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This has turned out to be one of the most beautiful springs I recall in Nashville with redbud, dogwood, cherry, and now azaleas in bright full bloom. It has also turned out to be one of the most costly seasons as we can’t decide what is getting more expensive—gasoline or food? We can carpool and consolidate errands to buy less gasoline. Saving money at the grocery store is just as challenging but a bit more enjoyable.

Last night I grilled flank steaks that had been marinating for two days in an oil, vinegar, and garlicky marinade in the fridge. The leftovers are going into black bean chili for tonight. Dry black beans are soaking as I write this column. I will cook them until tender with onion and garlic, then fold in the chopped flank steak, canned tomatoes, cumin and chili powder and cook down until thickened. To the side—corn cakes on the griddle, like my mom used to make, using white corn meal mix—and a green salad.

And because the cost of lettuce is rising, I’m putting in a salad garden by my back door. I may have to compete with the rabbits for it but at least I’ll feel I am doing my part to bring our grocery bill down.

Cooking well and saving money may take practice but it can turn out delicious results. Some of my favorite meals are what I call “peasant food”—beans and rice, stratas, stews, and pot roast. They are flavorful, feed many, and are loved by all.

Here are a few of my suggestions for making the most out of this expensive time at the supermarket:

• Learn to love peasant food—beans of all types, pasta, meatless meals, and omelets.
• Cook lentils and serve with yellow rice and garlic bread. Follow the package directions, and I use a couple of chicken bouillon cubes for flavor, added to the water, as well as two bay leaves, four whole cloves, a chopped half of an onion, and two chopped carrots. Cook 40 minutes, until they are soft. We love lentils with grilled fish, especially salmon, and with sausages, too.
• Cook your own whole roasted chicken and get a second meal out of it by removing the meat from the bones and turning it into tomorrow night’s chicken potpie. Or make chicken salad, chicken burritos, or chicken soup on day two.
• Clean out the fridge, knowing what’s in there so foods don’t go to waste.
• Buy generics if they are less costly. I buy store-brand tomatoes and beans all the time.
• Stop eating out and begin eating in. Take your lunch to work. Brew your own cup of coffee at home.
• Plant a vegetable garden for summertime harvesting.
• And since you already like to bake, you’re way ahead of the game. Bake, don’t buy! Save by buying chocolate chips, vanilla, oil, eggs, and other staples at warehouse stores. Try the 365 Whole Foods semisweet chocolate chips—they taste like premium but less expensive than the gourmet brands. Buy butter if it ever goes on sale and store it in the freezer up to six months. Freeze leftover cookies and bars for future meals.

I’d love to hear your money-saving ideas! Let’s call these ideas Cheap Eats. Send them to anne@cakemixdoctor.com. We’ll share them on the Cake Mix Doctor homepage. For the month of May, the best idea of the week gets a copy of the “Cheap. Fast. Good” cookbook from Workman. It was written by the authors of Desperation Dinners and is filled with great ideas for saving money on food.

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But a more travel-friendly and year-round cake is the following recipe, which I adapted from one sent to me from Jerrie Chilcote of Nashville. This is similar to a lemonade cake her friend makes and you can prepare it with pink lemonade or limeade. Jerrie suggests using prepared white or lemon frosting, but I prefer the whipped cream. Bake and serve right from the pan with sliced fresh strawberries - perfect for spring. Enjoy!

Pink Lemonade Party Cake

Makes 16 to 20 servings
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 to 35 minutes

1 package (18.25 ounces) lemon cake mix (plain or with pudding)
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
Glaze:
1 6-ounce container frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
Frosting:
2 cups sweetened whipped cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Mist a 13-by 9-inch metal baking pan. Dust with flour and shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.
2. Place the cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and increase the mixer speed to medium. Blend for 2 minutes or until the batter lightens. Turn the batter into the pan, smooth the top, and place the pan in the oven.
3. Bake the cake until the center springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let rest 15 minutes.
4. For the glaze, combine the lemonade concentrate and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Poke a long-tined fork into the top of the warm cake every 1/2-inch, wiping the fork occasionally to remove crumbs. Drizzle the lemonade glaze over the top of the cake.
5. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill, for 2 hours. Remove the pan from the refrigerator, spread the whipped cream over the top, slice and serve.
Note: It is sometimes hard to find a 6-ounce can of pink lemonade concentrate. You can buy a 12-ounce can, thaw and just use 3/4 cup.

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I always love to travel to Florida on tour (especially when it’s cold in Nashville!) and see Libbie Jae, a great cook, caterer, and media escort. When I was in Tampa, Libbie was catering a large party and told me the cutest way to present salad for a crowd. She made phyllo cups to hold the salad, and placed these on a pretty platter. To make the cups, line large muffin tins with three layers of phyllo pastry you have brushed with melted butter between each layer. Press the phyllo into each cup, then bake at 350 degrees for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the pan from the oven, let the cups cool, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely. Can bake the day ahead of serving.

And food stylist extraordinaire Gloria Smiley in Atlanta gets the most beautiful award for her presentation of my 12-Layer Taco Dip, assembled in a springform pan. Gloria made sure to press cubes of avocado or olives or tomatoes into the sides of the pan as they layered the dip, so that when it was unmolded there was a pretty ring of tomatoes, and avocadoes and olives around the edge of the mold.

In Need of Wedding Cake:
Terri Clayton says she will be making her first-ever wedding cake in June. “It will be a 3 or 4 stacked tier chocolate iced cake. First off, I am NOT a professional and this will all be at my expense. The bride (and groom) is a “chocoholic”. She would like the top keepsake layer to be a devil’s food type cake tier. She would like each of the other 3 tiers to be different from each other. BUT all need to blend with the chocolate icing. I have not decided whether to try a chocolate ganache,(which I have never done before, but will practice with between now and then) or a chocolate buttercream. We have been talking about a chocolate mint tier but have found no recipe for that as of yet. We are also discussing having a regular “white” wedding cake tier maybe with a strawberry or raspberry filling. I would like to know if you have any suggestions for cake flavors (and the recipe) and maybe a filling or two.” Send wedding cake ideas to anne@cakemixdoctor.com and I’ll share them first with Terri then with you in the summer newsletter.

Getting Closer to the Unusual Spaghetti Sauce:
Kerry DeWolf of McDonough, GA, writes in response to my request for a quirky spaghetti sauce recipe using canned soups. “My dear late mother used to make a sauce that contained all of the ingredients listed except for the chicken and rice soup. In fact, I cannot remember her making spaghetti sauce any other way. It was very simple–brown a pound of ground beef with some chopped onions, then add a can of tomato soup, a can of mushroom soup, and a fairly hearty amount of chili powder, and a little water if needed. I love Italian food, and this was always the dish I requested for my birthday dinners. I know it sounds weird and not very Italian, but it was a family favorite for all of us, too.” It sounds a little odd but also delicious, Kerry, and I think we are getting closer to uncovering the recipe Patty Kent of Winnetka, IL, requested in the last newsletter. Does this sort of spaghetti sauce recipe sound familiar from your past or family recipe files? Send it to anne@cakemixdoctor.com

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A Word from Anne
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Every two years, right after my book has been published, I go on tour. It’s a chance to step out of my comfort zone and head to new cities, appear on morning TV, talk on local radio, share lunch with the newspaper food editor and often teach cooking classes at night. It is something I await and bemoan.

Oh, I love traveling, even with the long lines and the crowded airplanes because traveling reminds me that my world – the life at home in Nashville – is just a tiny dot on the map. In Phoenix, I appreciated the warmer weather even though the locals were bundled up in coats and hats for an unexpected cold snap in the 50s. From my room on the 20th floor of the downtown hotel I could see for what seemed like miles in the wide-open Southwestern landscape. I could get used to this big horizon, and I could get used to the spicy, aromatic food of this fair city. Denver, too, has that large sense of wonder to it.

Anne on television in Louisville, K.Y.

We usually pick a couple of recipes to show on TV, ones that will appeal to everyone no matter the city. And so I shared the Greek Pasta Salad recipe in Denver, and in Phoenix, and again in Tampa the following week. It’s a terrific salad for toting to dinners and lunches and potlucks and into television stations all year long. Make it with medium shell pasta, fusilli, penne, you name it, then fold in the chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, feta, olives, mint, and the olive oil and lemon juice dressing. Everyone who tasted this salad along the way, no matter the city or the station, loved it. I know you will too.

Happy Cooking!
Anne

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Despite her extensive traveling in 2007, Anne is still on the road in 2008! She's visiting towns and cities with toteable goods in tow, and she might be coming to a place near you. Check her tour schedule to find out. If you're not able to make it to an event, don't worry. Get on the virtual tour bus with Anne by making the Greek Pasta Salad recipe below and looking at more pictures from her tour on her blog.

