Triple-Layer Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

March is birthday month in my family.  Two immediate family members, my wife and my son share March birthdays only two days apart.  Jamie, a sister-in-law, also celebrates her birthday in March.

When the time came to select the date for the caesarian birth of my son, the doctor asked if we had any special dates on which we’d like the birth to occur.  With a straight face, I indicated that I was hoping the baby could be born on my birthday.

“When is that?” the doctor asked.

“November 1^st,” I replied.

She didn’t crack a smile and simply turned to my wife.

So, they could have shared birthdays, but we decided that Matt should have his own special day.  Up until recently that meant his own special cake, too.  In the last few years, we’ve become wiser, opting for less cake in our lives, and have used a combo cake.

When this year's big day was imminent, I suggested a Jewish Apple Cake for the celebration.  That was overruled in favor of a cake with real, honest-to-goodness frosting.  As a result, I combined two previously posted Dad in the Kitchen recipes into one really great cake, (if I do say so myself).  I decided to make a triple-layer chocolate cake using the Wacky Cake recipe I’ve made since junior high school, and frost it with Nancy Ruoff’s Peanut Butter Frosting.  You’ll remember that Nancy is the cafeteria manager at RoyersfordElementary School.

For the project, I bought new non-stick round cake pans.  The cake batter had to be made in two batches as I only had two pans.  When I made the third layer from the second batch of batter, I used the remaining cake batter to make cupcakes.

I discovered that even non-stick bakeware has to be seasoned, as the first two layers stuck slightly to the bottom of the new pans.  I also learned that it takes a lot of frosting to coat a three-layer cake.  A double batch of Nancy’s frosting was also required, with just enough left over to keep everyone happy.  I pulled my dad's icing spatula out of retirement to apply the frosting.  It hadn't been used in almost 40 years!  I have to say that it felt "at home" in my hand...not that I did as good of a job as he could do.  Practice makes perfect, right?

Here are the links to the Wacky Cake and Peanut Butter Frosting posts.  The Wacky Cake post was my very first post, blogged a year ago this month.  On the icing/frosting post, I recommend the frosting, not the icing, as two recipes are given.

Wacky Cake

Frosting Face-Off, or the Clash of the Icings

If you’d prefer just the print versions of the recipes, here they are:

Wacky Cake – recipe only

Peanut Butter Frosting – recipe only

Enjoy!

Make a wish!

Critical Need in Area Food Pantries

The Pottstown Mercury has started an initiative to increase contributions to area food banks.  The need has never been greater as a result of the current economic situation.  Food pantries are hurting.  This is due in part to the fact that a majority of donations are received from Thanksgiving through Christmas.  The project is called “Fill the Media Lab” and enlists the help of the Mercury’s bloggers to get the word out about this important and critical need.

Project Outreach is a Spring-Ford charity that I’ve supported for many years.  During my years as principal at Royersford Elementary, we held two food drives each year.  One was in November and the other, at Project Outreach’s request, was held in the spring when giving would almost dry up.  Over the years, thousands and thousands of food items were donated.  (See picture from 2006, below.)

I’ve also had the privilege of volunteering at Project Outreach in Spring City on several occasions.  Most recently I helped with the food distribution in October.  Everyone should have the opportunity to do this.  Watching a mother of four trying to decide between a jar of peanut butter or a roll of toilet paper from the “free choice” table makes an impression you never forget.

Parker Ford Church, where I serve as Pastor of Administration, continues to support Project Outreach, and serves as a collection spot.  The church is open every Sunday until 1:00 p.m., and the office is open on Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and on Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

Most recently, Parker Ford Church has begun to support Operation Backpack in Pottstown.  Needy or homeless children are provided with discrete backpacks filled with easy-to-prepare food for the weekend when they don’t have access to a school lunch.  (The items donated must be able to be prepared by an elementary-age child without adult assistance.)

The program in Pottstown, working in cooperation with the Pottstown School District, is currently serving 85 children!  Our church just completed a food drive for Operation Backpack and we donated 1,254 items, along with $350!  Two members of the church have committed to becoming monthly partners with Operation Backpack, and will provide a donation every month.  Another individual has volunteered to assist with inventorying food items for Operation Backpack.

For more information on this important initiative, as well as a list of suggested easy-to-prepare food items, read the Pottstown Mercury story by clicking here.  Remember that you can donate food items for Project Outreach and Operation Backpack at Parker Ford Church, 20 Rinehart Road, Pottstown, PA.  Contact the church by email or by calling 610-327-2266.

