This is Gena's daughter, Baylee!
I just decided to tell you the reason why my mother has been slacking on blog-posting.
My mom cooks most nights and she has tons of drafts of posts but the pictures are missing. Our camera's memory card is a Lexar Pro Duo something and my moms laptop only takes SD cards. We bought the adapter so we could get pictures on her laptop but the adapter works with my laptop but not my moms. Therefore, the only way we can get her food pictures on her laptop is if we plug in the card to my computer and copy the pictures to a flashdrive and move them to her laptop. Which is a long and grueling process no one wants to do. Especially if we don't have a big enough flash drive. In the mean time, enjoy this draft my mom wrote a long time ago entitled "What Cake":
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One day when I was little, my aunt came over and there was a cake in the middle of the table. She called out to my mom in the kitchen and said, What kind of cake is this on the table?". My mom called back, "What Cake". My aunt said, "the cake in the middle of the table!" and again my mom said, "What Cake". My aunt started to get a little frustrated and she said, "Damn it, the cake sitting here on the table!!!!". Then my mom started laughing, she said, "That IS that name of the cake, it is called a What Cake!".
This story is from 35 years ago. I grew up in a family that did not have much money so one day when my dad came home with an Amana Radar Range we were excited. To this day I not sure how or where my Dad acquired that Radar Range but it changed the way we ate. My mom experimented with the recipes in the booklet that came with the oven. There was so much we could do with that little oven. I dug around on the Internet to see if there was a picture but I could not find the exact oven. This one was the closest one I could find. Very simple to use, put the food in and turn the dial to the number of minutes you need. If you opened the door, the oven stopped, close it and the oven would start back up if there was time on the dial.
My mom could make entire meals in that little oven. It actually continued to work for 20 years! A couple of years ago I came across two hand written recipes. One for What Cake and the other was for Fudge Cake. I was elated! These were the Amana Radar Range recipes my mom used to make and I loved them!
When I recently made this cake I did not have coconut or pecans so the topping ended up more like a syrup but it was still soooo good. The cake is incredibly moist and the spice is just right. Even after a couple of days the cake stayed moist. If the coconut and pecans are in the topping it sets up into a topping that is like a praline. This has be to my favorite cake! I am dying to try these as cupcakes!
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The recipe wasn't in the draft but I flipped through my moms cookbook and found it.
(Note: This is the recipe my grandma wrote down from the Amana Radarrange cookbook. The recipe is originally for a microwave, but I wrote down how to cook it in the oven.)
What Cake
1/2 c boiling water
1 c quick cooking oats
1 stick of butter
1 1/2 c of flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 c of sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
Pour boiling water over oats and butter which has been broken into chunks.
Stir until butter melts; set aside.
Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Add to oat mixture; mix well. Add sugar, then eggs and mix thoroughly. Bake in a 2 qt utility dish 12 mins in radarrange. Turn dish often. (Modernized: Bake in a 9 x 13 baking pan at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes)
Frost with What Cake Topping.
What Cake Topping
3/4 c brown sugar
2 tblsp milk
6 tblsp butter
1/2 c chopped pecans
1 c coconut
Combine sugar, milk, and butter in a 1 qt glass casserole. Bring to boil and continue cooking one minute in radarrange. Blend in pecans and coconut. (Modern version: Melt butter in a sauce pan, add brown sugar and stir over medium heat until sugar is mostly dissolved. Next, add coconut, pecans, and milk.) Spread on cake.
Enjoy ;)
_____________________________________________________
The recipe wasn't in the draft but I flipped through my moms cookbook and found it.
(Note: This is the recipe my grandma wrote down from the Amana Radarrange cookbook. The recipe is originally for a microwave, but I wrote down how to cook it in the oven.)
What Cake
1/2 c boiling water
1 c quick cooking oats
1 stick of butter
1 1/2 c of flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 c of sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
Pour boiling water over oats and butter which has been broken into chunks.
Stir until butter melts; set aside.
Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Add to oat mixture; mix well. Add sugar, then eggs and mix thoroughly. Bake in a 2 qt utility dish 12 mins in radarrange. Turn dish often. (Modernized: Bake in a 9 x 13 baking pan at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes)
Frost with What Cake Topping.
What Cake Topping
3/4 c brown sugar
2 tblsp milk
6 tblsp butter
1/2 c chopped pecans
1 c coconut
Combine sugar, milk, and butter in a 1 qt glass casserole. Bring to boil and continue cooking one minute in radarrange. Blend in pecans and coconut. (Modern version: Melt butter in a sauce pan, add brown sugar and stir over medium heat until sugar is mostly dissolved. Next, add coconut, pecans, and milk.) Spread on cake.
Enjoy ;)