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I love this pasta salad; it’s so straightforward in flavor, easy to prepare, and pretty to look at. And, it’s interesting enough on the buffet table that it doesn’t get overlooked. Use whatever short pasta you’ve got in the pantry—shells, penne, or spirals. What makes the salad Greek is the seasonings—garlic, oregano, and mint—as well as the add-ins of kalamata olives, cucumbers, feta cheese, and tomatoes. Serve the salad from a nice ceramic bowl, and garnish it with pickled banana or cherry peppers or whole steamed and peeled shrimp. Or, just let the salad speak for itself.

Serves 8
Prep: 40 to 45 minutes

1 pound medium-size shell or other short pasta (4 cups)
Salt
2/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1 lemon)
2 small cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 1/2 cups chopped cucumber (2 medium-size or 1 large cucumber)
1 cup chopped red onion (1 medium-size onion)
1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint or parsley
Pickled banana or cherry peppers or steamed shrimp (optional), for garnish

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Stir in the pasta and 1 teaspoon of salt, reduce the heat to medium-high, and cook the pasta, uncovered, according to the package directions until just done, 8 to 9 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and oregano in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Set the salad dressing aside.

3. Drain the pasta well in a colander, shaking it to remove the excess water. Transfer the pasta to the large mixing bowl with the dressing. Stir to coat and let the pasta come to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

4. When the pasta is cool, fold in the tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, feta cheese, olives, and mint or parsley. Stir to combine well. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and/or black pepper if needed. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and serve at once garnished with the banana peppers or shrimp, if desired, or cover and refrigerate the salad until serving time.

Big Batch: This salad is easy to double or triple, but cook the pasta a pound at a time, and mix the salad one batch at a time.

Tote Notes: Tote this salad right in its serving bowl and bring the optional garnish of peppers or shrimp in a separate container, if you like. Cover the serving bowl with plastic wrap that sticks securely to the rim of the bowl to make traveling less messy. If possible, let the salad come to room temperature before serving. Then stir the salad again and top it with the garnish, if using.

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Potluck With A Plan
It’s an amazing feat to plan a potluck for 50, but Peggy Stanifer and her staff did just that recently in London, KY, at the Laurel County Public Library. Local cooks either brought one of their favorite recipes or made recipes from my new book.

The amazing part was that Peggy didn’t assign dishes and she just hoped people would all make something different so that the menu wouldn’t have a lot of duplication. Well, I was truly amazed that two people made the pineapple casserole and that was the only duplication. Even then, when two people make the same recipe it seldom comes out the same!

As one of the last people to go through the line, I thought to myself I am going to see what dishes are empty as this will tell you the most popular recipes to bring to a potluck. There were four clean-plate recipe winners — Perfect Deviled Eggs, Bebe’s Green Beans, Broccoli Corn Bread, and the two pans of Pineapple Casserole with a Cheddar Crust, all from What Can I Bring?.

Testing For The New Book
We’re busy at home testing recipes for a revision of The Cake Mix Doctor, due in stores in the fall of 2009. It has been fun to revisit some old favorite recipes and to try some lighter variations. If you’re looking to trim calories this month, try Susan’s Lemon Cake using unsweetened applesauce instead of oil. Or, substitute vanilla low-fat yogurt for the sour cream in the Darn Good Chocolate Cake. Don’t worry – it’s still darn good!

Valentine Cakes
What cakes would I like my Valentine sweetie to bake for me? The Chocolate Cherry Chip Cupcakes, Darn Good Chocolate Cake, Perfect Chocolate Cake (all from the Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor), or the Warm Chocolate Cupcakes with Molten Centers (from the Cupcakes! book), or the German Chocolate Cake (from What Can I Bring?) Did I mention I love chocolate?

Update On The Cake Mix
Many of you have asked the status of the cake mix I am developing. Well, the vanilla and chocolate mixes are nearly complete, but the packaging is still in the works.

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When in Winnetka, a charming town north of Chicago, recently Patty Kent came to my book signing and asked me if I had ever heard of a spaghetti sauce that contained some canned soups. Now, brace yourself here. The recipe she described contained not only canned chicken and rice soup, but cream of tomato soup, and cream of mushroom soup, and was seasoned with chili powder. It was an odd-sounding recipe that turned into a family favorite. Her mother-in-law was famous for it, her husband adores it, and Patty is searching for the quirky recipe and its history. Please send the recipe to anne@cakemixdoctor.com

Debbie Williamson of Lexington, NC, is looking for a Pink Lemonade Cake recipe. "It is made by a bakery in our area and is delicious. Can you help?" Debbie says the cake can be made in layers or as a sheet cake. Please send your ideas to anne@cakemixdoctor.com

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Spring cakes, entertaining ideas, more news from the road.

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A Word from Anne
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Sitting in the school carpool line with the windows rolled down, I'm putting the finishing touches on this newsletter. What I love about fall is more than the cooler temps that allow me the pleasure of fresh air versus air conditioning. I love the hope and optimism the start of a new school year brings. New classes and teachers, new clothes, a football team with a new quarterback, applications to college, a freshman year—they all spell a fresh start. I'm feeling the same way about my new book out soon, a wee bit of a departure from the tried-and-true cake mix books but still jammed with great recipes and geared to the same busy audience—you and me.

It is called the What Can I Bring? Cookbook and, with more than 200 recipes and countless menus and suggestions, hopefully will be your answer to that age-old question of what to bring to a dinner party, a picnic, a potluck, a tailgate, that good friend, or just prepare at home when you've got the crowd coming over to your place. And each recipe includes suggestions on how it can be wrapped for traveling. I wrote this book after it was suggested to me by a friend and newspaper colleague and after traveling on tour and talking with book escorts on how they entertain.

These days we all love to gather with friends and family but no one likes to prepare the entire meal. Well, maybe a handful of people, but soon perfectionists tire of it, too! Look for the book on store shelves around the first of November. Many of my favorite recipes are inside, including the Fresh Apple Cake recipe I am sharing with you today.

Happy Baking!
Anne

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Look for Anne on QVC this Sunday, Oct. 7. She'll appear on the "In the Kitchen with Bob" show from noon to 2 p.m. Eastern time. She'll show you more than a dozen recipes from the new book, including some of her favorite recipes to tote to parties—Missy's Chicken Tortellini Soup, Jan's Bruschetta, her sister's recipe for Cowboy Caviar, the wonderful Baby Blue Salad, her Aunt Elizabeth's Banana Pudding (a potluck staple), and the apple cake. Call in and talk with Anne on Sunday, or catch her on QVC again Wednesday, October 10th at 7am or on Thursday, October 11th at noon.

You can also see Anne on Good Morning America Monday, Nov. 19, and on tour in these cities:

• Nashville, TN - Davis-Kidd Booksellers, 6 p.m. Nov. 15


• St. Louis, MO - Left Bank Books, 7 p.m. Nov. 26


• Dayton, OH - Books & Co, 7 p.m. Nov. 27


• Chattanooga, TN - Barnes & Noble, 12 p.m., Dec. 1


• Raleigh, NC - Barnes & Noble Cary, 7 p.m., Dec. 3


• More cities, including Lexington, Memphis, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Tampa in 2008

For a full listing and more details, take a look at Anne's blog entry here.

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Since you can't be in the QVC studio with me and taste a bite of the apple cake, I'm sharing the recipe here. It's a from-scratch cake (but an easy one) and perfect for using those crisp fall apples. You could create a cake mix version by preparing a spice cake, using buttermilk, folding in chopped apples, baking in a Bundt pan and topping with this caramel glaze. Use any flavorful apples you can find—Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Winesap, you name it. And if you've got more pears than apples, use ripe and firm pears instead. This is a great cake to take tailgating or to a neighborhood potluck because it won't slip and slide, and you come home with a clean plate every time.

Serves: 16
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 75 to 80 minutes

CAKE:
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
Flour for dusting the pan
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups chopped raw peeled apples, cut into 1-inch chunks, from 3 large apples
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

GLAZE:
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons heavy (whipping) cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt or 10-inch tube pan with vegetable oil spray, and dust the pan with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pan aside.

2. Place the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and oil in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on medium-low until the mixture lightens, 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, soda, nutmeg, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and stir to combine using a wooden spoon. Fold in the apples, walnuts if desired, and vanilla.

3. Transfer the batter to the pan and place the pan in the oven. Bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and it begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 75 to 80 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cake cool in the pan for 25 minutes, then invert onto one wire rack (for the Bundt pan), or then again onto another wire rack (for the tube pan), so that it is right-side up. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze.

4. Place the butter, sugars, cream, and vanilla in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Let the glaze boil for 1 minute, stirring, then remove the pan from the heat.

5. Poke a few holes in the top of the cake with a bamboo skewer or fork, and spoon the glaze over the warm cake. Let the cake cool completely before slicing.

You'll Love Apple Cake Loaves:

Pour the batter into two 9- by 5-inch loaf pans and bake at 325 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes. After cooling, remove the loaves from the pan and glaze.

