THE Kahlua Cake

Oh there are so many stories about this cake. I'll share just one or two. First, the original recipe I found many years ago had 1/4 cup of Kahlua. My version uses 3/4 cup and then requires another 1/4 cup for sipping while you bake this cake! uhmm uhmm uhmm!

I usually make this at Thanksgiving. One year, while baking at my daughters, I used a new measuring cup that was actually a 4 cup and not the 2 cup typically found in her kitchen which shouldn't matter except that I totally missed the measuring of the Kahlua and added 1 and 3/4 cup of Kahlua. You know the alcohol does cook out of the cake or so we've been told. Apparently NOT if you add this much alcohol. What we noticed was that after eating a piece of this cake, everyone's cheeks became flushed. I did finally figure out what had happened but you know, the cake was devoured and not one complaint!

My friends aunt asked me for this recipe one year after our Thanksgiving get together. Aunt Betty is a teetotaler. She spent the better part of 30 minutes hunting for Kahlua in the local Albertsons. Finally, she asked a clerk where exactly was the Kahlua? Of course, he explained to her that it was alcoholic and she would have to go to the liquor store to purchase it. To our surprise, she sent her son to the liquor store to buy it for her! Apparently the Kahlua cake had left quite an impression on Aunt Betty!

It is so good and it is wonderful warm. I have even taken a tablespoon of Baileys Irish Creme and sifted confectioners sugar and made a glaze to drizzle over this cake. Oh my...it just rocks! Enjoy!

Kahlua Cake

1 Swiss chocolate cake mix (Use Duncan Hines...Devils Food if you can't find Swiss)
1/4 cup oil
3 eggs
2 cups sour cream (do not use the less fat or lite version...you need the fat to make this cake work well)
3/4 cup Kahlua
1 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix all the ingredients and bake for 50-60 minutes in 350 oven. Use bundt/tube pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Glaze

1 cup sifted confectioner sugar
2 Tbsp warmed Baileys Irish Creme
1 tbsp melted butter

Add a little more confectioner sugar if necessary to get the desired consistency. I have taken a fork and poked a few tiny holes in the top of the cake before pouring this glaze over it.

Almond Joy Cake

Barbara McKean, mother to one of my very closest and best friends, was one of 4 people who influenced me as a young woman learning to cook. This recipe is one of hers and although I don't think I ever made one that she had made, because it was hers, I knew it had to be good and I wasn't wrong. I've made this cake many times and shared the recipe almost as many. However, there is one time that I remember more vividly than the rest.

I made this cake for a Christmas gathering and as always, it turned out beautifully. I couldn't find sliced almonds at the grocery so I just bought whole almonds and sliced them myself. Then I placed each almond slice ever so carefully across the cake and stood back to admire it. Gorgeous! I covered the cake and proceeded to clean up the big mess I had made. As I began to wash dishes, I realized I had a nail missing. A nice, long, red nail (polished with OPI I'm Really Not A Waitress red). I remember details like that. Anyway...the nails was gone or at least the end of it was gone. How in the world......? Then it hit me...the realization of where that nail was! Somewhere in that beautiful white bed of sliced almonds was my nail....I just knew it!!  And I was right! I looked for a suspicious almond that might have a shadow of red under it and yep, it was there! In the process of slicing those almonds, I had just sliced so neatly through that acrylic nail. That was some kind of sharp knife!!

I called my nail tech who got such a kick out of the whole story, she didn't even charge me to repair it. Oh horror of horrors if someone had bitten into that nail!!

Almond Joy Cake

1 chocolate cake mix baked according to directions. I use Duncan Hines Devils Food and it's my preferred cake mix for this recipe.

Mix: 1 cup evaporated milk (Pet or Carnation); 1 cup of sugar

Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat. Add 7 oz jar of marshmallow creme. Blend well and then add 11 oz. bag of coconut.  Stir well. Pour over the warm cake-spreading evenly.

Heat: 1 1/2 cup sugar; 1/2 cup Pet or Carnation milk

Bring to rolling boil. Remove from heat and add 1 stick of butter. Stir until melted. Add 1 1/2 cup good quality chocolate chips (Ghirardelli is my favorite)

Stir until melted. Pour over the cake. Place slivered almonds on top.