Pioneer recipe: brown sugar cake

Just continuing on my little tradition of Pioneer Day treats (because I live in Utah and I like Pioneer Day and I like treats and any excuse to make a treat that the pioneers probably ate is extra fun). In case you missed the others, last year I made apple candy and the year before that it was washboard cookies. Now you're all caught up.

This year's treat is my favorite pioneer recipe by far (I've only made these three but this one still takes the cake...heehee).


Brown Sugar Cake

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

Stir it all together and pour it into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Let cool before frosting.


Frosting:

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup butter

Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir until mixture is smooth. Frosting will be warm when you pour it over the cake. Cooled cake with harden frosting.

+   +   +

My kind neighbor brought this brown sugar cake to my house last Christmas with the recipe all typed up on some cutesy Christmas paper. It was delicious. Moist and sweet, but not too sweet. I am not a frosting lover and this frosting glaze stuff is right up my alley.

I can't believe I love a non-chocolate cake as much as I do. I made it twice last week and it earned my sister's seal of approval. She called it evil. Just like those peanut butter cookies I forced her to eat. Next time I think I'll double the recipe and bake it in my sheet cake pan (especially if this certain sister is around). That way we might actually have leftovers.

This yummy cake has a sub title even. "Old pioneer recipe - white sugar was too expensive"

Credit for this yummy brown sugar cake goes to my kind neighbor's husband's father's mother. Get all that? Her name was Ethel. I'm glad she shared this with her family and that my neighbor shared with us.

Happy Pioneer Day!

halfsies

I asked Danny a few weeks ago if he'd like to have a half birthday cake (inspired by my internet buddy...except her cake looks way nicer than mine) for his half birthday.

He said no.

I was a little disappointed but got over it and moved on.

I probably baked something else to get me over the sadness of it all so it's fine.

Well, looks like the thought of the half cake for his half birthday kept brewing inside his little brain.

He asked me on Thursday (11 days after his half birthday day) if I was ever going to make that cake.

Oh, brother.

So I whipped up the batter, poured half into a cake pan and the rest into cupcake liners.

Notice the five and a half candles? I think that was pretty clever of me if I do say so myself.

I only frosted the cake.

The cupcakes got left naked because I know Danny doesn't like frosting and he'd want one that way.

I was right.

I even cut his cupcake in half just for funzies.

A few pictures before the candle lighting (out of order but who cares).

Having a little taste of the frosting.

Then I told him to just smile.

And that looked so goofy that I told him to not smile.

Here's what I got.

Ha. I sure love that his grumpy grump face doesn't come out as often as it used to.

I'm not sure what Dan and Cate were singing to him before he blew out the candles. 

I was singing Happy Half Birthday To You. It seemed appropriate.

I think I like this little half celebration idea. Maybe we'll keep it.

With only two kids it shouldn't be too difficult.

Plus, it's a big deal to them when they finally get to add that half when they tell their age right?

Right.

nine on the ninth plus one

Except it wasn't really a surprise since he had to give me directions to his school.

And I figured I should ask him ahead of time if it was even ok to come.

All his teacher friends thought the kids were so cute.

And his students thought they were soooooooo cute!
We even got to crash the Teacher Appreciation luncheon.

Came home and made the cake.

That took extra long because people wanted to "help."

Danny said, "Mommy, I'm going to pretend to bite it and you take a picture."

Cate said, "Nooooooooooo."

But I think she actually wanted him to take a real bite.

Here's the birthday cake in all it's dark chocolatey glory.

I copied the Nothing Bundt Cake guys and frosted it all cute.

Well, all except for what looks like a dollop of poo in the middle.

It sure tasted good though.

Root Beer Float Cake

I will most definitely be making this cake again.

I couldn't really taste any root beer though.

A slight aftertaste if I took a bite of just cake.

But that's it.

No matter. It was a mighty tasty chocolate cake anyway.

And the frosting?

YUM! And that's coming from someone who usually scrapes off the frosting.

It's chocolatey and smooth but not too sweet.

And I got to use my bundt cake pan that I never ever use.

Bundt makes me think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

This scene. It's a kek!

We had pizza for dinner in the front yard.
Then the cousins came over to join us.

Dan's such a good sport.
Even with his stomach full of pizza.

