Summer Squash Spice Cake from The Victory Garden Cookbook

My sister Penelope is seen holding the very pretty, moist, and delicious birthday cake she made for my husband this summer.  The recipe was taken from the Victory Garden Cookbook authored by Marian Morash, 1982 edition. Edible flowers were used for decoration. Very whimsical. Tres fey.

Ingredients for the cake:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon  
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups grated summer squash

Ingredients for the Icing:

• 1/2 cup of melted butter
• 3.5 cups of sifted icing sugar
• a couple of tablespoons of oat milk (or any orther kind of milk)
• teaspoon vanilla extract

Methods:

Sift together the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla together.

Beat in the dry ingredients. Stir in the grated squash. Pour into a greased  8 x 8 inch pan. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

When the cake is cooled, mix together the ingredients for the icing and spread evenly over the surface of the cake.

Notes from Penelope: I used medium brown sugar, grapeseed oil, and peeled and seeded a yellow zucchini before grating it. I used parchment paper to line the pan.

Plum Jam...those with diabetes should avert their eyes

Plum jam is significantly easier to make than strawberry jam, and for my money, it's tastier. It's basically plums, pectin, and absolutely massive amounts of sugar.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of diced plums (pits removed but do not peel them). I used yellow plums.
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 57 gram box of CERTO (the pectin)
• 8 flippin' cups of granulated sugar

Methods:

Wash the plums and cut out the pits. Then roughly chop the plums.  They basically dissolve during the cooking process so this can really be a rough chop. Place them in a large pot. Add the box of CERTO and 1/2 cup of water and bring the mixture to a boil, simmer 5 minutes. Add the sugar and bring to a rolling boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and stir for 5 minutes to avoid all the fruit floating to the top of your jars. Pour into warm sterilized jars up to 1/4 inch from the rim. Cover with sterilized lids and rims and wait for the pop that indicates a vacuum seal. Bob's your uncle.

Double Chocolate Coffee Cake by Rose Reisman

I see a lot of recipes on Instagram. Usually, I save them on my phone where they reside in perpetuity. However, this chocolate coffee cake recipe posted on Instagram by Canadian icon Rose Reisman looked pretty good and I was having guests, so I decided to try it out. As per many coffee cake recipes, it contains sour cream and cinnamon. The consensus was, this cake is a an Instagram winner.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream or yogurt
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Topping:

• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon 
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Methods:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together the sugars, oil, eggs and sour cream. Then mix in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips.

Poured the batter into an oiled 9 inch springform pan. Mix together the topping ingredients, then spread evenly over the top of the batter. Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes. 

If you happen to use a smaller tin, make sure that you bake the cake as long as it takes to have a toothpick inserted into the cake come out clean. 

Very Expensive Strawberry Jam

Not sure how much fresh strawberries cost in your neck of the woods, but where I live, they are outrageously expensive. However, one must make strawberry jam. This year, I made it without adding pectin. The mashed fruit to sugar ratio was 1:1. I added a single large lemon's worth of juice as per recommendations for making strawberry jam without CERTO. Then boil, boil, boil.

I might return to using CERTO next year.