The 2010 Goodie Tour: A Holiday Penuche Treat
by
Danielle Thorne, author of BY HEART AND COMPASS and other Romantic Adventures.
Happy Holidays! Thanks for letting me visit today, Stephanie. This is my first December stop for my Goodie Tour that began in November. I thought it would be fun to share my favorite sweet recipes with some of my sweet reads for the holidays.
Today I’m excited to share my Spice Cake with Penuche Frosting recipe, one I picked out especially for this blog because I know, you, Stephanie, have traveled all around the world. This simple spice cake, with all of the exotic flavors of cinnamon and cloves, is topped with a thick Penuche Frosting that goes on warm and liquid then hardens to a brown sugar crust. It is a glorious icing and fits perfectly with a spice cake recipe I collected from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook over twenty years ago. Spice Cake with Penuche Frosting is one of my favorite holiday temptations.
Try this delicious cake for the holidays and bring your family and friends sweet bliss!
SPICE CAKE WITH PENUCHE FROSTING
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
¾ teaspoon of baking soda
¾ teaspoon of cloves
¾ teaspoon of cinnamon
2/3 cup of shortening
¾ cup of brown sugar
1 cup of buttermilk or sour milk
3 eggs
½ cup of walnuts or pecans
Combine the first seven ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add shortening, brown sugar and milk. Mix until flour is moistened. Beat two minutes. Add eggs. Beat two minutes more. Stir in nuts. Turn into greased and lightly floured cake pan. (May use two 9-inch round cake pans or one 9X13.) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until cake is golden brown. Cool before frosting.
Penuche Frosting
½ cup of butter
1 cup of brown sugar
¼ cup of milk
3 cups of powdered sugar
In a saucepan, melt butter and stir in brown sugar. Cook and stir until bubbly. Remove from heat and add milk, beating until smooth. By hand, beat in powdered sugar. Pour over cake and spread. Icing will harden.
Yummy stuff!
For a sweet read to go with your holiday, escape to the Caribbean where legends of pirate ships and buried treasure still run rampant. Check out my recent release, BY HEART AND COMPASS! Here’s a little taste:
When Lacey Whitman buys a restored Victorian home, she never dreams discovering an antique diary will lead her back to sea and into the arms of the dive bum she’d rather forget. Her habit of living in the past comes to a screeching halt as diver Max Bertrand and the diary of his ancestor take Lacey on the quest of a lifetime: To discover and raise the privateer ship, Specter, and bring the treasure and legacy of a true hero home again. But will finding it cost her heart?
Desert Breeze Publishing: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-96/Danielle-Thorne-By-Heart/Detail.bok
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/By-Heart-and-Compass-ebook/dp/B003U8AFIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1291315466&sr=1-1
Thanks again, Stephanie, and Happy Holidays to you and all of your readers!
Danielle Thorne
Website: www.daniellethorne.jimdo.com
Blogging at: www.thebalancedwriter.blogspot.com
Visit Me!
Dani,
ReplyDeleteThat spice cake sounds so yum!! I am definately going to add it to my Christmas menu. LOL!!
By Heart and Compass is a great read. I enjoyed the adventure in the story. Can't wait for your prequel release, The Priveeter.
Smiles
Steph
Hi, Danielle and Steph--I can taste this cake. I believe I have made it--at least one very similar--dozens of times in my life--from a 1958 Betty Crocker Cookbook--which I still have, ringbinder, but I had to tape it together using duct tape. Love spice cake!
ReplyDeleteI loved your book, but you know that already!
Keep up the good work and congratulations. Celia
Thank you for the post, Danielle and Stephanie. "By Heart and Compass" sounds like a fun read. I really dig adventure romances in which the plot is brisk and both the setting and characters are colorful.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
Thanks for stopping by, ladies. Hope you enjoy the cake and the adventures. Celia--my 1988 BH&G cookbook is abt falling apart. But it's such a dependable old friend!
ReplyDeleteI still have, and use, my mother's copy of "Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook", a one-volume binder-style encyclopedia of recipes and tips for cooking and dining. Of course it's no collector's item; it's in terrible shape. She used it extensively, and with me it's getting in worse.
ReplyDeleteThe title page is missing, so I don't know exactly when McGraw-Hill and General Mills published this edition. But I can tell by the clothing and hairstyles of the women in the illustrations that it must have come out circa 1950.
And what a treasure trove of the culinary art! And sometimes following the recipes can be an adventure. Once in a while the ingredients and equipment are hard to find, if available at all. And there weren't any microwave ovens back then, or some convenience foods we now take for granted. Still, every time I crack open these stained, ratty pages, I relish the thrill of discovery.
Of course, I can find just about every recipe on the Internet. But for me at least, entering words in a Google search box can't match the emotion, the meaning, the deep-down sense of connection I get when I look through Mom's old cookbook!
Oh, man... my mouth is watering. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a question about your book... is it "Sweet" or an Inspy? Sounds like you have written a great story.
Hi JoAnn, glad you like the recipe. It IS good. I could eat the icing by itself.
ReplyDeleteMy book(s) all have sweet romance story lines but they are not Inspirationals--more adventure/romances I'd say. ;)
I'm with you Mary Anne, old cookbooks make the best cookbooks!
ReplyDeleteHi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteYummy receipt. Love pirates and hidden treasure books.
regards
Margaret
I definitely saved that recipe to try out this season! Thanks for sharing it. :)
ReplyDeleteHi DAnielle, I am following you all over to get those wonderful recipes. So clever of you to do a recipe blog tour. This recipe is one I must try. I love the penuche taste. And I've already tried your book and loved it, too.
ReplyDeleteMy Home EC. teacher gave me a BH&H cookbook, which I still use constantly, when I married. And only she could have known how much I needed it! Wishing you continued success with your book. Linda S.
Hi Danielle, I'm not big on cooking but my BH&G cookbook (about the age of yours - from 1987) is often pulled down.
ReplyDeleteI have this book downloaded and hope to be able to get to it during the holidays. :-)
I have 3 major cookbooks I use, The American Family Home cook book from 1986. I bought in the Army. Then I have BH&G New Cookbook from 1989 - also another grab in the Army. Then I like Cook it Quick from Weight Watchers from 2002. I need quick and healthy and that book is great for it.
ReplyDeleteDani, thanks so much for popping in and teasing our appetites. It was great to have you.
Smiles
Steph