Breakfast Casseroles

If you’ve been reading my blog since the beginning, (which, by the way is exactly one year ago this week), you know that the title, There’s a Dad in the Kitchen, comes from a story connected to dads preparing breakfast for Parker Ford Church on months with a fifth Sunday.  The traditional menu for those breakfasts has been French toast and sausage for as long as I can remember.  In January we decided to try something different:  Breakfast Casseroles.

I don’t have extensive experience with making breakfast casseroles, although I have opted for them on a number of Christmas mornings.  The fact that you can prepare them the night before, take them out of the refrigerator and pop them in the oven for 45 minutes, is very appealing when you’d rather not be spending time in the kitchen.

As a trial run, I made a test casserole for our elders team the Monday before the Fifth Sunday Breakfast.  I wanted to check on how aluminum foil pans behaved using the ovens at the church.  I also wanted to test the baking time required by a double batch in each pan.  Another benefit of the trial run was to see how many people could be served with one casserole, which would enable me to determine how many to make for a group of 80-100.

There was good news all around.  The foil pan worked great, (which meant no cleanup.  Hooray!)  And the baking time for a double casserole was only about five minutes longer that for a single batch.  I also was able to estimate that each double casserole would serve 12-15 people.

We made eleven casseroles for our Fifth Sunday Breakfast.
Very little was leftover!

I wanted to provide a variety of casseroles, so I used a basic recipe to which could be added diced ham, browned sausage, crumbled bacon, or sautéed vegetables.  The basic recipe can be found at the end of this post.

Our breakfast team assembled on Saturday afternoon in order to crack 11 dozen eggs, chop and sauté the vegetables, and cook the sausage and bacon.  The ham was already cooked, so we just had to dice it.  Our assembly line included blending the eggs, milk, and spices for each casserole in plastic water pitchers.  A double batch fit in each pitcher, and it was easy to blend the ingredients using an electric hand blender.  All we had to do was then transfer this mixture, pouring each one into the prepared casseroles.

Start assembling by spraying each pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Next add the cubed bread.  You can experiment with a variety of breads.  For ours, we used loaves of day-old Italian bread. Each double casserole got a half loaf, cut into fairly large, (1”) cubes.  (As the casseroles bake, the bread virtually disappears.)  

Arrange the “filling” for each casserole on top of the bread cubes.  For our double batches, this amounted to about two cups of meat or sautéed vegetables.  Bacon is the exception.  Even for a double batch, 12-15 slices of crumbled bacon was sufficient.

One change that I would make is to add the cheese after pouring the egg mixture into each casserole.  I added the cheese on top of each casserole’s filling and then poured the egg mixture on top of that.  The cheese kind of disappeared.  Adding half the cheese on top of the bread cubes and then the remaining half on top of all of the ingredients also works.  You can always add additional cheese and doubling the cheese will definitely boost the fromage factor.  Pour the egg mixture into the casserole dish gently, trying not to disturb the bread and filling.

We next covered each casserole with foil and refrigerated them over night.  On Sunday morning, the casseroles were baked four to an oven, so the additional load on the ovens required increased baking time.  Also, the gas ovens that we use do not have a convection feature, so I recommend rotating the casseroles half-way through baking, switching those on the top to the bottom oven rack, and vice versa.

Bake the casserole for approximately 45 minutes at 350° or until the center is no longer “loose” and the top is golden brown.  Allowing the casserole to sit for a few minutes before serving will permit it time to solidify a little, making it easier to cut and serve.  The basic recipe follows:

BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

6 eggs, whipped

2 or 3 slices bread, cubed

2 cups milk

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon dry mustard

½ teaspoon salt

Optional (select one, or a combination of the following):

1 pound pork sausage, cooked, drained, crumbled

1 pound diced ham

6-10 slices of bacon, fried, drained, crumbled

Sautéed vegetables (onions, bell peppers, mushrooms)

Here's a ham and sauteed vegetable casserole
ready for the oven.

Feel free to experiment with different fillings, as well as combinations of the ones mentioned.  Let me know if you try something that works especially well.  Enjoy!

Week Off

My trip to Israel has been amazing!  Unfortunately, there has been little time to write the next blog post.  So, I'm taking the week off.  I hope to be back next week with another easy recipe.  In the meantime, visit our trip blog at Josh and Dave's Trip to Jerusalem.  Thanks!