the gals at my monthly book club are more than happy to take on this responsibility.

Turns out this cake wasn't particularly difficult to make; however, you do need to do a fair amount of prep work and there is some serious detail work.

Mise en place is critical here. Have all your zesting, juicing, and egg separating done and organized before you get down to the real work. I was scattered and it made things that much more difficult, but could've been disastrous for the cake, too. #MomBrain

Pro tip from my 11-grade Foods and Nutrition class: separate your eggs one at a time over a cup or bowl, then pour into their respective containers. That way, if a yolk breaks, you're only out one egg, instead of the whole shebang. Yolks and oils are MURDER to a good meringue. I mention this only because I forgot my own #@!$ advice and spent 5 minutes carefully spooning yolk out of my five-white bowl. 

And, if you're like me (read: a nervous wannabe perfectionist) pull up some images of soft and stiff peaks on your tablet/phone ahead of time to gauge your progress. And of course, once you perfect those peaks, fold in your batter gently, but thoroughly. I found a couple places that were more egg-y and less cake-y where I'd under-folded; you want the batter/egg to be blended well, but not deflated. 

No Instagram filter can top Christmas lights. 

Scattered prep and peak-induced anxiety aside, making the cake was fairly easy and turned out beautifully. Martha's version cooked longer than ours (we have an overly hot oven and I'm careful with over-cooking), so hers had a thin crust around all the edges not just the bottom; but it still turned out wonderfully fluffy and light. 

And y'all - it doesn't look orange, and you can't see the zest flecks, but this is the most terrifically fragrant and perfectly flavored cake. This would be a great for a spring tea party or a summer picnic, but I also think the winter holidays scream citrus. This would be perfect beside a hot cup of mulled cider or after a heavy Christmas meal (a reduced cranberry sauce, no not that kind of cranberry sauce, would be an excellent garnish). 

Speaking of excellent garnishes, the candied zest is a MUST. I'll just leave my explanation here, with the note I left inside my cookbook.