Happy Day Walnut Cake

I'm a bit of a cake snob.

It took me about 25 years to realize it, but it's true.

When we go out to eat, I always get excited about the dessert tray. Most times, my eyes are drawn to the chocolate cake, always so dark & covered in plenty of frosting, but when I get it, it rarely lives up to my expectations. It's always either too dry, not chocolatey enough, or just mediocre all around. So now, I try to remember that & order something different. Or just go for ice cream. That's always a safe bet.

This cake ranks in the "something different" category. The walnut cake recipe is a traditional one that my mom gave me from her recipe cards. I believe she got it from her mom, who got it from hers, etc., so I'm not sure of the origin. I just know it's good! Mommom always served it with a fluffy white frosting & stored it in her silver cake carrier.

I found an identical carrier at our church rummage sale & just had to buy it. I love using it because it always reminds me of Mommom's cakes.

Poppop's birthday (85 years!) was on Saturday, so Mom invited my grandparents & us over for dinner on Sunday to celebrate. I offered to make the cake, & Mom said he loves walnut cake, so she shared the recipe. I'm not a fan of the fluffy frosting that's the norm, so I went a different route & made rhubarb frosting.

I love the way the flavors blend together. The hint of rhubarb cuts the sweetness of the frosting & compliments the nutty flavors in the cake. The first time I tried the frosting, it was on rhubarb cupcakes. That was good, but this was great!

Enjoy!

Happy Day Walnut Cake

Recipe from Mom's Archives, adapted very slightly

Serves 10-12

1 c all-purpose flour

1 1/4 c white whole wheat flour

1 T baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 1/3 c sugar

1/2 c non-hydrogenated shortening

1 c almond milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 organic eggs

1 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375*F. Grease and flour two 8" round pans. In the bowl of a stand mixer, sift together flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add shortening and mix. Once combined (mixture should be crumbly), add 1/2 of the milk, the vanilla, and 1 egg. Beat for 2 minutes. Add remaining milk and egg. Beat another 2 minutes. Gently fold in walnuts. Divide batter evenly between pans. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until bake pulls away from the edges of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pans and allow to cool completely on cooling racks before icing.

Rhubarb Frosting

Adapted from Food Doodles

1/2 c organic butter, softened

1 c pureed raw rhubarb, cooked until reduced by half & cooled
5 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

In a medium bowl, beat the butter, rhubarb puree, and vanilla together to combine.  In 1 cup increments, add the powdered sugar until the frosting is thick and smooth.  Depending on how wet your rhubarb is, you many need to add addtional sugar.

A beautiful day!

Preview of the beautiful paint job my hubby is doing to our house!

I was off of Tuesday so I spent most of the day in one of my favorite places, my kitchen. I'm prepping for my trip next week, trying to make sure Walter has enough to eat while I'm gone. Not that he would starve if left to his own devices, I just like to take care of him.

For lunch, I made Curried Cauliflower Soup. I had a recipe but didn't have everything it called for (as usual!). We ate some, put some in the fridge, and I froze 2 containers worth. Six cups of cauliflower and I still have 2/3 of the head left. Those things are amazing.  I tried to have homemade crackers (with wheat flour, not spelt, only because sadly I had no spelt) done to go with it, but he came home for lunch a little sooner than they could bake.

I cut up 2 baby canteloupes we got at the farm market on Saturday. They were really cute. We also had a mango that just wasn't ripening. Solution: I pureed it and froze it into nice little heart shaped ice cubes. Who knows what I'll use them for, but at least it's not wasted!

Next up was bread and cookies. Wheat Bread & Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies to be exact. There's something wonderful about watching and smelling yeast as you're prepping the bread. Mmmm... I used whole, cooked wheat berries instead of cracked ones for the bread so they were spotted throughout, like nuts or something. The cookies were a little more work than I expected because the recipe calls for you to melt the butter in a pan until brown and bubbling. <Sidenote: I remember as a little kid we'd make browned butter for on popcorn at my grandparents. It makes the popcorn DELICIOUS. If you haven't tried it, do. But that's the first and only time I'll promote butter.>  I almost skipped that step, but remembered how good the brown butter was on the popcorn so I thought it might be worth it. It wasn't. The cookies are full of peanut butter flavor and deliciousness, though!

We had my mom over for dinner. She was going to have to eat alone because Dad had a dinner meeting, so we saved her from that tragedy. Broccoli, twice baked potatoes, fresh bread with baked tomatoes, and a huge salad were dinner. I still have all these tomatoes laying around, with more still ripening on the vines!

And for dessert - Almond Pear Tart. With much less sugar than it called for. I used non-hydogenated shortening for the crust and no butter in the filling. I also skipped the glaze. It was delicious without it!

Why can't every day be like Tuesday?