February is the anniversary of my mother’s death in 2018. Coincidentally, it’s Betty Crocker’s 100th anniversary. After she died we learned that many of “Mom’s recipes” were actually from her Betty Crocker cookbook (which was nowhere to be found in her last apartment, having been ditched when she sold their house after my father died, or possibly years earlier when they’d left Connecticut for Colorado.) I’ve spent the last four years excavating our relationship through Mom’s recipe box and mine. My memoir about our relationship, partly told through food, will be coming out in 2016 from Woodhall Press.
I’ve been sharing memories on Instagram as I cook from the 1950 version of Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook. I made this version of Betty’s “Black Midnight” cake for Valentine’s Day, topped with German Chocolate frosting. I updated the recipe by using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1 to 1 Baking Blend, butter instead of shortening, and swapping the amounts of baking powder and baking soda (I can always taste baking soda if there’s too much in a recipe). This cake retained its luscious moisture for 5 days stored in a cake stand, which is unheard-of for gluten-free cake. Will definitely make again.
Gluten-free Black Midnight Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter (unsalted) room temperature or cut into cubes
- 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar (organic)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup water (filtered or spring) cold
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (gluten-free) Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 recommended
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
German Chocolate Frosting
- 1/3 cup brown sugar light
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar (organic)
- 1/2 cup butter (unsalted)
- 3 egg yolks
- 3/4 cup evaporated milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup pecans chopped
- 1 cup coconut (flakes, unsweetened)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Grease 3 6-inch cake pans (or 2 8-inch pans), then add a circle of parchment paper cut to fit the bottoms.
- Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy .
- Beat in eggs.
- In another bowl, blend together unsweetened cocoa powder with cold water until smooth and no lumps remain.
- In a third bowl, whisk or sift together flour, with baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
- Blend everything together with the creamed mixture.
- Pour into prepared pans (I use a kitchen scale to get the pans the same weight).
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, turning once halfway through. A toothpick in the middle should come out clean and tops should spring back if pressed with a finger.
- Cool completely on wire racks, then remove from pans, and frost as you wish.
German Chocolate Frosting
- Toast the coconut and pecans over low heat in a large nonstick sauté pan, stirring often.
- Whisk egg egg yolks and evaporated milk together in a bowl, then strain to remove egg clumps.
- In a nonstick saucepan melt the butter with the sugars over low-medium heat.
- Whisk the egg yolk mixture in slowly to temper the eggs. Cook at a low boil for 3 minutes until thickened.
- Whisk in vanilla, then stir in the toasted coconut and pecans.
- Allow the frosting to cool a bit before frosting the cake. Put more in between the two bottom layers than you think you need.
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