Time for the cake.
I think it took a good 5 minutes just to get all those candles lit.

Other awesome things I did for my husband on his birthday:

mowed the lawn and ironed 8 of his shirts.

That's true love right there.

blue velvet cupcakes for jimmer

The Jimmer cakes are done! Just in time for the big game. And they better taste good because they pretty much consumed my Saturday.

I thought it would look good to have the Y standing up in the frosting.



Then I tried it and it mostly looks like a weird tree growing out of a blue cupcake. Or the handle of a slingshot. Looks better if you can see the bottom of the Y (in my opinion at least).



Blue velvet cupcakes for Jimmer.

And for Dan to enjoy as he watches the game (but just that one I broke open for the picture).

The rest are for the family at Grandma's tomorrow.

Hopefully they'll be stuffing blue cupcakes in their mouths with smiles on their faces.

Go Cougars!

the birthday cake

Danny saw a Cars cake at Walmart a few months ago. That's what he wanted for his birthday. Um...nope. I don't think so. I'm not the mama who buys Cars birthday cakes at Walmart (no offense to the mamas who do buy Cars birthday cakes at Walmart).

I was going to copy the cake my friend made for her little boy last year. Then I remembered a page that I had ripped out of a Family Fun magazine several years ago. I keep it in my pile of Stuff I'd Like to Make Some Day. You can see my inspiration over at the Family Fun website.

Look at that grass! It's my favorite part of the cake. I bought a grass tip to pipe it. If anybody wants to make an Oscar the Grouch cake, come on over and borrow my grass tip. I think it would make perfect Oscar fur.


See those flags? I spent a good half hour coloring in those little squares with my fine tipped Sharpie...at midnight. I'm surprised the lines turned out as straight as they did.


A view from the top.


I bought three new cars for the top of the cake. I don't know the yellow guys' names but the orange one is my favorite. His name is Snot Rod. I have no idea if he's a good guy or a bad guy (I've never seen the movie) but I love his name!


Danny liked the cake. He blew out those candles twice since he requested the Happy Birthday song about smelling like a monkey in a zoo. I knew he would.


p.s. A big thanks to Judy for capturing that last picture. It's my favorite.

to do list: cake in a can

{thanks for the picture, plain chicken!}

Today is Grama Bama's birthday.
And Aunt Jenny's too.

Happy birthday, y'all!

If I had my act together, you would each be receiving a cake in a can today.

A birthday cake.
Baked in a can.
(not like a soup can, bigger than that)
Shipped in the mail.
To family members who live thousands of miles away.

What a great idea!

But I don't have my act together.
So the cake in a can is being added to my to do list.
Maybe next year.

Have a happy birthday anyway!

Here's a little birthday treat instead.

Two sweet little grandkids
(or nephews to Aunt Jenny)

The bottom one is my favorite.
Want to know how I got them to smile like that?

Instead of telling them to say cheese,
I told them to say boogers.

And they did.
And then they laughed.

Little boys are so easily amused.

I love it.

cupcakes and a surprise

before...

during...

and after.

I made some scrumptious cupcakes for Dave's birthday today. I'm the best sister-in-law ever. I know.

As for the surprise, you can choose.


that little blob of cream cheese/sugar/egg/mini chocolate chips inside the cupcake

(were you surprised to see that in there?)

OR

the fact that I did not eat the rest of the cupcake

(only the small part that I ripped off the bigger part so I could show the insides)

I had to do a taste test to make sure the cupcakes were suitable for birthday consumption.
That's what every good baker does.

happy birthday, pac-man

I made these cupcakes for my nephew, Ricky's birthday last summer. It was hot outside and the fondant was melting. I kind of liked it melty though. The ghosts drooped nicely off the edges of the cupcakes and everything was shiny.

Here's how I decorated the extras.


All this to show off what a wonderful cake decorator I am (toot toot...that's my own horn).

I don't think my family bought PAC-MAN when it first came out. I'm pretty sure I was a little older than 6 when we bought our Atari. I do know that when we finally did get our first gaming system, we spent $88 for it at Walmart (and by we I mean my mom). Plus, we didn't have a VCR or a microwave until I was in junior high (maybe even high school) so I know we weren't in any hurry to get the cool new stuff.

