Table-Foods: The JOY of Mockingbird cake

Okay…so I just opened the number 12 on my Advent Calendar and the news said today was the busiest shipping day of the month. Thanks all of you who get our packages where we want them to be for Christmas, but I’ve been baking instead of shipping. Before I tell you about the recipe…here is how it came to be! Remember how I told you about how I walk everyday???? Well, since early Spring last year, my walking buddy and I have been watching a hawk that circles our neighborhood. It is a beautiful sight as it catches an air current and glides across the sky. It’s a red-tailed hawk that has a piercingly loud cry that has a descending pitch that is immediately recognizable. We always turn to one another and say, “Oh…there’s the hawk!” So, last week as we walked we heard the hawk. We stopped and looked up through the trees. The hawk cry was quite close…like right above our heads. We both searched, looking for this large beautiful bird. Nothing! We heard the cry again…no hawk, but again the hawk cry. Then, fluttering across the limb above me…a mockingbird. A mockingbird making the exact call of the red-tailed hawk AND WE LAUGHED, AND LAUGHED! What big sounds to come out of such small bird. Here’s one that visits my backyard. Sometimes I get the entire standup show with a rapid-fire string of all the sounds this little bird likes to imitate.

This same bird also does a mean cardinal imitation! One little female listens too!!

So last night, I needed a cake to take to our choir Christmas party and I thought…what would be a good Christmas cake to celebrate! I immediately thought…hummingbird….no…..pig pickin’…no….coconut, nothing says Christmas cake like coconut. And then it hit me! Mockingbird Cake will be the one I will make. I will do a little imitation of all THREE of these and make a cake that cries…CHRISTMAS!!!! Thanks to you little mockingbird for your inspiration and a new cake for Christmas!

Mockingbird Cake

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Prep two 9 inch round cake pans as follows:

(for those who have asked how to line cake pans with paper easily)

Tear two sheets of wax paper the width of the pans. You can fold both sheets together and fold in half long wise and then bring ends together to create a square.

Fold square into a triangle two times creating an arrow shape.

Measure by holding the arrow of paper and from the center of pan to edge and using scissors, cut across the wide end of the arrow.

Unfold!

You now will have 2 circles that will fit the cake pans.

Spray the pans and place the wax paper in the bottom. Spray paper again and then dust pan and paper with unbleached all purpose flour.

Now, measure ½ cup of dried cranberries into a microwaveable bowl. Pour 1/3 cup of peach brandy on the cranberries and place in the microwave for 1minute. (You could certainly use orange juice, or apple juice…the peach brandy just adds another layer in the fruit flavors of the cake) Allow the dried cranberries to macerate while making the rest of cake.

Drain small can of mandarin oranges and save the juice.

(Get the oranges packed in pear juice or another juice, not heavy syrup.)

Finely chop enough of the well drained oranges to measure ¼ cup.

Sift the following dry ingredients into a large bowl:

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 ½ cups natural granulated sugar

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. all spice

Stir in 1 cup of finely chopped pecans and mix dry ingredients well.

Measure 3 tsp. of EnerG (dry egg replacer) and whisk in 4 T. of the juice from the drained mandarin oranges. Allow EnerG to fully dissolve while measuring the remaining ingredients.

Smash 1and ½ to 2 bananas (enough to measure ¾ cup)

Combine:

½ cup unsweetened applesauce (jarred or homemade)

1 (8 oz.) can of crushed pineapple do NOT drain

¾ cup smashed banana

¼ cup finely chopped mandarin orange segments

½ cup plumped dried cranberries (this includes any juice or brandy not absorbed by dried fruit…most all liquid will be absorbed)

Add fruit into bowl with dry ingredients.

Then add:

½ cup canola oil

½ cup almond milk

2 tsp. of pure vanilla

Stir well by hand…no need for a mixer with this cake. EASY!!!

Divide batter evenly between the two cake pans. Smooth top and place in the pre-heated 350 degree oven. I like to place the rack in the middle of the oven to bake cakes. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. The cake will be firm to touch in the center and a toothpick will come out cleanly. Allow the cakes to cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Then run a thin knife around the edge of the cake and invert onto a cooling rack. Peel off the wax paper from the cake bottom gently.

I have small square racks that allow me to then right the cake so the top of the cake is up and the bottom is against the cooling rack.

You can ice the cake the same day that you make it, but I prefer to allow the cake to cool completely, then wrap it well in film wrap and then ice it the next day. The important thing is to allow the cake to COOL COMPLETELY before icing.

