Cake Day: Sam's Famous Carrot Cake

Yesterday was cake day. And, in many ways, it felt like a good day for cake, especially a cake infused with lots of cinnamon and a little nutmeg. The air outside was blowing, spreading the soft sound of rustling leaves just waiting to change color before they float to the ground blanketing the earth in a sea of browns, oranges and yellow hues. As the day wore on the sky became ominous and gray. Soon rain followed. The whole day just whispered "fall." It started out bright and cloudless and ended in a soggy drizzle. What could be more fall than that?
And so I decided that it was a good day to bake a classic cake that embraces the scents of fall and the colors of leaves. Carrot Cake. And not just any Carrot Cake but "Sam's Famous Carrot Cake."
I found the recipe for this famed cake on, you guessed it, All Recipes. It is my favorite baking source. Not only does it provide a recipe, it gives bakers reviews.
As much as I value the reviews I must admit they can be the most frustrating aspect of All Recipes. Do these reviewers actually use the recipe listed on the webpage? Very few, I suspect, do. Every comment comes with its own unique list of changes, substitutions and alterations made to the original recipe. By the time the commenter has finished their review the recipe is something completely different. Sometimes I wonder if they even ended up with a cake at all! Oil becomes applesauce. Cinnamon meets nutmeg, allspice and cloves. Sugar becomes honey. Regular flour gets exchanged for whole wheat. Buttermilk is nixed for skim instead. You name it, someone has substituted it.
The reviewers might like their particular culinary cake creation but it certainly isn't Sam's, that's for sure.
After doing my routine read through of the reviews I decided that I wanted to remain fundamentally true to Sam's recipe. I will admit to not including raisins in the cake and replacing the walnuts with pecans (I was out of the former). At the suggestion of many reviewers I added a 1/4 tsp of nutmeg to the mix, too. What can I say? I'm a guilty recipe tweaker myself. I just don't talk about it in comment sections!
When it was all said and done my cake was a success. Sam didn't let me down. And I suppose you could say the reviewers didn't let me down, either. Their 1,665 reviews deeming this a 5 star recipe guided me to this cake, putting it high on the list of results for carrot cakes on a Google search. So thank you All Recipes and its reviewers. Once again you came through on pointing me in the direction of a home run of a dessert.

Cake Day: Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting (AKA Pure Peanut Butter Decedance Cake)

This is the day the Lord made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

That, my dear Baker, is all the inspiration you need to bake a cake. The day you are living in, right here, right now, is made by the Lord. It is beautiful, extraordinary, special and blessed. Why? Because God made it. He brought the sun up. He kept the world rotating on its axis all night long so that this morning you could awaken to a new day designed by the hand of God.

Sometimes, some bakers, wait for a celebration to bake a cake. A birthday, an anniversary, a graduation... but a Monday? How about a day when you get horribly bad news, have an attack of MS or just don't have any plans or excitement on the day's agenda? Is there reason to bake a cake on those days?
I believe there is because I believe the Bible and I want to heed the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:16.  "Rejoice always..."
Rejoice.... that's the flour, the sugar, the baking powder and soda, and - in today's cake - the peanut butter. Rejoicing in every circumstance is at the heart of following Christ. It is at the heart of living filled with the Holy Spirit. Rejoicing is a command. It is not an option. It is not a directive given for certain people or certain situations. Rejoicing is forever, for always, for everyone and everything.
Even Mondays.
Even on days when everything goes wrong.
Even on days when the news is bad and the future looks bleak.
Even when we are tired, weak, worn out and sick.
Rejoice in everything.

If you are struggling today, finding it hard to rejoice, then I recommend baking a cake. Yes, a cake on Monday when no one is having a birthday and no one has any big accomplishment to celebrate. Just bake a cake anyways because what you and I are celebrating today is the magnificent God we serve.

I have personally deemed Monday to be "Cake Day" in my baking life. Some people have "Throwback Thursday" and bloggers have "Friday Favorites." Well, I have cake on Monday because there is no better way to start the week then by rejoicing in a new day and a new week made by the Lord.




Today's recipe is a family recipe but I don't think it's a secret, so I'm going to share it with you. If you love all things peanut butter than this cake will be right up your dessert alley!

Peanut Butter Cake
1 3/8 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 pan. 
Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat on medium speed the peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add milk, flour mixture and egg. Mix until just combined. 
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until tester comes out clean (about 30 minutes).
Let cool before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting
1/3 cup peanut butter
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4-1/3 milk (depending on consistency)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat on medium-high speed peanut butter and sugar. Slowly add milk and vanilla until desired consistency is reached. Frost cake.
Eat.
Enjoy.