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Christmas Cookbook Orders
Many of you have emailed wanting to order a copy of the Christmas cookbook/magazine I wrote last year. Oxmoor House Publishing in Birmingham has copies still in stock should you like to order. Call 1-800-491-0551 or click here to order.

My Cake Mix Line
Thanks to all of you for your suggestions on my Cake Mix Doctor line of cake mixes. As I might have mentioned earlier, the majority of you wanted an all-natural cake mix, but not necessarily from organic ingredients. So, all-natural it is! A chocolate mix and a vanilla mix are in development now, the packaging is being designed, and I feel like an expectant mother! The beauty of these mixes is their natural flavor, their ease in preparation, and their light and moist texture. We are shopping for a distributor, so in the next newsletter I should be able to tell you when these mixes will be in the marketplace. Continue to send cake mix suggestions to anne@cakemixdoctor.com.

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Judging from the email comments I've gotten since I ran the recipe for the Symphony Brownies, we're all a little crazy about chocolate and about brownies. Karen McKinney of Tampa writes the secret of these brownies is to not refrigerate them. If you do, "the creamy mousse-like filling sets up hard and stays that way forever. They are too good to let that happen." Amen, Karen!

And Patricia Lynch of Plainville, MA, loves to bake cupcakes with her niece and nephew. She buys the hard-to-find larger cupcake liners—the 3- to 4-inch size—from the supermarket bakery. And during different holidays she also buys sprinkles by the pound from the in-store bakery. "They are much cheaper than buying them on the baking aisle. They usually have the seasonal colors in huge containers since they are making cupcakes, too." Love that ingenuity!

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Lori Matzke of Minneapolis baked Susan's Lemon Cake from my first book and wanted to bake it again with less oil. So she substituted 2/3 cup organic apple sauce for the oil and voila! "Most excellent...a huge crowd-pleaser. I have made it seven times since finding the recipe." Lori, I'll tell my sister Susan you lightened her recipe, and she'll be thrilled.

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Sweet Potato Cake ideas from readers. Holiday baking tips and gift ideas.

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The newspaper headline read something like this: "Whoever stole spring, we wish you would return it..." For us down here in Nashville this was a bizarre and uncomfortable spring with unseasonably cold Easter temperatures that zapped perennials, tomato plants, peonies, hostas, hackberries, and azaleas. And now the temperatures have soared into the 90s. Half of my yard looks like summer, the other with the remnants of fall. And it's only May, a time at our house that is full of field days, piano recitals, exams, graduations, and the beginning of summer.

Yikes! Can it be nearly summer? For the first week of summer break serving my kids breakfast at noon seems novel. After that, they are on their own to cook. If provided with the raw materials for smoothies (fruit, yogurt), panini (cheese, good bread, maybe ham), and pizza (crust, sauce, toppings, cheese) they can cook for themselves.

In this newsletter I am sharing a few recipe ideas that you or your kids might enjoy trying out. I am sharing, too, feedback from readers about Easy Bake Oven recipes, a gizmo that is fun for all ages. And I share some humorous thoughts on moms, what with Mother's Day this Sunday. Parents need to laugh with spring nearly gone and summer at our doorstep.

Happy Baking!
Anne

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Spring has finally arrived (and for some of you summer is getting a head start), and it's time to think of picnics and dinner parties. Luckily for you, cakemixdoctor.com is full of recipes from years past, just waiting to be rediscovered. Check the Recipe Corner for warm weather toteables, or look in the Newsletter Archive for tips on transporting cakes like these.

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Brownie Bliss: My sister Susan shares the family passion for chocolate and brownies. Just when you think you've seen or tasted it all, here is another fun rendition of the doctored-up brownie. And it's been "out there" for a year or so, so my apologies to not crediting the source of this inspiration. It just might have come from Hershey's, the maker of the Symphony Bar.

• Symphony Brownies: Bake your favorite box of brownie mix by the package directions. Some people like to add another egg to make them more "cakey" in texture. Spread half of the batter in the 9-inch square pan, and top with unwrapped Symphony chocolate bars, either whole, side-by-side, or broken into bits. These candy bars come in various sizes - I found the 5-ounce to be the most common. Use one or two bars for this size pan. Spread the remaining batter on top of the chocolate bars so that it reaches the sides of the pan. Place the pan in the oven to bake as directed on the package. The brownies will have a rich, almost chocolate mousse-like center. For a larger 13-by 9-inch pan, use two packages of brownie mix and place three of the 5-ounce bars in the center.
• My Best Brownie Idea: I love the convenience of a brownie mix, but I adore the flavor and texture of the cakey brownies my mother used to make. So in trying to recreate them in a fast version, I poured a package (Ghirardelli) of brownie mix into a mixing bowl, added a stick of very soft, almost melted, butter, and 2 eggs. That's it. No liquid. After a minute of mixing on low, I spread this into a 9-inch square pan and baked at 350 degrees for about 25 to 30 minutes, or still soft in the center. These were the most unbelievably good brownies I have created. And we have made them at least once a week since then... with chopped pecans on top, doubling the recipe (2 packages mix, 2 sticks butter, and 4 eggs) for the 13-by 9-inch pan, and with added chocolate chips. Bake these for springtime parties and picnics, or let your kids make these this summer.

Chuckles about Moms: Mother's Day is coming up soon, the Sunday my family takes me out the lunch and I receive a much-treasured note or piece of art from my son's second-grade art class. I know my two daughters love me, but their art classes no longer produce these tender displays of affection. I ran across something about moms in those mass e-mails we are prone to receive. It's fitting and funny:

Answers given by elementary school children to the following questions:

Q. What ingredients are mothers made of?
A. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

Q. What kind of little girl was your mom?
A. My Mom has always been my Mom and none of that other stuff.
A. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
A. They say she used to be nice.

Q. Who's the boss at your house?
A. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because Dad's such as goofball.
A. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.

Q. What does your mom do in her spare time?
A. Mothers don't do spare time.
A. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

Q. What would it take to make your mom perfect?
A. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
A. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

Easy Bake Oven Ideas:

Several months ago reader Debbie Briggs asked if I knew how she could make her own baking mixes for the Easy Bake Oven.

"I was at the store the other day and just could not bring myself to pay $5 per mix for one of their mixes. I have four little ones and I'll admit that I'm a little thrifty. Any ideas?"

Thanks to so many of you for writing with creative tips:

Jennifer Poe is a second grade teacher who makes her own baking mixes with 3 tablespoons of any cake mix and 1 tablespoon water. This batter would work in the Easy Bake pans. But Jennifer's class creates their own oven by pouring the batter into 5-ounce Dixie cups. "We sit them in an electric skillet on 350 with the lid on for 15 minutes and they are great!"

Susan Fawcett was assembling an Easy Bake Oven cookbook for her young niece. One recipe also called for 3 tablespoons mix but with 1 tablespoon milk. Bake in a preheated Easy Bake for 15 minutes.

From Lori Bizjak and others, here are some online sites that offer more Easy Bake recipes:

www.budget101.com
www.thefunplace.com
http://www.recipezaar.com

And lastly, from Betsy DiCostanza, is this great Easy Bake Oven memory:

"I loved my oven and used it a lot. It was my all-time favorite Christmas present. God bless my mother. I know I must have driven her crazy, replacing the light bulbs and wanting more mixes! I still remember my mother wrote to the manufacturer because back then (35 years ago) they didn't sell the refill kits...I still have my oven and some of the pans. It is one thing that I cannot part with from my childhood."

Recreate childhood this spring and summer, pull out the Easy Bake Oven and try these reader ideas.

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You will adore these warm cinnamon puffs and will be amazed that they were made from frozen biscuits. They're perfect for brunch or snacks. And while they reheat well in an uncovered pan, they're best freshly baked. Thanks to Shirley Hercules of the Nashville Herb Society for this recipe:

Cinnamon Puffs

Makes 24 puffs
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 15 to 17 minutes

6 frozen biscuits
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Thaw the biscuits only long enough to cut them into four quarters, 3 to 4 minutes. You will have 24 quarters.

2. Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stove. Set it aside. Place the sugar in a small bowl and stir in the cinnamon. Set this aside. Mist a miniature muffin pan with vegetable oil spray. Dip each quarter into the melted butter, then dredge in the cinnamon-sugar. Place each quarter in a muffin tin. When all the quarters have been dipped and dredged and placed in the pan, place the pan in the oven.

3. Bake until the bottoms of the puffs have browned and they have risen and lightly browned on top, 15 to 17 minutes. Remove from the pan and serve at once.

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Sally Kerr of Toronto wrote to say how much she loves the Best Pound Cake recipe from The Dinner Doctor. "You are so right, everyone loved it."

Sally, who calls herself the coffee-cake queen of the family, now makes this cake filled with cinnamon, sugar and mini chips. You pour a third of the batter into a tube pan, layer on cinnamon and sugar and miniature chocolate chips, then another layer of batter, then more cinnamon and sugar and chocolate chips, then spread on the last of the batter. Bake until the top springs back and the cake tests done. Sally has also added butterscotch chips along with the chocolate chips.

