Thursday, March 19, 2009

Home Made Love: Gamma Bettye's Shush Cake



By MARI and LILA CHILES

This is our Gamma Bettye's recipe for her Southern Lemon Pound Cake. It's thick and delicious and full of lemony goodness! Here’s the thing, though: You have to be very quiet when you’re making this cake so that it won’t fall and be flat when it’s finished cooking. Flat cake is not cute. It's still tasty. But not cute. And when we say you have to be quiet, we mean really quiet. Mommy won’t even let us open the refrigerator when this cake is cooking—that’s how quiet it has to be. If you can’t handle this, we suggest that you go out and play now.



Here are some things we like to play when we’re making shush cake: We like to play on the swing set and climb in trees; we like to play on our scooters; we like to play hide-and-go-seek; we like to play soccer and football and basketball; we like to ride our bikes, and; we love to write on the driveway with chalk.



Oh, and we take our dog Teddy with us so he can be quiet, too.




This pound cake is really easy to make, and the best part is that Mommy lets us lick the bowl after she pours the batter in the round cake pan. Quietly? That's the best part. The cooked cake is really perfect for a special dessert for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but you don’t need to eat it just on special occasions—having it on a Wednesday night is just fine, too, especially with a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:
3 sticks butter
1 stick margarine
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
6 eggs
½ cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tsp lemon extract
No-stick spray with flour
(Note: You’ll also need a round cake pan with a tube in the middle.)

Directions:
Use the mixer to mix all the ingredients together in the order given; spray a round cake pan with the no-stick flour spray, then spoon the batter into the cake pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 25 minutes.


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16 comments:

  1. Your girls are just beautiful Denene...and what a charming post they have added to your blog today! :)

    That photo of your cake is making my tummy growl...

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  2. Oh my God, this cake sounds divine. Have you ever made a glaze for it out of confectioner's sugar with some lemon extract mixed in? I bet that would take it over the top! It would also probably be really good with some fresh blueberries. Yummy! Thank you girls for the recipe. I think I'll be making it this weekend.

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  3. oh to be mari and lila's age...the age where your metabolism knows no stopping and you can eat a cake that calls for 3 sticks of butter and 1 stick of margarine and not blink an eye. you can have as much as you want (theoretically, of course!) at any time of day (evenings especially!) and not have to worry about it sticking to your tummy, arms and thighs. sometimes i wish i were a kid again 'cause woowee, that cake looks delish!!

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  4. @The AC: Thank you for the compliments--I have to agree with you; Mari and Lila ARE hotties!!!

    @Blacktating: Okay, you need to send over the recipe for the glaze. I'll bet you that tastes good as all get out! I eat mine with fresh strawberries and a little ice cream--preferably butter pecan. Oooh! That's some good eatin'.

    @MGMoxie: Girl? That's why this cake shows up mostly on SPECIAL occasions, but every once in a while, we'll bake it just because. It's perfectly sinful... but worth every inch of extra thigh and butt fat. Every. Inch. LOL!

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  5. this recipe is officially cut and pasted! I LOVE the old recipes from Moms and Gammas! Thanks so much for sharing and I need to send this to my mom and sisters :)

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  6. That looks delicious and of course, it's even more special because your girls recognize the importance of what it takes to make it good (shush) How cute is that???

    I love their cookbook! What a wonderful idea!

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  7. That looks good. Makes me want to bake cakes from scratch instead of from a Duncan Hines.

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  8. @Christine: Girl, don't sleep on Duncan Hines! Wait until I give you the recipe for our "home made" pineapple upside down cake. It would not be complete without the Duncan Hines!

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  9. OH, looks so yummy! Now I will have to run to my kitchen and make it !

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  10. 2 tablespoons hot water, or milk or cream
    1/4 teaspoon lemon or other extract,
    1 cup confectioners' sugar
    Stir the liquid into the sugar, adding more, a few drops at a time, as needed. The icing is of the proper consistency when it coats the spoon.
    Then you just drizzle it over the cake. YUMMY!

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  11. Ummmm! I love a good lemon cake! Wouldn't be able to keep it quiet long enough to bake it though. Unless I baked at night.

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  12. @Blacktating: OOOOhh!!! Thank you! We're going to try it the next time we make the shush cake!

    @Diva Ma: Send the kids out to the swings... or definitely do it while they're sleeping!

    @ParentingPink: Enjoy! It's THE BEST!

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  13. Um, YUM! LOVE pound cake. I'll have to try it ... and be very quiet so it can be cute.

    Winks & Smiles,
    Wifey

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  14. Just beautiful! And aren't they quite the cuties? Don't you just LOVE it when they lose their two front teeth? This little post brought back some very fond memories of my own childhood. I remember when my mother and grandmother said I had to be quiet and quit jumping and bumping while the cake was in the stove.

    Thank you Mari and Lila for the post, and for Gamma's delicious recipe. :)

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  15. Thanks for that recipe. I was just hoping for a good pound cake recipe. I'm gonna sell slice at my yard sale.

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  16. @Jewelry Rockstar--girl you better make two, or charge the weight of gold for each slice. It will not last... and once you get a taste of it, I assure you, you'll want to keep it for yourself!

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