In this case, it is a disarmingly simple cake – akin in its light texture to pound cake, like unto tres leches cake in its oozing moistness, and reminiscent of a glazed donut in its aroma.
Lest you think this is some sort of Frankencake, I assure you it is more integrated than that. It really is quite simple. I can describe this generally as a mild lemon cake topped with a sugar/orange flavoring.
The ingredients are nothing unusual.
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| What it takes to bake |
(Though, I was a bit stumped by the recipe’s calling for “Crisco oil” – was that to mean the smeary Crisco stuff in a can? Probably not, as other recipes in the book call for just “Crisco”, which seems apt for those dishes. And which boxed cake mix ever calls for the canned shortening? So, wanting to be true to Carol Paul’s recipe, I splurged the extra dollar on Crisco brand “Pure Vegetable Oil”. [And what did I get for the money? Soybean oil. That’s it – that’s the only thing listed in the ingredients. Other brands of “vegetable oil” were like this too; why? There is nothing wrong with soybean oil, not even in the American public’s mind. Why don’t the producers label the stuff as soybean oil on the front of the package as well as on the back?] After making the cake I can honestly estimate that any soybean oil would have worked as well. So why call for “Crisco oil” specifically? One clue might be found in the fine print on the back of the bottle: “MANUFACTURED BY: […] THE J.M. SMUCKER COMPANY ORRVILLE, OH”… and a cynic could appropriately suppose Mrs. Paul is ingratiating her candidate husband with the good people of the “important swing state” [as the news reports invariably describe it] of Ohio. My final judgment is: If you don’t have a stake in electoral politics, any soybean oil will do.)
Mix up the appropriate cake stuff, and get an appropriate batter.
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| Batter up |
Bake the cake until, as the recipe puts it, “the middle does not jiggle.” I pride myself on being a good judge of jiggle, so I left the cake in the oven a few minutes more than the time the recipe otherwise suggested. Maybe a few too many minutes more, as the cake got to browning at the edges and was pulling away from the sides of the pan – but ultimately this might have worked out for the better, as we shall soon see.
The recipe next instructs to prick the cake with a fork all over the top.
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| Stick a fork in it. The recipe said so! |
This is to prepare it for the deluge of topping.
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| Some thin glaze |
The topping is very thin. It is a mixture of orange juice, melted butter, milk (or water, the recipe states it’s your choice; water!) with confectioner’s sugar dissolved in. This isn’t a glaze so much as a liquid. “NOW! MORE MOIST!” the screaming blurbs on the cake mix boxes are apt to proclaim… but you want moist? Pour this over a newly-baked cake and you’ll get it dripping moist.
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| Slosh |
It doesn’t stay on top of the cake – actually, it does at first, but only until it gets all absorbed into the cake within a few minutes. And then the cake is moist through and through.
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| That’s more reasonable! |
Had I not overbaked the cake a little bit, I can only imagine what the moisture level would have been after this step. Since the cake got a liquidy topping deluge, it turned out to be pretty forgiving that I had left the cake in the oven a minute or two too long.
I really had trepidation after this step, at first, as at this point the cake’s main scent was an overpowering butter smell. But this soon mellowed to a sweet, light smell reminiscent of nothing so much as a glazed donut. Not unpleasant!
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| You don’t have to use a spoon |
But the cake itself tasted more compelling, with a lemon flavor that was satisfying but light enough to be subtle. The orange juice in the glaze might have added an additional fruity flavor, but I suspect it was mostly there for the tangy sweetness. It all worked well together, and you can’t top this cake for moistness. My family all gave it positive reviews and ate it regularly. This is a dessert that pleases and not overwhelms.
Lesson learned: You want a moist cake? Pour liquid over it.
Rating: Nine out of ten sopping crumbs
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