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Anne Shebroe of Sarasota, FL, is looking for a Bundt cake recipe that contains a yellow cake mix, cinnamon, cooked sweet potatoes, crushed toasted walnuts, and golden raisins. It has a rum glaze. Does anyone have such a recipe? Yum! I have a sack of sweet potatoes and would be ready to test it the minute it arrives. So please send it to anne@cakemixdoctor.com, and I'll share the recipe in a future newsletter.

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Summer cakes, and I share a recipe from my new cookbook, What Can I Bring? , to be published this fall.

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A Word from Anne
A Word from Workman
Bits & Bytes
Recipe Swap
Ingredient of the Month
Next Issue

Happy Valentine's Day to you all! I can't think of a group of folks I would rather give a big hug to than this Cake Mix Doctor online community as it approaches a population of 50,000. Yikes! Was it this time about seven years ago that I said I'd write a newsletter if maybe 100 people signed up to receive it? Be careful what you wish for...

What I love about you is your generosity and your creative ideas. Your Easy-Bake Oven ideas were fantastic and will be shared in the next newsletter. And your feedback on my idea to make my own cake mix was invaluable. Most of you said you would like a natural cake mix, not so much organic but one with the best ingredients. You would choose vanilla and chocolate first although you had loads of suggestions for fun cake mix flavors, such as tiramisu. You'd love recipes with the mix, but you're divided on whether the frosting/glaze should be included in the box. Some folks just like to make their own.

I know how that is, getting accustomed to a frosting recipe that works and gets rave reviews—you just stick with it. For me, that is the Chocolate Pan Frosting or the velvety Chocolate Ganache.

So what are you baking for Valentine's Day? Share your stories and pictures on the Community Board here. I'll share below how to turn your favorite chocolate cake recipe into a heart cake. And in the Recipe Swap I share a dreamy wintertime coffee cake, this one containing bananas.

Here's hoping winter will soon melt into spring, which will bring us strawberries and pleasant days in the sunshine.

Happy Valentine's Day!
Anne

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More and more of you are enjoying A Piece of Cake from Anne each month, and we at Workman Publishing want to thank you for your support of Anne and her books. As our special Valentine's Day gift to you, we would like to offer you an ID code for a FREE online 2007 Page-A-Day Calendar. You can keep it for yourself, or give it to a friend or relative for Valentine's Day.

To redeem, just visit Pageaday.com, register, and use the following Calendar ID code: CMDV-7240000002.

(This offer expires on March 1, 2007, so be sure to sign up today!) And if you have any questions, send an email to info@workman.com with Free Calendar Offer in the subject line.

Happy Valentine's Day from all of us at Workman!

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We Never Cook Alone: Carol Faver of Marietta, GA, read my story about feeling my late mother's love in the room when I spoke to a group of her friends recently. And Carol beautifully says, "We never cook alone." When we cook we "bring with us all the people from our past who taught us, cooked with us, inspired us, made us the cooks we are today. I feel the presence of so many people when I am in the kitchen that I seldom feel alone. Life continues through us and in the simple things we do each day of our lives."

Bake a Heart-Shaped Cake: It's a cinch and you can do it tonight. I have a large heart-shaped pan, one that is about 10 inches wide and about 2 inches deep. It holds the same amount of batter as a Bundt pan.

I poured the batter for the Triple Decker Raspberry Chocolate Cake from the Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor into the prepared pan. You can get the recipe from CakeMixDoctor.com here. It takes about 50 to 55 minutes for this cake to bake. Then I frosted it with the Chocolate Ganache and topped it with fresh raspberries while the frosting was still a little sticky. Just before serving, I dusted it with confectioner's sugar. It was a winner of a cake, as you can see.

Should you not have a heart-shaped pan, pour your favorite chocolate cake batter into one 9-inch round pan and one 9-inch square pan, or a square and round 8-inch pan or 10-inch pan. Any size is fine as long as they match. When the layers have cooked and cooled on a wire rack, cut the round cake into two semicircles. On a large platter, place the square layer turned in such a way that it looks like a diamond. Place a semicircle on each of the two top sides, rounded edges up, to turn this into a heart. Frost and decorate with raspberries.

What Can I Bring? Cookbook: This is the name of my newest cookbook, due in bookstores in early fall. Just in time for potluck season and entertaining, I hope, for this book answers that age-old question, the first one you ask when someone invites you to dinner.

Organized by salads, appetizers, vegetable sides, and desserts, it is where I hope you will go when you need to take a great salad or main dish or dessert to a party.

There will be plenty of menus to help you pair recipes that complement each other. And whereas this cookbook will be a bit of a departure for me (including a handful of wonderful scratch cakes), it will reach out to the busy cooks, those who don't have a ton of time to cook and want to rely on convenience and creativity. Here are some ideas from the new book on how to top your favorite box brownie mix before it goes in the oven.

10 Toppers for a Box of Brownies

Just before you place the pan of brownie batter into the oven, sprinkle a handful of something yummy over the top

• Crushed peppermint candy


• Chopped peppermint patties


• Toffee bits


• Chopped walnuts and semisweet chocolate chips


• Dried sweetened cherries and milk chocolate chips


• Chopped macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips


• Minced dried apricots tossed with a dribble of almond extract


• Miniature marshmallows and chopped milk chocolate bar with almonds


• Dollops of raspberry jam


• M&Ms

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Krista Donahue of Vista, CA, sent me this scrumptious recipe for banana cake. Krista bakes this in a tube pan and layers the oats and coconut mixture in the batter by spooning a third of the batter into the pan, adding some topping, etc., ending with topping. I liked the oats mixture so much better when it had browned in the oven, so I poured all the batter into the tube pan and then topped it generously with the oat mixture and baked. And, I added a little cinnamon to the batter because I thought those bananas were crying out for cinnamon. Once a cake doctor, always a cake doctor...

Serves: 12
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 50 to 55 minutes

Topping:
1/2 cup old-fashioned, uncooked oats
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons cold butter

Cake:
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 medium)
2/3 cup sour cream
4 large eggs
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan with vegetable shortening and flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pan aside.

2. For the topping, place the oats, coconut, brown sugar, pecans, and flour in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is crumbly. Set it aside.

3. For the batter, place the bananas, sour cream, and eggs in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low speed until just combined, 30 seconds. Add the cake mix, pudding mix, and cinnamon, and mix on low for 30 seconds, then scrape down the sides of the bowl, and blend on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes, or until smooth and well combined.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spoon the topping over the batter and place the pan in the oven. Bake until the cake is well-browned and the top springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 50 to 55 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes, then invert the cake onto the rack to finish cooling topping-side up. Slice and serve.

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Don't let February escape without sampling some of the more dazzling citrus in the produce market. They perk up our cooking and make us healthier at the same time. I adore the Cara Cara oranges, which have this wonderful rosy tint to the flesh and a sweet floral flavor. And for a slightly deeper hue, I found blood oranges in Costco. Yes, you have to buy a large sack, but share them with friends. I sliced the peeled blood oranges onto a romaine salad with roasted beets, toasted walnuts and a little crumbled blue cheese. And I am planning to make my Orange Bundt cake from the first Cake Mix Doctor with the oranges—juice from the blood oranges in the batter—and thinly sliced and peeled oranges around the baked cake.

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Springtime cake ideas, and all of your wonderful reader suggestions on creative baking using the Easy-Bake Oven.

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I greet the last days of the year with reflection, appreciation, and exhaustion. Maybe it's the newspaper food editor in me, but I am instinctively thinking back on the best recipes and meals—savoring braised lamb shanks with friends, tiramisu in Italy, home-smoked salmon, a sweet potato cake, roasted beets and crumbled blue cheese on a green salad, and bread baked in a Le Creuset pan. These are foods I want to carry forward into 2007. And I try each year to be more appreciative, mostly for good health. The exhaustion that comes at year's end is easy to explain. As a working mom I take on more than I can handle. It's hard to say "no" when the projects sound fun or the fund-raising committee begs for my help. And this year has been a busy one, with two books completed, the Christmas bookazine with Oxmoor and a new Workman book to be published most likely in September 2007.

My New Year's resolution? Savor every minute more and stop the multi-tasking, but then, just how long do you think I can last without doing two or three things at once? This evening I made a batch of chocolate toffee, finished up my Christmas cards, listened to Larry King on TV, called my friend Mindy, worked on this newsletter, and wrapped a few presents. I came about this habit honestly. My mother would just say she was "busy," and I remember there was always something in her hands—knitting needles, a skirt to hem, a good book, or the telephone where in the days before voicemail she made a point of answering every call. Will my children remember me being busy, sitting at this computer making another deadline? Probably. But hopefully they'll also recall the homemade holiday gifts I made and the laughter we shared. So maybe I ought to change my resolution to "laugh more in 2007." That is one resolution I will keep.

