Shawna Moore's Way to a Man's Heart Cake

Something a little different today...as in a sexier read :-). Enjoy Shawna's cake, and the link to her excerpt. The cake definitely looks like one I'll have to try, and now that bathing suit season is about over, I can hide those extra pounds under some jeans ;-)

Well before I started Kindergarten, my fascination with mixing sundry ingredients provided many hours of play and escape. My first memory of cooking takes me back to a Saturday morning in my maternal grandmother’s cozy kitchen. Grandma always made everything taste so delicious. The day before my visit with Grandma, my first-grade teacher went around the room and asked us all to tell her what we liked for breakfast. I wasted no time making everyone aware of my fondness for scrambled eggs. I also revealed our classroom discussion to my grandmother. She cracked one egg into a small plastic bowl for me, poured in a little milk and gave me a fork. Wow. This was great. She was going to let me make something. I got on my knees on one of the kitchen chairs and started whipping the egg around in the bowl as I’d seen her do so many times. Only one thing I did wrong—I removed my hand from the bowl and kept right on beating the egg. The bowl tipped over and the slimy contents spilled out. Two lessons learned that day—even one egg can make a royal mess, and never let go of any bowl in which you’re mixing something. All ended well with some paper towel swipes and a thorough scrubbing of my hands at the sink. Yes, indeed, Grandma taught me to wash my hands well after trying to run damage control and scoop up spills such as those caused by raw eggs. Since then, I’ve only ruined one other culinary creation – a Béarnaise sauce. But it truly wasn’t my fault my filet remained naked on the serving plate. Across the room stood a handsome, blue-eyed member of our adult cooking class, whisking his saucy concoction and stirring more than my imagination. Long story short, the remainder of my meal received praise from the instructor/chef, and she found humor in my mind wandering. Never since then have I indulged in man watching while simmering sauce.

Although I enjoy cooking, much of my creative energy is channeled into my writing. My latest fiction release, ROUGHRIDER, features a salt-of-the-Earth hero who lives as hard as he loves, plays as hard as he works (read an excerpt here). And he’ll go to any lengths to make sure those close his heart come to no harm. He’s learned the hard lesson that love is harder won than any rodeo trophy. After a solid day’s work on the ranch he co-manages, Jack Dodson would love a hearty slice of my favorite homemade cake. The recipe follows. Enjoy!

Way to a Man’s Heart Cake

Ingredients:

½ c. cocoa powder, unsweetened (I use Hershey's)
½ c. boiling water
2 ¼ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¾ c. sugar
2/3 c. shortening
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 1/3 c. buttermilk

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Flour and grease two nine-inch round baking pans. In a small bowl, combine water and cocoa until mixture is smooth. Set this bowl aside. In the large mixer bowl, combine shortening, vanilla and sugar until the consistence is fluffy. To this mixture add the two eggs and beat well. In a third bowl sift together baking soda and flour and add salt. Gradually add these dry ingredients to the shortening mixture while also incorporating the buttermilk. Finally, blend in the cocoa mixture and beat well.

Pour your batter into the baking pans which you’ve greased and floured. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick you’ve inserted into the cake’s center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on cake rack for 10-15 minutes. Then, remove the cake layers from the pans and place the cake layers onto the racks for complete cooling.

Note: This cake serves 8-10

Fabulous Frosting

6 tbsp. butter or margarine, softened (butter makes this recipe bakery rich)
½ c. cocoa powder, unsweetened (I use Hershey's)
1/3 c. milk
2 2/3 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract


In a small mixer bowl, soften the butter or margarine. To the softened butter, add the cocoa and powdered sugar alternately along with the milk. Beat this mixture until it reaches a creamy, spreadable consistency. If you prefer frosting with a thinner texture, you may add more milk accordingly during the mixing process. Add the vanilla and blend for several more mixer rotations.

Note: This will yield approximately 2 c. of frosting


Wishing you all peace, love and prosperity…

Shawna Moore
http://www.grant-moore.com/