Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Sherry Wright shares this cake recipe in response to a request by Janice Smith.
Back in January, Smith requested a recipe for Rita's Soggy Cake that had appeared in a cookbook compiled by Wal-Mart employees many years ago.
"I heard back from someone who found this recipe, although not from the Wal-Mart cookbook. Maybe it's close enough. I hope it helps," Wright writes.
The recipe is from Thenerdnest.com.
Soggy Granny Cake
Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Frosting:
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons milk
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
To make the cake:
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, salt and baking soda and mix well.
In a saucepan, combine the butter, shortening, cocoa and water and cook, stirring, just until mixture comes to a boil.
Add the cocoa mixture, along with the vanilla, eggs and buttermilk to the flour mixture. Mix on a low speed until ingredients are completely combined.
Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa, butter, vanilla and milk and bring to a boil.
After removing cake from the oven, poke holes in the cake and pour the frosting over the cake, letting it seep into the cake.
Serve warm.
If recipes that appear in Idea Alley are any indication of what Alley Kats are craving, I think it is safe to say we're ready for Arkansas strawberries.
This recipe, shared by Christine Klinger, is from Full Plate: Generous Servings of Ozark Hospitality, Recipes from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville. For more information about the cookbook, visit stpaulsfay.org/cookbook.html or call (479) 442-7373.
Strawberry-Cream Cheese Trifle
Strawberry Layer:
8 cups fresh strawberries
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons almond-flavored liqueur or extract, or to taste
Cream Cheese Layer:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar
8 ounce sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided use
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 pint heavy cream
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 (16-ounce) purchased angel food cake, torn into bite-size pieces
Hull, cap and thinly slice the strawberries.
In a medium bowl, gently but thoroughly stir together the berries, sugar and almond liqueur. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until well blended. Blend in sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and the almond extract. Set aside.
In a third bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks. Gently stir in the remaining vanilla and granulated sugar. Carefully fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Add cake pieces to mixture, stirring gently to combine. Set aside.
Layer the trifle in a large, clear glass bowl with straight sides with one-third of the strawberries on the bottom, then half of the cream cheese mixture, another layer of one-third of the strawberries, followed by the remaining cream cheese mixture. Top with the remaining strawberries. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled.
Makes about 24 servings.
Send recipe requests, contributions and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; email:
kbrant@arkansasonline.com
Please include a daytime phone number.
Food on 04/22/2015