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In this last issue of A Piece of Cake for 2006, we at Workman would like to say thanks to all of you out there signed up for this newsletter, sharing your experiences on the Community Board, and supporting Anne's books year after year. Special thanks go out to our moderators, Mary K, T Martin, and George, who have kept the Community Board a friendly haven for bakers of all levels. It's been an exciting year for all of us, first with the release of the Christmas Cookbook, which we hope you'll enjoy for years to come, plus a new look for Cakemixdoctor.com. We hope you'll keep an eye on Anne's blog in 2007 for a taste of what you can expect from her highly anticipated new book, along with tips, recipes, and more.

Happy baking this holiday season and beyond,

Workman Publishing

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Here is a festive and brightly colored cake, perfect for New Year's Eve. It comes from reader Toni Ferro-Arthur who says this recipe always gets "rave reviews." Top it with a simple dusting of confectioners' sugar, a chocolate glaze or a glaze of confectioners' sugar and milk. My children loved the explosion of colors inside.

Spumoni Cake

Makes 12 servings
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 45 to 50 minutes

Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
Flour for dusting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 can (5.5 ounces) chocolate syrup
1 teaspoon butter flavoring and a drop yellow food coloring, if desired
1 teaspoon rum flavoring and a drop green food coloring
1 teaspoon pure almond extract and a drop of pink food coloring

Topping:
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray and dust with flour. Set the pan aside.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, water, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and blend 1 1/2 minutes more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and remove three, 3/4 cup portions to three smaller bowls. Set these aside. Stir the chocolate syrup into the batter left in the mixing bowl. Stir the butter flavoring and yellow food coloring, if desired, into one of the portions. Stir the rum flavoring and green coloring into another, and stir the almond extract and pink coloring into the third.

3. Pour the chocolate batter into the prepared pan. Pour one color at a time over the chocolate batter, being careful not to pour the colored batter too close to the edges of the pan, keeping the colors in the center. Place the pan in the oven.

4. Bake the cake until it springs back when pressed with your finger, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven to a rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edges and invert the cake onto a rack to completely cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

Note: Since the batter has a pale yellow color, you don't need to add the yellow food coloring unless you want a more dramatic appearance.

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Here's a simple request from Debbie Briggs who wants Easy-Bake Oven® ideas using regular-size cake mixes. "I just could not bring myself to pay $5 per mix for one of their mixes," says Debbie, "but I can't figure out how to split the mixes." Any Easy-Bake Oven® bakers out there? Send your tips to anne@cakemixdoctor.com, and I'll pass them along to Debbie and share them in the next newsletter.

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I am developing a line of cake mixes, and I would love to get some feedback from you, the readers of my books and newsletter. I know what I'd love to include in the mix, but what are your suggestions for what would be the perfect cake mix?

• What are your favorite flavors and how would you like the mix to be packaged?


• Would you prefer having a frosting or glaze packaged along with the cake mix or would you rather make your own?


• Many readers have asked for an all-natural cake mix. Does this matter to you?


• Would you be willing to pay more for a healthier cake mix or one that's organic?

Send your thoughts to me at anne@cakemixdoctor.com with Cake Mix Suggestions in the subject line.

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Quick Valentine's Day dessert ideas. And a sneak peek at my new book.

A Word from Anne
A Word from Workman
Bits & Bytes
Recipe Swap
Do Tell
Next Issue

Hello from the newsletter desk, and my apologies for not writing sooner. It's been one crazy year, finishing up a new cookbook to be published September 2007. And I've been collaborating with Oxmoor House publishing (Southern Living) on a Christmas cookbook to be on newsstands soon, hopefully just in time to meet your holiday recipe needs. So, I'm back. I can't believe fall has flown by and that the best food holidays of the year are upon us...

Earlier in the fall I was the guest at a ladies club here in Nashville, and I was asked to speak to the membership about my books, about cooking when you are in a hurry, mostly light and entertaining stuff. Yet, this was a place where my mother had been a longtime member, and since her death five years ago from breast cancer I had not seen many of her friends gathered all in one place and sitting in front of me. Fearing my voice might crack and tears might fill my eyes when I thought of her, I told the crowd of more than 200 that I could feel my mother's love in the room. Then, instead of tears, I felt relief. My mom's love was in that room, and I have learned it's amazing where a mother's love turns up.

A friend recently told me she still bakes bread the way her mother did just so she can smell the bread baking in the oven. "When that bread bakes, my mother is in the kitchen." I couldn't get that thought out of my mind so I pulled my mother's bread recipe from a wooden box and baked it last weekend. I could have been 10 all over again and walking in a trance into her kitchen to follow that heavenly smell. My family feels the same way when we frost a caramel cake with my mom's caramel frosting, and Christmas would not be Christmas without her toffee—the production of it, the candy thermometer, the chopping of fresh pecans and breaking apart milk chocolate bars. In all these recipes, Bebe, as we called her, is with us.

No doubt there are recipes in your family that remind you of ones you love. Pull them out and bake them this week. Our world is an unsettled place, and the daily news is depressing. But you can boost the love in your home and in your community by sharing recipes and food and love. A mother's—or father's, or aunt's, or sister's—love can fill a room. Let the aroma or just the story of a familiar recipe surround you.

Happy Baking,
Anne

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New things are cooking at CakeMixDoctor.com. You may have noticed that this newsletter looks a little different than in the past. In fact, there are little updates all over the site, including a new way to search for recipes, but the most exciting addition is Anne's blog on the homepage! She'll be updating it with tidbits about her new book, baking news, and all kinds of other things she wants to share between newsletters. 'Tis the season for holiday baking and the Cake Mix Doctor is on-call. As always, if you have any questions, email me at info@workman.com, and we hope that you all enjoy the new features.

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Ambrosia Cake

The photographs were shot at my home in June. Yes, June! We had a turkey in the oven, greenery on the front door, and the air conditioning humming. I will most likely host Christmas Eve for our extended family this year, and so these stress-saving tips from the book are ones I live by:

Christmas Dinner Stress-Savers:

• This time of year, refrigerator storage space is at a premium, so start a new holiday ritual—a weekly refrigerator cleaning.


• Plan ahead. Have the table set, flowers arranged, and anything non-food related done the day before.


• Designate an area for beverages so guests can serve themselves.


• Identify serving pieces and utensils for each dish ahead of time.


• Prepare as many recipes ahead of time as possible.

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Many of you were in search of a Cinnabon Cake, and whereas the Honey Bun Cake in my first book might be the closest thing to a soft and delectable cinnamon roll, I searched for something new. What evolved is a wonderful Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake recipe, just right for holiday brunches and gift-giving.

Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Serves: 12 to 16
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 52 to 55 minutes

Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
All-purpose flour for dusting the pan
1 package (18.5 ounces) plain butter recipe yellow cake mix
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, if desired
1 cup sour cream
4 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 10-inch tube pan with the vegetable oil spray, and dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pan aside.

2. Place the cake mix and flour in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Measure out 2 tablespoons of this mixture and place it in a small bowl. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and pecans, if desired, to the small bowl and stir to combine. Set this aside.

3. Add the sour cream, eggs, oil, water, and vanilla to the large mixing bowl with the cake mix and flour. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated. Stop the machine, and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the speed to medium and blend 1 1/2 to 2 minutes more, or until the mixture is well combined and has lightened in texture. Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan. With your fingers scatter all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar and cinnamon filling on top of the batter. Spoon the remaining batter into the pan, and carefully spread it out so as not to disturb the sugar layer. Sprinkle the remaining filling on top of the batter, and place the pan in the oven.

4. Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed and the top has lightly browned, 52 to 55 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and place on a rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan, and invert the cake once, then again so that the cake rests right-side up on the cooling rack. Let it cool for 30 minutes, then slice and serve.

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Shelley Lindstrom writes about how much her husband loves the Perfect Chocolate Cake (Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor). "My husband said it was the best thing he's ever eaten! My question is that the frosting never reached a consistency that I could spread. It was so fudgy all I could do was drape it off the sides—which was fine by me, but I never got a complete cover on the sides...Can you give me an idea of what might have gone wrong?"

When you work with cooked frostings, such as this frosting for the Perfect Chocolate Cake, you need to begin frosting the cake when the frosting still appears runny. It will go on smoothly, and it will set up on the cake as it cools. If you wait too long, and the frosting hardens, it is nearly impossible to smooth over the cake. When this happens, place the pan in a bowl filled with a little hot water, stir, and the frosting will loosen up and be easier to spread.

And Dolores Hardy wants to know the best way to drizzle glaze onto pound cakes. "When I use the spoon it doesn't look right to me."

Depending on the thickness of the glaze, I often pour right from the saucepan. I hold the pan in my right hand above the cake, and with my left hand rotate the cake plate so that the glaze goes full circle. You kind of make a zig-zag motion with the pan, sort of a front-back, back-front, so that the glaze covers the front edges, top, and the inner edges as well. If all else fails, buy clean plastic squirt bottles from a cookware shop or restaurant supply store and pour the glaze into these. Squirt them onto the cake, warming the glaze up with your palms if it gets too cold to pour. We like to glaze gingerbread cookies during the holidays, and I will fill squirt bottles with glaze so my children can easily glaze cookies with designs once the cookies have cooled.