If you love PAC-MAN (and you really should), you can go to the Google homepage today and play game after game after game (like I've been doing all afternoon). What a great way to celebrate the little yellow guy's 30th birthday.

easy valentine's petits fours

Look what I made. Cute, huh?

My children actually left me alone this morning long enough to make them.

You can make some too if you want.
Just go here for a good explanation and way better pictures.

{or come to cooking group tonight if you're in the neighborhood}

Fondant makes adorable little roses...almost good enough to eat.
{except I won't because it tastes like yuck}

for an entomologist

I must make this for my dad's next birthday.

It's perfectly gross.

He'd love it for sure.

I think red velvet cake would be a nice touch.

Gives me the willies just thinking about it.

hers

Why is Cate so sad?

a. She destroyed her cupcake before tasting it.
(I'm pretty sure she never tasted it.)

b. She's topless.

c. She's slowly slipping out of the highchair.

d. Getting old sucks.

Here's the cupcake before Cate got her hands on it.
You can stop squinting.
It is definitely blurry.

Happy first birthday,
Baby Cate.

She is still a baby.
Jarrett and I had this discussion when Danny turned one.
She's a baby until she learns how to walk.
Then she's a toddler.

More pictures and words to come.
Grouchy one-year-old and blurry cupcake will have to suffice for now.

jarrett's sixth, part two

More birthday fun
(on his actual birthday this time)

He'd already had a beautiful violet cake so I went with standard white with sprinkles this time. When he made his wish he whispered pretty loudly and made exaggerated lip movements. (Does that make sense? I guess you just had to be there.) It was pretty cute. I'd say he's a lucky kid to get to make birthday wishes twice.

After dinner and cake we headed outside. Dan played baseball with the kids. Cate mostly just watched and practiced her clapping skills. It looked like she was being a little cheerleader.

It's a good thing Kris knows there is a position called catcher. It's not such a good thing that he almost never catches the ball. That could be the pitcher's fault though.

I don't know what Dan was saying to Kris in this picture. It must have been something funny. Look at the expression on Kris' face. I love it! Dan's got a pretty good expression on his face too.

Later we came inside for a little Guitar Hero. Danny said he wanted to rock so Dan gave him a turn.

Danny said, "Look, Mama! Me rocking!"
Looks like Dan is too!

jarrett's sixth, part one

Dan has a birthday week every year. (One day is not sufficient to truly celebrate his mother's wonderful gift to the world.) It looks like Jarrett is catching on. He had a long birthday weekend. I'm pretty sure Jarrett hasn't figured out how to get the most out of his extended birthday though. Dan can give him some pointers for next year.

Jarrett had his party at the Legacy Center on Thursday. I made the cake. He wanted carrots on it and showed me where they should go. He also put the flowers on it. They are left over from Judy's wedding cake. That means those little dried fondant flowers are almost 9 years old! He chose purple too. I mixed it with white and he loved the "violet" (that's what he called it) that appeared after some stirring. So that is why this little boy has a light purple cake.

How about a little look back on all the cakes I've made for Jarrett over the past five years.

Fifth birthday: SpongeBob Square Pants
(Don't laugh. I did my best.
I was pregnant and had a 16-month-old
running around getting into everything.
I had a hard time concentrating.)

Fourth birthday: R2D2
(my favorite...and the most work)

Third birthday: a green fish
(It's still his favorite color.)

Second birthday: a truck
(Judging by the look on his face,
I'm not so sure he approved of this one.)

First birthday: a ball
(The frosting melted and started sliding off
the cake on the drive to Heber.)

Back to the party...

The boys played basketball.
Millie and Danny pushed Cate around.

Cate continued to perfect her startled look.

We ate pizza.

One out of three actually smiled for the picture.

Danny continued to perfect his tired look.
He probably opted out of his nap that day.

We sang to Jarrett.
Danny tried to make Dan stop singing.

Jarrett opened presents.
Danny gave him Lincoln Logs.
(linking logs according to Kris,
ginkin gogs according to Danny)

After the cake and presents
we all headed to the pool.
Hopefully the tubes didn't let
too much water into Danny's ears.

Danny splashed around for a while.
Then he rested.

Cate and I just watched.
She got rosy cheeks from the
rainforest-like conditions.

A good time was had by all.