Chocolate Town Cake

Cake
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1½ teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
2½ cups unsifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate mini chips

Cream butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add alternately with milk, beating after each addition. Stir in mini chips. Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 350º F for 60 to 70 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan and cool. Glaze.

Glaze
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup mini chips

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan; stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add mini chips, stirring until melted.

Patty

Orange Juice Cake

Cake
1 package yellow cake mix
1 3-ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs

Grease and flour a bundt pan. Pour pecans evenly through the bottom of the pan. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over nuts. Bake at 325º F for 50 to 60 minutes.

Glaze
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1 stick butter

Bring all ingredients to a boil for 2 minutes. Poke a few holes in the cake with a toothpick to help glaze penetrate the cake. Pour glaze over hot cake while still in the pan. Let stand 30 minutes. Remove from cake pan.

Jackie

Pineapple Skillet Sponge Cake

Pineapple
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
pineapple slices

Melt butter in a heavy skillet; add brown sugar. Arrange pineapple slices over mixture.

Batter
3 egg yolks
1½ cups sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1½ cups cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 stiff beaten egg whites

Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored, add 1/2 cup sugar, continue beating.  Add water, then fold in remaining cup of sugar sifted with flour, salt, and baking powder. Beat well and fold in egg whites. Pour over pineapple and bake in a 325º F oven for 45 minutes.

Beverly

Pound Cake

John's favorite!

3 cups sugar
3 sticks butter
5 large eggs or 6 small eggs
4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon brandy flavoring, or you know, actual brandy

Cream sugar and butter together until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time; beat until well-blended. Sift flour, add salt and baking powder. Add milk and flour mixture, alternating until all are used. Continue to beat, adding flavoring. Bake in a square tube cake pan, greased and floured, in a 250º or 300º F oven for 2 hours.

Mimi

Andy's Rum Cake

Special thanks to Andy Pedersen

Cake
1 cup finaly chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1 18.25-oz package plain yellow cake mix
1 3.5-oz package vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup rum
1/2 vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 325º F. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.  Thoroughly mix all cake ingredients, except nuts. Line Bundt pan with chopped nuts. Pour cake mixture into pan. Bake 50-60 minutes.  Allow to cool for 25 minutes. (Andy doesn't let it cool very long because it absorbs the sauce easier if it's still good and warm).

Rum Sauce
Recipe says:
1/4 cup rum
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Andy says:
1/2 cup rum
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Combine all sauce ingredients into a small saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes. (Andy says don't boil away any of that good rum - just get it hot and melt the sugar). Slowly pour sauce over the cake that is still in the Bundt pan. Allow to absorb and cool until it is only warm, then unmold onto a plate

Jim & Martha

Black Magic Cake

1¾ cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 Hershey cocoa
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup strong black coffee
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1/2 vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, coffee, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed with a hand mixer for 1 minute. Batter will be thin. Pour into greased and floured 13x9x2 pan or two 9" cake pans. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes for oblong pan or 30-35 minutes for cake pans.

Jackie & Jason

Applesauce Stack Cake

Applesauce Stack Cake is a West Virginia Heritage recipe. This particular version has been taken from several sources.

2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 pound solid shortening
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
8 cups flour
2 quarts cold homemade applesauce

Mix all the ingredients except the flour and applesauce, by hand. Add the flour a small amount at a time, the dough has to be stiff.
Pinch the dough into 16 balls of the same size. There are 8 layers to a cake. Take cake layer pans and turn them upside down, greasing lightly. Roll out or press with hands each layer to the size of a cake pan, and put on top of the upside down pan. Bake at 450 degrees, 8-12 minutes until brown. Three cake pans in the oven at a time can be baked. While hot, stack each layer and spread with applesauce. Sprinkle the top layer with powdered sugar. Store in the refrigerator overnight for enhanced flavor. Makes 2 cakes, but this recipe can easily be halved for just one cake.

Martha

Astoria Red Chocolate Cake

½ cup shortening
1 ½ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 heaping tablespoons cocoa
2 oz red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
2 & ¼ cups of cake flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 tbsp vinegar

Cream shortening, sugar & eggs. Make paste of food color & cocoa. Add paste to creamed shortening. Add buttermilk alternately with sifted flour & salt. Add vanilla. Hold vinegar over bowl, adding soda to vinegar, then add mix to cake & blend. Divide into two 8-inch cake pans. Bake in a 350º F oven for 24-30 min. Cool on rack. Split layers with coarse thread & frost 4 layers.

Frosting:

3 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup butter

Cook flour & milk until very thick, stirring constantly. (In microwave, cook 5 minutes, stirring every minute.) Cool. Cream sugar & butter plus vanilla until very fluffy. Add to cooled mixture & mix until well blended. Should be consistency of whipped cream. Frost the 4 cake layers.

Note: My family is all about the green so I use green food coloring instead of red. 

Laura

Fresh Apple Cake

2 medium apples
1 cup sugar
1&1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg
1/2 cup seedless raisins
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Peel & core apples, chop coarsely and mix with sugar in a large bowl. Let stand 10 min. Sift flour with soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Blend butter and egg into apple mixture, add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Fold in raisins and nuts, pour into greased 8” square pan. Bake at 350° for 50-55 min. Cool 10 min then remove from pan and cool on rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or serve with whipped cream.

Mimi