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A wonderful cake for New Year's Eve. A terrific frosting from a reader. And more of your questions, and my answers.

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Ah, the signs of summer - sweet local peaches in our market, the alarm clock not so useful, beach towels drying in the sun, fat hydrangeas in bloom, dinner at 8, and fireflies to catch. These are just a few signs that it is summer at our house. Summer baking is here as well, and what makes it different are the sorts of recipes we turn to when the weather is warm. I think about picnics and potlucks, so my baking is about nostalgia and recreating old recipes my mother used to bake, or totability, as in what cake will get to the gathering in the best shape. I also crave the fruits of the season, those cobblers and crisps stuffed with fat peaches and blueberries. And Key lime pie is on my mind. Ever since I learned that quick way to make Key lime pie—one can of sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 cup (roughly) real Key lime juice mixed and turned into a good graham cracker crust—I never looked back. That seems to be my quest—find the most delicious, most clever, and fastest way to arrive at the end result (in this case, the Key lime pie). I really never intended to cook this way. But with three kids ages 16, 12, and 8, our pace is a little hectic, and we just have to fit good food into it. No matter how busy summer gets, we do try to slow down and bake for pleasure.

For your summer baking adventures, and especially if you have been tapped to tote the cake to a picnic, I am sharing a winner of a layer cake, an Orange Marmalade Cake. The Williamsburg orange cake was requested in this newsletter several months ago by Laura Williams of Milan, MI. Reader Leslie D'Agostino of Oak Park, IL, thought her cake mix modification of a famous orange marmalade cake might do. (Boy, does it!) Readers of Jan Karon's wonderful Mitford novels know this cake, which in the book is made from scratch. Why not bake Leslie's cake and read Jan Karon's novels this summer? Here's to the slower pace and the tried and true recipes we pull out in summertime.
Happy Baking!
Anne

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Exciting new things are in the works for CakeMixDoctor.com! In the next few weeks, you'll notice some changes in the way things look, but the biggest change is by far the best. We'll be adding a blog section to the homepage, and Anne will post tidbits regularly to tide you over between newsletters. We'll also have guest bloggers from the Community Board share a story and a recipe from time to time. We hope you enjoy the new features!

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Orange Marmalade Cake

Serves: 16
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 25 to 30 minutes

Cake:
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 1/3 cups orange juice
3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (from one large orange)

Syrup:
3/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Filling:
1 cup orange marmalade

Frosting:
3/4 cup heavy (whipping) cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 cup sour cream

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans, and set the pans aside. Place a large mixing bowl and beaters in the refrigerator to chill.

2. In a separate large mixing bowl, place the cake mix, pudding mix, orange juice, eggs, oil, vanilla, and orange zest. (Reserve the orange for juicing.) Blend on low speed with an electric mixer until the ingredients are moistened. Increase the mixer speed to medium and blend until they are well combined, 2 minutes more. Divide the batter between the two pans and place the pans in the oven. Bake until the centers spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the syrup. Cut the reserved orange in half, and squeeze out the juice through a strainer into a measuring cup. Add more carton orange juice as needed to make 3/4 cup. Pour this into a small bowl, and whisk in the sugar. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved, then set this aside. For the filling, place the orange marmalade in a small saucepan and heat over low until it is loose enough to spread, or heat in a glass bowl in the microwave oven.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting. Pour the cream into the chilled bowl. Beat with the cold beaters until soft peaks form, then continue beating on high while adding the sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in the sour cream, and place the frosting in the refrigerator.

5. Remove the cake layers from the oven, and place the pans on a rack to cool 5 minutes. Turn the layers out onto the cooling racks, and let cool right-side up for 20 minutes. Poke holes in the top layers with a wooden skewer or chopstick and slowly spoon the orange syrup over the surface. Allow the layers to cool 30 minutes more, or until they are at room temperature.

6. To assemble, place one layer on a cake plate. Spread two-thirds of the marmalade evenly on top. Place the second layer on top. Spoon the remaining marmalade in the center of the cake and spread toward the edge of the cake, leaving a cake border of about 1 1/4 inches. Frost the sides and the top 1 1/4 inches of cake, leaving the marmalade exposed. Place the cake in a cake saver in the refrigerator to store.


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Peg Carlson and many of us are still searching for a Cinnabon Cake recipe. I can't recall when one recipe caused as much interest but with no results! Peg says she saw this recipe in a magazine, and it begins with a cake mix. She knows a brown sugar and cinnamon mixture is spread on the bottom of cake pans, and the batter is spread on top before baking.

Tracy Haley of Tallahassee, FL, says her sister-in-law wants to send a birthday cake to her husband who is serving in Iraq. She would like to know if any of you have done this and what recipe holds up the best. We have offered tips for baking and sending food to our soldiers in Iraq, but we have not shared a recipe that works well.


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Joan Linthicum of Cary, NC, baked a bridesmaid cake recently because her daughter was getting married. We emailed back and forth a bit about this cake before the event, and Joan emailed back to say the cake was a success:

"The cake turned out beautifully. I put the (silver) charms in the center under the first layer of cake, with the ribbons coming out to the edge of the cake plate. Then I just put the next cake layer on top and iced it. Everyone loved pulling the charms and they could keep them and put them on their charm bracelets as a memento. Each charm was different with a different meaning."

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Fall cake ideas for tailgating. Your questions and my answers. A sneak peek at my next book, and a wonderful Rum Raspberry Brownie recipe.

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Chatting with Taneka Martin of Baltimore recently, she shared news of a developing relationship with her confidantes on the community board, and she needed a pecan pie to woo a certain gentleman. I suggested she get as serious about this pie as she was about that man, and that called for dark corn syrup and plenty of pecans. Taneka, or T. Martin as she is affectionately known on the board, baked the guy a pie and served it warm with vanilla gelato. "He inhaled his first slice," and since that slice they've spent every weekend together. Food, love -- love, food -- they just go together. My father married my mother knowing she could not boil water. And yet there was something magical about my mom -- her laughter, ability to make the whole room smile, gentle heart, and flaming red hair. Through their years together she taught herself to cook, the kind of cooking that doesn't use thermometers or timers or any gadgets. She cooked with her senses, and she exposed our senses to creamy chocolate pie, homemade yeast bread, crisp fried chicken,and slowly baked apples. My mother was a foodie in a time when no one used that term. Reader Tom Gallo of Connecticut emailed recently to say my pound cake recipe from The Dinner Doctor had been well received after a funeral in his family. He said it turned a sad time into something a bit easier to deal with. And I knew what he meant. Home-cooked food consoles and unites. It feeds our bodies and our souls. I think about that every night I cook dinner for my family and every time I share a new recipe with friends.

Happy Baking!
Anne

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With spring comes new growth, and we're happy to announce a new feature coming soon to CakeMixDoctor.com! In just a few weeks, you'll notice that the site looks just a bit different as Anne launches her new blog feature on the home page! Sometimes she'll highlight pieces from the newsletter, or share a photograph, or just a quick thought. Tune in to see, and then talk about it on the ever-growing Community Board.

Happy Spring!

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Easter is on its way, this Sunday in fact! If you haven't yet planned your Easter cake, may I suggest:

• Easter Basket Cupcakes, page 191, Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor.


• Grandma's Coconut Icebox Cake, page 118, Cake Mix Doctor. Begin this one on Friday and let it sit in the refrigerator until Sunday. Use sweetened coconut if you cannot find the frozen coconut, and don't fret that the icing drips down the side of the cake at first. After a few hours in the refrigerator it will set and you can pull it back up the sides of the cake with a long metal spatula. Pack on extra coconut for a showy cake.


• Almond Cream Cheese Pound Cake, page 129, Cake Mix Doctor. This cake goes with anything, and is divine with fresh strawberries.


• The Best Pound Cake, page 473, The Dinner Doctor. Tote this to brunch with friends. It's also delicious with berries.


• Carrot Cake Muffins with a Cream Cheese Surprise, page 254, Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor.

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Taneka Martin of Baltimore, known as T. Martin on the board, shares this hearty and good apple crisp recipe that uses a small package of muffin mix for thickening. It also contains peaches and raisins and a lot of brandy, thus the name. It is wonderful warm with vanilla ice cream. Says Taneka, "Vanilla ice cream may be gilding the lily, but lilies need to be gilded every now and then." Hear, hear!

T. Martin's Brandied Apply Peach Crisp

Serves: A crowd (20)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Soaking time for raisins: 1 hour
Baking time: 50 minutes

1 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups brandy
2 cans (21 ounces each) apple pie filling
2 cans (21.25 ounces each) sliced peaches in juice, drained
1 cup brown sugar, or to taste
1 package (7 ounces) Jiffy apple cinnamon muffin mix
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, melted
1 package (15 to 18 ounces) granola

1. Place the raisins in a small bowl and pour the brandy over them. Let the raisins soak for 1 hour.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 13-by 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray.

