September 7: Five-Flavor Cake

It has been Calendar Girls tech week for me so my Saturday Cake has spilled over to a Monday Cake instead.  Although, it IS a three-day weekend, so I think I can get away with it on a "tech-nicality."

Tech week is the final week in the production period of a play when all of the elements come together on stage for the first time.  For weeks, the actors have been working in rehearsals, the scenic crew has been building the set in the shop, lighting and sound crews were plotting instruments and running cable, the properties designer has been shopping for the perfect thingamajig to sit on the perfect table in that one scene, etc...  The costume designer has been shopping for the perfect costume pieces, altering them to fit, building them when an (insert name, color, texture of piece here) doesn't already exist and has finally had a short break from dress rehearsals to bake a cake.

Sign at gelateria, Greenville

A time of bringing together different elements to make a cohesive whole seemed like the right time to try the Five-Flavor Cake.  In April, I took Autumn on a college visit to Furman University and afterward, she wanted to investigate downtown Greenville.  Greenville has a charming downtown with a nice variety of shops and restaurants.  We took a break for gelato and coffee before hitting the road back to Atlanta, and that is how I first laid eyes on a Five-Flavor Cake.  I thought it was so unusual that I took a picture of the sign to keep for future reference.

About a week after the Greenville trip, Keith and I attended a sale at the estate of Mary Nell and Dante Santacroce.  Mary Nell Santacroce was an award-winning, Atlanta actress best remembered for her portrayal of Miss Daisy in Driving Miss Daisy by Atlanta playwright, Alfred Uhry.  Mary Nell Santacroce taught theatre and speech at Georgia Tech and was a longtime leader and mentor for DramaTech theatre there.  Uhry is an alumnus of Druid Hills High School where our Autumn is a senior, taking theatre class in the Alfred Uhry Theatre.  This tech week has been especially busy for our family, because Keith has begun rehearsals for Othello, which he is directing at Dramatech.

At the estate sale, along with some drama books and vintage buttons, we bought Ramblin' Chefs from Georgia Tech a recipe book published by the Georgia Tech Women's Forum in 1985.  Lo, and behold, what recipe did I find, but one for a Five-Flavor Cake!  The recipe calls for one teaspoon each of coconut, vanilla, butter, rum and lemon extracts.  It seems the Greenville cake used almond instead of butter flavoring, but I decided to follow the recipe in the Tech cookbook.  There is also a glaze added after baking that requires another teaspoon of each flavor.

The cake went together easily and the batter was very fluffy and "frosting-like" according to Keith.  That fluffiness is probably due to the use of both butter and vegetable shortening in the cake.  There was a light, cookie-like crust around the edges of the top of the pan (I was tired and slightly over-filled the bundt pan).  Those little crunchy bits were scarfed-up in a hurry by Keith and Colin.   After taking a bite of the cake, Keith said "WOW."  It tastes like pound cake with a little something extra and it is superbly moist from the glaze.

Encore!  Encore!

Next week:  Lady Fingers for Tiramisu

March 28: Carrot Bundt Cake

My first dress rehearsal for Sweeney Todd at DramaTech is on Monday.  I am sleep deprived and I was at the theater for final fittings almost all day today.  So, I chose a cake from my collection of tried-and-true recipes.  It is getting close to Easter and bunnies love carrots, right?

This carrot cake recipe is from my mother's friend, Lisette.  It comes from a cookbook called Mama Never Cooked Like This by Susan Mendelson.  The book has a terrific recipe for spanikopita, too.

I didn't have time to frost the cake, so I just served the cream cheese frosting on the side!

The cake must go on!

 Next week:  Coconut Cake with Lemon Filling

March 7: Lemon Cheese Cake

March 10th is Judith Allgood Page's birthday.  Mama Judy is the primary reason that I have such a varied skill set.  She is the primary reason that my mother is an accomplished artist.

After her parents divorced, my mom was raised by her mother, Maggie, and her grandparents, Mama Judy and Papa (Calvin Thomas Page).  Judy was an incredibly talented but frustrated artist.  She drew and painted on scraps of brown paper grocery sacks just to have a creative outlet.  But, she was best known for her fine and fabulous sewing.  She created couture for all of the ladies and girls in our family.  Judy made doll clothes and trimmed hats for the little gift shop in College Park that she owned with her sister Bessie.  Judy made all of my mother's clothes, her trousseau, and the trousseaux for all of the cousins.  She copied designer garments worn my Jackie Kennedy for my mom to wear to college parties.

Mom modeling a May Queen dress in her room

Cousin Betty modeling Marie Antoinette

Judy created elaborate, intricate costumes.  She was asked to make costumes for the statuary at The Church of the Immaculate Conception for the saints' feast days plus gowns for that church's May Queen (child pageant).  She made a pink Marie Antoinette costume for my mother to wear to the Roosevelt High School French Club Versailles costume party and used tea to stain the pink lace to perfectly match the taffeta.

The next year's French Club party was in a Mardi Gras theme; for that, she built a Spanish dancer costume that I recycled for one of my high school costume dances in the 1980's.  Cousin Pat commented recently that Judy "could have given Edith Head a run for her money."

Me as a Spanish Dancer c.1984

Judy made all of my baby clothes.  She made me a blue corduroy, ice-skating costume for my lessons from The Ice Capades school when I was ten-years-old.  She even lined the matching bloomer-briefs with waterproofing so that my bottom wouldn't get cold and wet when I inevitably fell!

Dorothy Hamill's got nothin' on me!

But, most importantly, she taught me how to sew.  I sit here today in the midst of production as the Costume Designer for Sweeney Todd at DramaTech Theatre at Georgia Tech (opens April 3rd).  I think about Mama Judy every time I sit down at the sewing machine.  I know she's cussing along with me when I make a mistake and have to rip out the seams, especially during the all-nighters.

Cooking lemon cheese in double boiler

So, I am taking a break from sewing today to bake her favorite cake, a lemon cheese.  She also loved coconut cake with lemon filling and Japanese fruit cake at Christmas.  Sensing a citrus pattern?  Many people think that I mean lemon cheesecake when I refer to a lemon cheese.  It is actually a simple 1-2-3-4 cake with tangy, rich lemon cheese (lemon curd) as the filling and icing.  Judy always made it with four layers to allow the most lemon filling, so I have done the same.

But now, I had better get back to the sewing room...


Next Saturday: Boston Cream Pie