A New Cake – Peanut Butter Cake

I am sure others besides me like to go to meetings where there is a need to carry a covered dish.  Since I work, it is always a little difficult to put something together.  I always loved to take a Squash Casserole that had Pepperidge Farm Stuffing mix in it but that requires that I make it the night before and put it in the refrigerator and then Sweetie had to  be responsible for putting it in the oven an transporting it to the dinner.  This dinner is at the church where I had attended before Brad and I got together and lots of old friends are there and some have gone on to be with the Lord.  Anyway, I still love to go and my friends have learned to love my sweetie too.  We both just walk around and talk to people that we don’t get to see but once a month.

I have been working on a cookbook for our church’s 175^th Anniversary and one of my friends had sent a recipe for a Peanut Butter Cake.  When I was proofing the recipe, I knew I just had to make this one and today I decided that the Braves were on and also Golf so this would be a fine time to bake the cake.  So I started to bake this cake:  

Peanut Butter Cake from Nancy Dempsey

1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick butter
1 small can evaporated milk
Dash of salt
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
¼ c. peanut butter

Prepare cake according to directions on the box.  Pour into 9 x 13 glass or metal pan.  Bake according to directions.  Cake must be cool before adding icing.

For icing, in a medium size boiler put sugar, butter, milk and salt.  Cook on medium head stirring continually until mixture comes to a rolling boil.  Cook for 2 more minutes continuing to stir mixture.  Remove boiler from stove and stir vanilla flavoring and peanut butter until mixed thoroughly. L Use an electric mixer to continue mixing icing.  Mix for 4 minutes or until icing begins to have a glassy glaze.  Pour over cake.

Well, off I go to bake the cake would you believe nowhere in this house do I have a Yellow Cake Mix.  Ok, I remember that mother has a recipe for a 1-2-3-4 Butter Cake which would be just a plain cake.  I believe that would do for the cake, so off to the internet I go and sure enough, I find a recipe for a 1-2-3-4 Butter Cake and start gathering the ingredients together.  Well, glory be, I do not have 3 cups of self-rising flour.  I will not be defeated, I know cooks of yore did not have self-rising flour so the internet knows everything and should surely know how to bake self-rising flour.  Well, of course, I found just what I was looking for and I did have plain flour and baking powder and salt.  That is all it called for and said to simply add 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ¼ teaspoon of salt per cup of plain flour.  Ok.  That was easy enough and I got the batter together and as I was getting my metal pan out, I thought “I think sweetie would want some of this cake!”  Of course, I rummaged around and found a small dish that I put cranberry sauce in at Christmas time and made him a little cake.  It won’t be missed at the dinner and I will feel better about giving him some sweets.  He does love the sweet stuff and he has not gained any weight back from the hospital bought last October, therefore, he can surely enjoy and use the calories.

I could not find a mixer.  I know I had two but someone else probably needed them and baked more than me during the divorce, HA!  Oh well.  I found a little Cuisinart chopper that you could put in the pot and it whirled around and stirred the icing up and I suspect what we are doing is cooling the icing so it can be useable.  I also decided to cut a few holes in the top of the cake to allow the icing to run down in the cake layer.  I at least like it better that way.  I also think I did not wait long enough for the layer to cool and perhaps did not have the icing cool enough when I decided, I was tired and wanted to get finished so, I put the icing on the cakes.  Of course, I had to let Brad lick the beater and spoon.  Do parents to day let their kids lick the spoon and beater?  If they do not ever then they are missing some good memories.  Sterile, of course it is because when I wash dishes the water is scalding hot for rinsing and the wash water is fairly hot and so many things today are dishwasher safe and I, as others, always use the sterilize setting on it.  I remember the energy crisis of 70’s when we were to conserve because things had gotten so very high.  I continued to use my dry cycle at that time because I had a family of 4 children and I did not want anyone spreading germs.  We all stayed well.  I have also had a drain out of whack and I would catch the drain water from the dishwasher in a pail and empty it and replace the drain so I could use the dishwasher.  OK, I am a city slicker but it is my kind of Almost Country Living.