3. Place the raisins and brandy, pie filling, peaches and juice, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl and combine with a wooden spoon. Stir in the muffin mix until well blended, although there will still be small lumps. Pour the apple mixture into the prepared pan, and set the pan aside.

4. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the butter and granola. Sprinkle this evenly over the apple mixture. Place the pan in the oven.

5. Bake the crisp for 25 to 30 minutes, then place a sheet of aluminum foil over the top to shield the granola from getting too brown. After the crisp has baked for a total of 50 minutes, remove the pan from the oven to a cooling rack. Let it cool for 30 minutes, then serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Note: I think 1 cup raisins are plenty, although Taneka (T. Martin) uses 2 cups. I also think you could cut back on the sugar a bit, say 3/4 cup, and it would still be plenty sweet. The Jiffy mix was just the right size. She uses the Raga apple cinnamon mix found in her Baltimore stores. If you wish to omit the brandy, use the juice from the peaches instead.

Queen Anne's Cake

Several months ago I received a request for a Queen's cake, a chocolate cake with shaved chocolate bars in the icing. Well, Phyllis Brown of Bartlett, TN, was kind enough to send me such a recipe. It is a refrigerator cake with chocolate layers and a creamy frosting of those Hershey bars and pecans. Her cousin always requests this cake be baked, for it is good and rich. I made a few changes in the recipe Phyllis sent me, reducing the amount of sugar in the frosting, toasting the pecans for extra crunch and flavor, and reducing the whipped topping to 8 ounces. Phyllis uses the 12-ounce container, and you can as well if you want a lot of frosting.

Makes 12 servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 22 to 25 minutes

CAKE:
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil's food cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs

FROSTING:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
5 plain Hershey bars (1.55 ounces each), shaved (see note)
1 cup toasted chopped pecans (see note)
1 container (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening or mist with vegetable oil spray. Dust with flour, shake out the excess flour, and set the pans aside.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend on low speed of an electric mixer until the ingredients just come together, 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and blend until well combined and smooth, 1 and a half minutes more. Pour the batter evenly into the three pans, and place the pans in the oven.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting. Place the cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl and blend on medium until smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Shave the chocolate bars using a cheese grater or sharp knife. Fold in the chocolate, along with nuts. Fold in the whipped topping, and place the frosting in the refrigerator to chill.

4. Bake the cakes until they spring back in the center when lightly pressed, 22 to 25 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and let cool on racks for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pans, invert the cakes onto the racks, and let them cool for 20 to 30 minutes.

5. To assemble, frost between the layers, and then on top and around the sides of the cake. Store the cake in a covered container in the refrigerator until time to serve.

Note: Shaving chocolate is a bit tedious. You can use one of those handy Microplane graters and run the chocolate bars over it. Or, you can stack the bars on top of each other and with a sharp Chef's knife, cut down at the end of the bars to create very thin slices or shavings. Toast the pecans for 5 to 7 minutes at 350 degrees.

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Peg Carlson is looking for a recipe called Cinnabon Cake. Obviously this is named after the cinnamon rolls of the same name, and it sounds very similar to a recipe in my first book called Honey Bun Cake, also named after cinnamon rolls. "I got the recipe out of a magazine. My family loved it! I would like to make this cake for Easter which also happens to be my husband's birthday. The cake is made with a cake mix. In a separate bowl, I remember mixing cinnamon, brown sugar, butter..."She has forgotten what else. But she recalls the sugar mixture was spread onto the bottom of two 9-inch rounds pans, and the cake batter was poured on top." Let's help Peg find this recipe before this weekend. Send your recipe ideas to anne@cakemixdoctor.com.

Cynthia Lawman of Boca Raton, FL, recalls a wonderful yellow cake topped with an almond-flavored meringue layer before it was baked. Does anyone have such a recipe? Cynthia would love to bake it again, and she has forgotten how. Please send the almond meringue cake recipe to anne@cakemixdoctor.com.

And, one last request just in... Alina Arencibia of Tampa, FL, is frantically trying to recreate a cake made by a deli called Wrights, located in Tampa. The cake is the Hawaiian Princess. "I've been semi-successful in recreating their icing with cream cheese, powdered sugar, and pineapple juice; the cake that I make however is not even close! Theirs is light and fluffy," Alina says. According to the menu description, this coconut cake has a filling of coconut and pineapple, and it has a coconut frosting. I don't know about you, but I'm considering canceling Easter brunch and booking a flight to Tampa. Yum! Please help us solve the Hawaiian Princess cake mystery. Send recipe ideas to anne@cakemixdoctor.com

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I'll be sharing a wonderful orange cake recipe, along with another moderator recipe, plus ideas for summer cakes.

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A refreshing and delicious piece of news was printed in my morning paper last week. Not the usual grim, sobering report we all too often read these days. This story was about chocolate, which is one of my favorite things to eat and think about. And this report was beautifully timed for Valentine's Day. Did you know:

• Cocoa powder has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine and three times those in green tea.


• Cocoa powder has higher concentrations of the anti-aging antioxidants than those found in blueberries and green tea.


• Chocolate's antioxidants are easily metabolized, which means the body can readily use them.


• Chocolate may ward off the signs of aging

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As a special thank you to our newsletter readers, we will be sharing some special recipes from our Cake Mix Doctor Community Board Moderators over the next few issues of "A Piece of Cake." This month we share Mary K. Bush's deeply chocolate cake. If anyone could make chocolate cake more chocolatey, it's Mary K! She also collects specialty Bundt pans, which would make the presentation of this cake even more special. With whatever pan you choose, this cake will be a winner. So happy Valentine's Day from all of us at Workman Publishing. We hope you enjoy baking for friends and family, and maybe, just maybe, having a little sample of this cake for yourself.

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Mary K. enjoys baking this cake with her granddaughter. "This cake and glaze recipe is submitted in honor of Katie, my only granddaughter, who except for the chips and the glaze is largely responsible for the creation of this, her first cake, baked at age 11 with supervision." Bravo, Katie!

Forever Chocolate Bundt Cake

Makes 12 servings
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 60 to 65 minutes

Cake:
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
All-purpose flour for dusting the pan
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain chocolate fudge cake mix
1 large package (5.9 ounces) chocolate fudge instant pudding mix
1 1/2 cups miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Forever Chocolate Glaze:

1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1/4 cup milk or cream
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray and dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour, and set the pan aside.

2. Place the buttermilk, soft butter, vanilla, eggs, coffee granules, cake mix, and pudding mix in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 to 45 seconds, stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat long enough for the batter to be smooth. 1 minute for powerful stand mixers and up to 2 minutes for hand mixers. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place the pan on a baking sheet in the oven.

3. Bake the cake until the middle springs back when lightly pressed with your fingers, 60 to 65 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then run a sharp knife around the edges to loosen it and invert it onto a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Place a clean dish towel over the top of the cake to prevent the cake from drying out while it finishes cooling. To finish the cake, you can sprinkle it with powdered sugar, or drizzle the cake with the chocolate glaze.

4. For the glaze, place the butter in a medium pan over low heat, and when melted, stir in the coffee granules, milk, sugar, and cocoa. Stir and bring to a boil, then let the mixture boil constantly, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Cool a bit by placing the pan in a sink with an inch of ice water, then beat the glaze with the wooden spoon until it thickens slightly. Drizzle it over the cake with the spoon.

French Cream Frosting

Sally Munson of Wichita, KS, writes that she has always known the Red Velvet Cake as the Waldorf Astoria Cake. (See the [Cake Mix Doctor] for the history behind this famous cake.) And she has always placed a cooked "French cream" frosting on it. Sally graciously shared her frosting recipe.

1 cup milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter-flavored vegetable shortening
1 stick margarine
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place the milk and flour in a small saucepan and cook, stirring, over low heat until thickened and smooth. Cover with waxed paper and let cool completely.

2. In a large mixing bowl, place the shortening, margarine, sugar, and vanilla. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until just combined, then increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy.

3. Add the milk and flour mixture to the bowl and continue beating until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth.

Note: This is just enough for a two-layer cake. Double for a three-layer cake if you like a generous amount of frosting.

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Thanks to all of you responding to recipe requests from fellow readers. We have located Queen's Cake and Williamsburg Orange Cake and they will be tested and shared in April. Thanks for all your recipe sleuthing!

As for Jane's Low-Fat Chocolate Cake, the one with pumpkin I shared last month, here are other low-fat cake ideas from readers:

• Jean Rosenberger of Pittsburgh, PA, says to combine 1 box of chocolate cake mix and a can of Diet Pepsi. "Yup, that's it!" She says it works in a sheet, layers, or in cupcakes.