While cake is cooling I make the garnishes for the cake. I sugared some fresh cranberries and fresh rosemary. I picked some rosemary out in the garden…it is feeling like December, but this hearty herb is as green as ever. I just love having my fresh rosemary and thyme when the other herbs have died out from the cold.

The other bit of joy comes in seeing the camellia’s blooming. How lucky are we to have beautiful flowers in spite of the chilly temperatures.

Joy!

So I took the fresh rosemary and coated it in some of the EnerG dissolved in water like it was egg white. I then sugared the rosemary with some natural sugar and allowed it to dry. I did the same for the cranberries only I used some colored sugar I had in the cupboard.

It looks just like a snowy Christmas card when complete!

But back to Icing the cake…..

Icing Recipe:

I always make more icing than I need. I cannot stand barely having enough icing and making it stretch to ice the cake properly. You will have enough to put on additional cupcakes during your holiday baking. Just put leftover icing into a container and keep it in the refrigerator.

2 sticks of Earth Balance (room temperature)

8 oz. of vegan cream cheese (room temperature)

(Allowing the earth balance and vegan cream cheese to come to room temperature allows it to be creamed more easily and smoothly!!!!)

Zest of 1 medium size orange

Juice of ½ of the orange

2 tsp. of pure vanilla

2 lbs. of confection powdered sugar

Cream the earth balance and vegan cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add zest, juice, and vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing until smooth and the spreading consistency you like. It may not take all of the sugar or it might take a bit more – it’s all about the day!! I like the frosting a bit stiffer so it is easy to spread, but loose enough to be fluffy.

Now take cooled cake, either fresh or next day after being wrapped, and level it with a thin, serrated knife. This cake is very level, but I like to take off a VERY THIN layer from the top of all cakes. I then place the first cake layer on the cake plate and slide strips of wax paper under the bottom edge of the cake. (It takes 4 strips) Do the same leveling to the second layer.

Put several large spoonfuls of icing onto the first layer, and carefully spread icing from the center to not quite the edge of the cake. When placing the second layer of cake on the filling, it will squish to the edge. The amount of icing depends totally on how much icing you like. I like about ¼ of an inch, but again it is up to your preference when eating cake. Now top the icing with the second layer of cake.

Ice the sides of the cake first. This cake is so moist and because it has a denser texture (like a carrot cake) a crumb, skim coat of icing to hold the cake crumbs in place is not necessary. Just carefully ice the sides using an off-set spatula.

Then Ice the top and smooth the icing on top and sides again. It does not have to be perfectly smooth.

BECAUSE….coconut snow is now going over all the icing. Just carefully pat it all over. I place the cake plate on a baking sheet to catch any wayward coconut so I can easily scoop it up and use it for the next sprinkle of coconut. Continue until all the icing is covered with coconut flakes!

Now using a knife, carefully push the knife against the bottom edge of the cake and pull out the wax paper that is protecting the plate from being covered in icing and coconut. Continue until all four pieces are out and you have a clean edge. I use the knife to push everything back in place. I piped an edge around the bottom of the cake, but it is just fine to leave it as is…totally up to whether you like to pipe icing. Just takes a little practice with the bag and piping tips and gives the cake a finished look. Add the sugared cranberries and rosemary made earlier.

I placed some around the bottom….

And some on top…..

Oh….what a little mimicker mockingbird cake…hehe!!!

Don’t you just LOVE cake!!! We love cake here in the South, especially at Christmas. It brings joy to the party…it just does! Which brings me to my word this week, JOY! Yes, the third candle we lit yesterday on our Advent wreath was the pink candle…the JOY candle.

Like peace, joy has nothing really to do with life circumstances. Joy is a gift that is within…it is this byproduct produced from just fully enjoying the moment. Don’t you find that when you truly enjoy something like a beautiful song – joy just wells up from within you??? That so happened while the choir was singing yesterday. A beautiful, college student sits next to me in choir. We were singing, “Joy to the World”. The organ was full, and the brass was soaring. Our voices joined in this grand final phrase, “And wonders of His love” and Allison whispered, “NOW, it’s Christmas!” Thankfully, it isn’t quite, but I fully understood that feeling. This young woman’s finals were over, she was about to go back to her hometown and be with family. The swelling experience that surrounded us up in that choir loft can only be described as pure JOY. We were taking in and enjoying that moment. Joy came like a wave over, and around, and within us! Everyone was smiling. Joy is a way of experiencing life. Joy is seeing the glass ½ full, looking at the silver lining, not giving into despair. Joy makes smiles spontaneously appear. Like what happened when we were trying to get the pugs to dress up in their Santa hats.