And for those who are familiar with 7-Up cake, knows that this is not a new thing. This is one of those cakes that you rarely see people make anymore. The first (and only times) I've had 7-Up cake was at church functions, so yes y'all, I'm bringing it back!
I started making them last year, and my research began with finding a recipe. What you're about to see below is a slight deviation from the recipe I found--as it calls for lemon extract instead of a fresh lemon. However, in the spirit of "The Thrifty Gemini", I opted for the latter. Let's see...$4.29 for the former, and $.79 for the latter--you do the math.
Any-who, below is how I make 7-Up cake, and I encourage you all to try this one-of-a-kind classic dessert!
Also, a bit of a disclosure, I'm baking the night before (Saturday, August 1st), and this is after spending 7 hours in the garden. That being said, I was rather tired and achy, but I had an obligation to keep:
The batter for a 7-Up cake is a rich one. The raw ingredients include: 1 1/2 cups of butter (or three sticks. One stick is a 1/2 cup or 4 oz), 3 cups of sugar, 5 eggs (yes, 5 EGGS--ALMOST A HALF DOZEN), 3 cups of flour, 1 cup of 7-Up (or any lemon lime soda), and the juice and zest of one lemon.
In the spirit of "The Thrifty Gemini", all of the raw ingredients were either purchased at The Dollar Tree or a discount grocery store chain (i.e. Save-A-Lot--which is two or three businesses away from The Dollar Tree in my area). Each of these items either cost $1 (i.e. the flour, sugar, and soda. Speaking of soda, I would usually use the actual 7-Up, but in the spirit of being thrifty, opted for the brand at the Dollar Tree--which was $1 for a 3-liter bottle), under $1 (i.e. the lemon--which was $.79), or somewhat over $1, but not too much (i.e. the eggs--which was $2.19/dozen and the butter--which was $2.49 a package). The total amount spent for these ingredients were $8.47, but to make one cake, it would cost about half. I say that because these ingredients weren't all going to be used all at once as purchased, so you have some ingredients left over to make another cake.
Here are the ingredients again--only with the sugar and flour measured/sifted. The eggs and the butter are to be a room temperature prior to use. This makes it easier to work with them, and hence, make you cake batter much smoother. In order to achieve room temperature, I usually let them set out for about an hour and a half. I also notice that the butter will soften faster if left in the wrapper--as opposed to have them fully exposed.
Preheat the oven to 325 F (or 160/163 C).
Add the butter and sugar to a bowl (left) and start creaming (or get it whipped and smooth). It will have a creamy, yet somewhat gritty texture (right), but it's all good. Everything will smooth out in the end.
Add the eggs, one at a time. Most baking recipes note to add eggs this way. In my experience, it helps for better incorporation--so that the batter is smoother and richer than what you would get if you add all of the eggs at once.
(THRIFTY TIP: Upon adding the eggs, DO NOT throw away the egg shells. Put the egg shells into your compost bin. Crops like tomatoes LOVE the calcium from egg shells. It helps prevent blossom end rot. More on composting in another entry)
Here is what it looks like when all of the eggs have been thoroughly incorporated. The texture is airy and fluffy. To show such fluffiness, I have it up on the rubber spatula on the right.
Next, add the flour, approximately one cup at a time. Fold in with a rubber spatula until thoroughly incorporated. To do so a little at a time--as opposed to all at once, helps to mix it in better. And although it does get a little more difficult to mix once more flour is added, adding a little at a time helps make the mixing (or folding) less difficult.
In the pic on the right is what the batter looks like when all of the flour has been folded. It's really heavy and sort of has the consistency of either bread or biscuit dough. With the mixing, some of the dough will move up on the sides of the bowl, so take a little time to scrape down the sides of the bowls as much and as best possible.
Once you get a feel of the dough, I'm sure you'll be wondering, "How am I going to get this heavy batter in the cake pan"? Hence...the soda. Add one cup of 7-Up or lemon lime soda to the batter--as per the pic on the right. I'm sure you're thinking that it's going to make it too liquid, but I assure you it won't. Just like the flour, fold the soda in. And because you can gain a little more momentum, you can also gently stir it as well.
Next, add your lemon. The first thing you'll want to do is to zest the lemon--hence the Microplane grater in the pic on the left (I got this several years ago at Williams-Sonoma. If my memory serves me correct, I think I paid about $10-$15 for it. This was before "The Thrifty Gemini", and I'm sure I can probably find one cheaper--that is if I look hard enough. If not, then it is indeed a good investment. It can be used to zest citrus or to grate hard cheeses like Parmesan. It's a wonderful tool).
When zesting, your aim is, with the grates, to shave off the yellow skin only, and leaving the white, bitter pith on the lemon. Once once get the zest, take the whole, uncut lemon and roll it with a bit of pressure (as in the pic on the right). Rolling the lemon helps when squeezing it for juice. The rolling, so to speak, "loosens" the juice inside. Then, cut it in half.
(THRIFTY TIP: Just like the egg shells, the used lemon is also good for the compost pile/heap/bin. ANY organic material (as long as there is not meat or fat) is good for composting)
Take you zest and juice, and add it to the fold. Mix it into the batter. Once mixed, then it is ready for the pan
For this cake, I'm using a Bundt pan. On the left is a clean, dry pan, On the right is a greased pan. I had some Pam for Baking in the house, so I used that. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough to cover the top of the pan, so I used butter on the areas where no Pam was applied (if you don't have Pam or any type of non-stick cooking/baking spray, make sure that you THOROUGHLY grease the pan. This cake WILL stick, It has happened to me with my first cake. Trust me, it can NEVER be greased enough).
There she is...ready for the oven.
We've already preheated the oven to 325 F. Bake the cake at this temperature for 1 1/4 hours. While the cake was baking, that gave me time to take a relaxing shower--after my day in the garden, and get into my pj's. It's 11pm, and I'm in for the night!
Fresh out of the shower, in my pj's, and the cake is still baking. While it is still in the oven, I thought it a fine time to prepare the glaze--which is simply 1 1/2 cups of confectioners' (icing) sugar and 1/4 cup of the lemon lime soda. Mix vigorously until smooth. You can also add a little more sugar if you want it thicker or more soda if you want it thinner. The consistency of the glaze is up to you; however, what I mentioned above is what I used. Either way, it will still be delicious!
Cake...done! Now to remove her from the pan, and PRAY that she doesn't stick. This is going to be done IMMEDIATELY after removing from oven. Take a plate, put it on top, flip the cake pan over, and tap the sides and the top with a knife (the tapping is a trick that my mother taught me). The tapping should help the cake further release from the pan. Just like in the three bears, don't tap the pan too hard or too soft, but just right.
Voila! On the left is the just released cake. YAY!! It all came out!
On the right is the cake with the glaze..ready to enjoy. Now, this case can be eaten warm, but because this for the church picnic. I must exhibit self-control.
Have a piece and enjoy! Rich, moist, light, airy...all at one time. Delicious!
Because I've had such an activity-packed day, for fun and giggles, the pics below highlight my day in three stages:
Just getting out of bed.
Dressed and ready to go.
Right before bedtime.
In conclusion, I hope you take some time to make the cake. Please let me know how it turns out--as well as posting some pics with your response.
This is one of many cooking posts that I will do. Although there are more gardening posts, we are in the middle of the season--hence those kind of posts.
Thanks for taking the time to check out "The Thrifty Gemini", and remember, this entire cake can be made for approximately $4 with some bargain hunting. A nice price to pay for deliciousness. So until then, Think Thrifty!