• And what should come not far behind, a cake with a soda from the other camp. Chana Johnson shares a similar recipe, but with Diet Coke. Her suggested Weight Watcher variations? Butter pecan cake mix and diet root beer, and yellow cake mix with diet orange soda.


• Johnetta Hebrlee of Holcomb, KS, writes that she uses a spice cake mix with the can of pumpkin and half cup of water, then bakes the batter in a Bundt pan. She tops it with a low-fat cream cheese frosting.


• Mary S. says that instead of pumpkin she uses applesauce and adds a little cinnamon.


• Harole Ann Harper writes that her favorite low-calorie cake recipe contains just a box of white cake mix and a can of Diet Sprite. She suggests fat-free strawberry whipped topping on top.

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Susan Houston, food editor of The Raleigh News & Observer, in Raleigh, NC, suggests a Valentine cupcake bouquet for the one you love. Just like the cupcake bouquet photographed in the [Cupcake] book, Susan suggested you bake just pink cupcakes, then surround those on the bouquet with red, pink and white flowers. Great idea, Susan! And for that hot tip, I hope you receive a dozen roses or cupcakes from the one you love.

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Another moderator recipe, great Easter cake ideas, plus recipes lost and found.

Here's to new years, new projects, new friends, new recipes, and more home-cooked food. You know the best way to keep your weight down and not necessarily give up cake or cookies? Cook and eat at home.

Happy Baking to all 43,679 of you (My, we have grown!),
Anne

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While you're at the store picking up a cake mix, be sure keep your eyes out for Slow Cooking magazine, on newsstands now, with some delicious recipes from The Dinner Doctor. Anne's cupcakes will be featured in Quick & Simple Magazine on February 21, and in the April 2006 issue of Cottage Living. Also watch for Anne to be in Cooking with Paula Deen and Woman's Day magazines in the Spring.

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I've got two recipes to share with you this month. The first was requested a while back, and after I couldn't find it asking the experts—all of you—I decided to come up with a recipe of my own.

Toffee Layer Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Linda Cochran of Elizabethtown, KY, had misplaced a recipe for a white cake with toffee candy bars. "It is made with a white cake mix and it uses toffee bars crushed in the mix, and in the icing. You have to split the cake layers, making four." With some testing and obsessing, I have a wonderful recipe for Linda and you all. It is not assembled in four layers, but you could split the two layers and make four. And the toffee bits (found on the supermarket aisle) are only sprinkled on the frosting, not folded into the cake batter. You could fold them in if you like, but we liked the contrast of smooth cake and crunchy topping. The frosting is unbelievably good. I'll have to say this is now a family favorite.

CAKE:
1 package (18.25 ounces) white cake mix with pudding
1 cup sour cream
1 cup warm water
3 large eggs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

BROWN BUTTER CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
4 tablespoons butter
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, chilled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

GARNISH:
1 cup toffee bits (Heath)
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips, if desired
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans, if desired

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mist two 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil and dust them with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pans aside.

2. Place the cake mix, sour cream, water, eggs, flour, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until ingredients come together, then stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, or until the batter is smooth and thickened. Pour the batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side-by-side.

3. Bake the layers until they are lightly browned and just spring back when touched in the center, 25 to 28 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake, give the pan a few good shakes to further loosen the cake, then invert the layers onto one wire rack, then invert them again onto another wire rack so that they rest right-side-up. Let them cool completely, 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting and garnish. For the frosting, place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat until the butter browns, about 4 minutes. Meanwhile, place the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Pour the hot butter over the cream cheese, and add the vanilla. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until the butter and cream cheese are smooth and combined. Add the sugar, a little at a time, beating on low until the sugar is incorporated. Once it has all been added, increase the mixer speed to medium for 20 seconds and beat until fluffy. For the garnish, combine the toffee bits with the chocolate chips and pecans, if desired.

5. To assemble the cake, place one layer on a serving plate, topping it generously with frosting, and smoothing it out with a metal spatula. Add a generous, even coating of the topping. Place the second layer on top of this, and frost the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle the remaining toffee mixture on top of the cake, or add as much as you desire. Slice and serve. Store the remaining cake in a cake saver in the refrigerator.

Jane's Low-Fat Chocolate Cake

Many of you have written to tell me about low-fat cakes made with a cake mix and a can of pumpkin. I'll admit I was skeptical but curious, so when Jane Osowiecki of Ocoee, FL, sent me her recipe, I gave it a try. If you are on a very low fat diet or cannot eat eggs or dairy products, this might be a cake to bake. I felt it needed something— a handful of mini chocolate chips scattered over the top before baking, a scoop of vanilla ice cream on serving...I baked this in a 13- by 9-inch pan, but you could just as easily bake the recipe in two layers.

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil's food cake mix
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
1/2 cup warm water

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 13- by 9-inch baking pan. Shake out the excess flour, and set the pan aside.

2. Place the cake mix, pumpkin, and water in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer set on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase the speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Turn the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top of the batter. Place the pan in the oven.

3. Bake the cake until the center is firm when pressed lightly with your finger, 30 to 35 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar, slice and serve warm.

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Lots of requests from your cakemixdoctor friends:
Laura Williams of Milan, MI, wants to bake a Williamsburg Orange Cake beginning with a cake mix. Any ideas?

Pam is looking for Queens Cake. "It is chocolate and has chocolate icing and grated Hershey bar on top."

Sandy Linson of Kansas City is looking for a King Cake recipe (that uses a cake mix). What with Mardi Gras around the corner. Sandy, please check out the Mardi Gras Cupcakes on page 172 of Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor.

Send recipes and suggestions for these bakers to anne@cakemixdoctor.com

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Laurie Averitt of Monrovia, CA, made the Monster Monkey Cupcakes from the Cupcakes book for her daughter's 10th birthday. She has a great idea on how to create the smile line on the monkey's face:

"Betty Crocker has a new item called Drizzlers and it comes in a microwaveable 6-ounce pouch in milk and white chocolate flavors. It has a decorator's tip at the top attached to the pouch. You just zap the package in the microwave for about 30 seconds (sometimes a little longer) and knead it. I used it for the smile line and it was great."... Laurie also turned this recipe into basketball cupcakes. "I tinted the buttercream icing orange and used the Drizzlers to outline the basketball lines on the cupcakes so they all looked like basketballs. My teams loved them."

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Lovely Valentine ideas from your cakemixdoctor.com moderators, and more questions and answers.

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In light of this tragedy, we realized that this year's Bake for Charity contest needed to be different. In the past, contestants competed against each other with their favorite recipes, and the winner designated a local charity of choice to receive the prize money. This year Workman and I have decided the $1,000 prize money will go to the Red Cross to help the victims of Katrina. It will also set the stage for our Fourth Annual Cake Mix Doctor Bake for Charity Event. We challenge all of you to stage a bake sale in your community to raise money for relief efforts, or just to bake a cake or loaf of bread for a displaced individual or family to welcome them to your community. You could even bake cupcakes for a blood drive. The possibilities are limitless.

Please see the complete details of how to participate below. At the end of the October we'll draw five names at random from those participants and send them autographed copies of Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor. And we'll share some of the recipes and stories from those winning sales in the next newsletter.

We can help make a difference by reaching out and baking together!

Anne

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1. Go to the Community Board on this site and register. Those who are already registered are automatically eligible. There will be a special forum created called Bake for Charity, available only to registered users. All information about the event can be found here.

2. If you would like a free brochure giving you tips for staging a bake sale, send a 7- by 10-inch, self-addressed, stamped envelope to:

Workman Publishing
c/o Elisha Seaton, Bake Sale Brochure
708 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

3. Bake your favorite cakes, pies, cupcakes, brownies, coffee cakes, you name it. For a successful sale, stage it in a visible location, publicize it beforehand, wrap foods attractively, and tell your customers how you are donating the proceeds to the hurricane relief efforts.

4. Take photos from the bake sale and post them on the Bake for Charity forum, along with favorite original recipes, how much money you raised, and with which charity you decided to share your donation.

5. On October 31, 2005, five names will be selected at random from the contest participants, and they'll each receive one autographed copy of Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor.

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Cocoa Cake Roll with Peanut Butter Filling

Makes one 15-inch roll, serving 10

Cake:
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Peanut Butter Filling:
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup milk
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream, chilled

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons water
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 15 1/2-inch by 10 1/2- by 1-inch jellyroll pan with parchment paper.

2. Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl on high speed of electric mixer for 3 minutes, or until lemon colored. Add the cup of sugar, and continue beating for 2 minutes. In another bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, 1/3 cup sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients alternately with water and vanilla, beginning and ending with dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just smooth.

3. Beat the egg whites in a small bowl until they are foamy. Add 1 tablespoon sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

4. Bake the cake until the top springs back when lightly touched, 13 to 16 minutes. Invert the pan on a kitchen towel sprinkled with 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar. Carefully remove the parchment paper and immediately roll the cake and towel together from the narrow end. Place on