Sister to Sister: Cane River Pound Cake

Hey Big Sis!

I was watching the weather tonight and it was so funny to me that when I lived out there in your neck of the woods it only snowed once but here in Chicago it snows from November til April. Man do I miss the south! LOL How was your Thanksgiving? I know the menfolk in your house waited to the last minute to ask for some baked desserts. What did you end up making? Everybody makes pies and cobblers but what abut us cake loving folks? What do we get in the fall. I know you’re going to bring up that Cane River Pound Cake recipe from a couple of years ago. Where did you find that recipe anyway? I think you have to be FROM Cane River to be able to make that! Big sis, I’ve never met a cake that I couldn’t conquer until that one. Let me tell you what happened.

It was one night a couple of days before Thanksgiving 2007 and I had the recipe in hand.

Cake Ingredients
2-1/4 cups sugar
8 ounces butter
6 whole eggs
2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons vanilla
2 tablespoons praline liqueur
1 ounce rum
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Icing Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/8 cup milk
1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon praline liqueur

Method:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter. Whip until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Sprinkle in flour and baking powder, a little at a time, until all is incorporated. Continue to whip until ingredients are well blended. Add milk, vanilla, praline liqueur, rum, pecans and coconut. Continue to whip until all ingredients are well blended. Oil and flour a tube or angel food cake pan and fill with the cake mixture. Bake in the center of the oven for one hour fifteen minutes or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the cake. Remember that many ovens cook at varying temperatures, so check cake often. Remove the cake and allow to cool. In a small saucepan, combine remaining butter and milk over medium high heat and add confectioners’ sugar and praline liqueur. You may wish to add a drop of your favorite food coloring. Remove the cake from the baking pan and paint with the praline glaze. Continue until all is used up.

I hadn’t been living here that long and Hassan was out in the truck on the road. I don’t remember who it was but somebody told me that there was a big liquor warehouse off of the Roosevelt exit….well hell I knew where that was so I got in the car and went looking for it. Me, at night, off the Roosevelt exit, looking for a liquor warehouse = PURE COMEDY but I found it and it was really a damn warehouse! So I’m inside asking for praline liqueur and the salesperson helping me said I should just call you and ask you to ship me some. So here I go…..smarty pants me…..I get what I think is closest to praline liqueur: some Godiva chocolate liqueur. Sounds good doesn’t it? Yeah I know it does. Well then the damn recipe called for coconut and you know I’m allergic to coconut so I figured it wouldn’t hurt if I just left it out.

Wait until I tell you how this cake turned out!

Thanks for visiting Diva (in Demand).  My blog escapades have followed me across 4 states, 3 jobs, a business venture, and a new husband. There are no mini divas yet but I have loads of nieces and nephews to slobber and wipe their dirty hands on me. I am an amateur pastry chef, certified cake decorator, and seasoned home cook who knows how to pair French cuiseine with fine wine, collard greens and cornbread. You'll find a little bit of everything around here.....where I take talking to myself to a whole new level.