White Cake with Fruit Cocktail

Recently I've been seeing all kinds of cake recipes from my blogger friends. I didn't have the ingredients on hand to make the cakes on offer, so instead I whipped up this basic white cake using some fruit cocktail I had in the refrigerator.  I used half of the sugar called for in the recipe and it was sweet enough for me. The addition of my left over fruit cocktail also gave it added sweetness.

I also used reduced fat cream cheese for the frosting.  If you wish to reduce the calories further you can use skim milk rather than whole milk in the cake mixture and use splenda. I personally do not like to use artificial sweeteners though I might use something like xylitol or stevia in a powdered form if I had it on hand.  Though after reading this article, I might have to reconsider the idea.

White Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup butter (I reduced this about 1/4 cup)
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk (or to make desired consistency)
• 1/2 fruit cocktail (without the liquid syrup)

 

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth and add the fruit cocktail.  Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
2. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.   

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

 

Ingredients - I made only half of this recipe to cover the cake.

• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature 
• 8 oz of Light Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature 
• 2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 
  

 

Directions    

With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

 Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness and thickness.

 Either spread on with a blunt knife or spatula, or spoon into a piping bag to decorate your cake or cupcake. 

 

The cake was well frosted and there was frosting left over. If you like your frosting a bit thicker, then wait for the cake to cool fully before frosting. 

Taste Test: This isn't my favourite cake. It was moist but I found it a little too rich for my taste despite reducing the sugar and butter and using light cream cheese. It was also plenty sweet enough for me. I used a round 9" pan and the cake was not that high so if you want a higher cake I suggest you double the recipe and make a layer cake or simple make one deep layer. I will likely look around for another white cake recipe that isn't quite so rich and add fresh berries next time. I tried the cake again the day after and I enjoyed it much more. Perhaps it just needed to cool off more to come into it's own.

Rainy Saturday Adventures

It was another wet Saturday in Vancouver but I had to go out. I was making my way to Trout Lake Farmer's Market where I had an appointment with my hat maker.

I took this photo as I was crossing a street to make a bus transfer. It's not cold as you can see the gentleman in the foreground doesn't have a jacket on.

After my transfer I had to get off and walk several blocks. I don't often come to this place so I always get off too soon and end up walking too far. In the old days this wouldn't have been a problem. These days it is a bit more challenging.

As I walked down the street, I noticed that the building which is undergoing restoration is a senior's residence.

This was a rather short street with very few homes on it.  I found this modern styled home.

I liked the simple, yet effective front entry with the small garden and potted plant. The door colour is nice too!

I didn't expect to find a restaurant here just a few steps away from the modern house. It looked like a well used coffee shop.  There aren't too many coffee shops for several blocks radius since this is a residential area although I understand that there is now a coffee shop in the newly constructed Trout Lake Community Centre across the street.

I didn't have a chance to go inside the new Centre but it is newly constructed and opened in February 2012. I believe the old buildings were demolished because they probably didn't meet current building codes for fire safety.

The community centre seems to have two buildings.  You can see one in the background in the photo below.  I also noticed the interesting shrubbery in place of grass. I think it is probably to make the space more eco-friendly.

Now I am about to enter the park area. Every weekend during the farmer's market this sign is put up to let non-residents know that they are not to park in this area.

Trout Lake is set in what is known as John Hendry Park and is the only lake in Vancouver proper.  This park is a real gem. I don't get to spend much time in it but whenever I do get there I see the locals having a wonderful time. The lake itself is in a beautiful setting. One always sees mothers and dog owners, taking their children and dogs for a walk.

The little dog in the photo below was friendly. It came up to me but when it realized I had no food, it didn't stop to visit.  It just kept right on going.  His owner, the man up ahead in dark blue rain coat, was patiently calling  "Maisie", as she dawdled along at her own pace.

You can see how deep the puddles were in various places along the pathway. By the time I got to this stage of my walk, I was soaking wet.  The rain soaked through my rain coat which is not rubberized for heavy duty rainfall.

I was going to the place you see just up ahead beneath the leaves....

But first, one last look and photo of the lake and the nice walking path along the waterfront.

At last! I make it to the market but I didn't take photos of the hat lady's stall. By that time I was just too wet and was more interested in drying up a bit and trying on hats.  Sadly, she had made two hats for me but neither of them fit just right despite giving her the measurements beforehand. She has to make some adjustments and I have to wait a bit longer. *sigh. I did manage to find a new hat for my mom and got a bit of a discount even though the hat still cost a lot more than my mother would ever want to pay. I've told mom that I will take the hat if she doesn't like it.

Here is a photo showing just how much rain was accumulating.

After I left Trout Lake, I decided to go to Chinatown to buy some new medicines and get another foot reflexology treatment.  The medicines I bought last time were not doing the job. 

I also wanted to get more photos for my Namibian blogger friend, Graham.  I admit that once again I didn't get the best photos but they add to what I posted last time (you can click here for the last visit). I will of course be making future trips and hopefully at some point the weather will be nicer and show a different side to Chinatown.

The first thing that caught my eye was this red street light. The bottom of it has Chinese characters but I have no idea what is written.

This is a long view of a street. You can see at least 5 street lamps in the middle part of the photo.

I love the streets of stores in Chinatown. You will find all kinds of stores with stuff for sale out in front, on the sidewalk.  During the early part of the day these shops are very busy with older Asian people buying their daily veggies and fish for dinner.

In this store window you can see various cakes which are waiting for their customers to come and pick them up. I especially love the cakes with the fruit on top as they have fresh cream in the middles and more fruit inside.  This is what they call "Fruit Cocktail Cake". The cake itself is a chiffon cake and very light in texture.

In another part of the window, you can see what events are going on if you can read the Chinese characters on the brochures.

I always love to see all the variety of things for sale as displayed out on the sidewalk.  Some of it is medicine and some of it is food. For example, this store had all kinds of beans and dried berries out front.

I bought some goji berries (wolfberrys) to put in  my cooked oats.  These berries are called a superfood because they are supposed to be very high in antioxidants.  However as always it is good to check with your medical practitioner before taking such things. For example this berry has been known to cause problems in some cases with people taking warfarin (a blood thinner).

Some stores sell food and herbs and some strictly sell herbs; like the one in the photo below next to the Fido (phone) store. If you click on the photo you can see all the medicines and herbs in jars.

Here are some dried shrimp.

And here are some dried mushrooms. These can be reconstituted and used in your stir frys and other foods but I've only ever used dried mushrooms to date. I did not like the particular brand I bought and prefer using fresh mushrooms.

That's it for my tour of Trout Lake and Chinatown for today. I'd love to hear your comments or questions.  

I'm joining in with Our World Tuesday here. Please check in there and see what others are up to around the world.

I hope you come back soon.  Have a wonderful week ahead.

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