In her book CookWise , Shirley O. Corriher has a chapter called "How Rich It Is!," which focuses on recipes in which fat is a major ingredient. She explains what makes the liquidy ingredients that goes into the pan come out of the oven as cake.
Unlike soups and stews, in which ingredients and amounts can be tinkered with, there is only so much tweaking you can do with cakes. Most batters, for instance, are a combination of "tenderizers" (sugar and fat) and "tougheners" (flour, eggs and milk). When the amount of one ingredient is changed, adjustments have to be made in others to restore the balance.
You can leave the balancing to the professionals and concentrate on changes you know will work. We used a sort of mixing and matching for this chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.
CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
For the cake:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
For the frosting:
5 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons, confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2 to 5 tablespoons 2 percent low-fat milk
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. To make cake, combine sugars, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; whisk vigorously until smooth. Stir in boiling water. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.
To make the frosting, mix butter, confectioners' sugar and vanilla with a mixer; beat well. Add peanut butter. Add 2 tablespoons milk slowly, beating until very creamy. Add up to 3 additional tablespoons milk if necessary to achieve desired consistency. When cake has cooled, frost top.
Serves 20.
Look for Relish magazine, celebrating America's love of food, each month in The Augusta Chronicle. See relishmag.com.
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