Well, for Maryland’s meal I made the Coleslaw and the Smith Island
Cake Thursday night before we had our state meal – I like to prep at least part
of the dishes ahead of time when I can, so that there is less to do after work on
Friday evening when the kids are there.
Since Bill’s birthday is coming soon, I told him to choose what he’d
like to have for his birthday meal that we will have on Sunday while we have
the kids with us … he chose tuna steaks, scallops in cream sauce and marinated
vegetables with a carrot cake for dessert.
What does this have to do with the meal prep?
I had a bag of carrots in the fridge, so I shredded half of
them to go in the coleslaw and used my handy dandy mandolin (thank you, Mom!)
to slice up the rest of the carrots, with some zucchini and cucumbers and green
onions (yep, all on the mandolin.) I
chopped up a few bell peppers and packed them all in a gallon Mason jar and
filled it up with a dijon-vinaigrette marinade.
All I needed to do was to give it a few shakes before Sunday. I ran the cabbage through the food processor,
dressed the slaw, and baked the Smith Island Cake. (More about that later.)
It hit me Friday morning as I was driving to work… I used up
all of the stupid carrots! How could I make Bill a Carrot Cake? I’ll head back to the grocery store Saturday
after dropping off the recycling and trash at the dump. Sigh…
Anyway about the cake – the recipe calls for a box of yellow
cake mix, which I prepared according to directions. However, when I measured out 2/3 cup of
batter per pan and baked for 10 minutes, I only had enough for 2 repeats,
meaning I had just enough batter for 6 of the thin cakes. I think it’s because the manufacturers
decreased the package size (like they do with coffee and cereal. Grrr)
The fudgy frosting is very decadent – it’s like the inside of a
truffle. I let it warm up just a little
and it spread very nicely over the cake layers.
With hindsight being 20/20, I should have flipped each layer over
alternately as I added and frosted them, because when all was said and done,
the cake was pretty domed up in the center and downward sloping at the
edges. I couldn’t deconstruct it, so I
used all of the remaining frosting and hopefully kind of made it look less odd.
About the unusual name for the cake: “Smith Island, Maryland, is a 400-year-old
fishing village of only 250 residents and is located 10 miles offshore in the
Chesapeake Bay and accessible only by ferry.
Beginning in the 1800s, Smith Islanders would send these cakes with the
watermen on the autumn oyster harvest. The bakers began using fudge instead of
buttercream frostings, as cakes frosted with fudge lasted much longer than
cakes with other frostings.
Known simply as the Smith Island Cake, the dessert is baked
for any occasion and not reserved only for holidays. Great attention is paid to the perfection of
the pencil-thin layers that form the distinctive cake.”
On April 24, 2008,
Smith Island cake was designated as the official dessert of the state of
Maryland.
Menu: Crab Cakes, French Fries, Coleslaw, Smith
Island Cake
Outcome: The Crab Cakes were super fast and easy...
Um, no one needs to know that Harris Teeter sells pre-made Crab Cakes, do
they? LOL I sure hope not! YES I took a short cut this time, but I am
including the recipe that I was going to use.
What’s funny is that everyone took so well to the coleslaw! I admit, it was pretty tasty. It was a "fly by the seat of your pants" recipe -- meaning that after I shredded the cabbage and carrots, I just started adding stuff to the bowl and mixing it. There was mayo, vinegar(s), spices, etc. but unfortunately, I did not write it down! Gotta see if I can duplicate it. :)
The next day, I served some thick slices of
tomato and Bill piled his coleslaw on top of the tomatoes, and ate it
together. After a few giggles and raised
eyebrows from the rest of us, one by one we all tried it. You would never think that a bite of tomato
and coleslaw would be so good! We were pleasantly surprised.
The cake came out nicely, as well. We all enjoyed the fudgy frosting and the
picture doesn’t do it justice.
Next up: Ben’s turn!
He chose Vermont! We are closing
in on the last few states! He will be in NYC for a school field trip the next visitation weekend, so we will push that meal back to the last weekend in May.
 |
| Maryland's meal |
Crab Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 lb. jumbo lump crab meat
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 ½ Tbsp. mayonnaise
- 1 tsp. brown mustard
- 1 tsp. seafood seasoning
- 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 2 slices white bread, crust removed
- 3 oz. whole milk
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Directions
- Place the crab meat in a large mixing bowl, being very gentle to not break up the lumps.
- Combine the egg, mayonnaise, mustard, seafood seasoning, Worcestershire, parsley, and baking powder in a small mixing bowl. Mix until everything is well incorporated. Add the mixture to the crab meat, but do not mix at this point.
- Break the white bread into small pieces in another small bowl and add the milk to moisten. Combine the moistened bread with the rest of the ingredients. Fold everything together lightly until just combined. Again, be very careful not to break up the crab meat.
- Using your hands, form a desired amount of mixture onto a tight ball shape and place into the refrigerator to chill.
- Place a large nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat, adding enough vegetable oil to generously coat the bottom of the pan, about ¼". Add the crab cakes to the hot skillet, pressing down lightly to form a cake (do not smash into a pancake, this will dry it out).
- Cook until deep golden brown, about 6 minutes, and flip gently, cooking to the same degree on the opposite side. Remove from the skillet and drain off the excess oil on paper towels.
Smith Island Cake
Ingredients
- 10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened ( 1 stick)
- 1 recipe yellow cake batter
Directions
- For the frosting: Place chocolate in large bowl. Heat cream,
sugar, and salt in saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until
sugar dissolves and mixture begins to simmer.Pour hot cream mixture over
chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk in vanilla and butter until glossy.
Cover and refrigerate until icing is firm but still spreadable, about 1 hour.
Fudgy goodness! - For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat
oven to 350 ยบ. Generously grease and flour two 8- or 9-inch cake pans and line
with parchment paper. Spread one-eighth of batter (about 2/3 cup) evenly in
each pan and bake until edges are golden brown and cake springs back when
touched, 10 to 14 minutes. Cool on rack 5 minutes. Run a knife around pan
perimeter to loosen cake, then invert onto rack to finish cooling. Cool pans to
room temperature, then wipe clean and repeat process 3 more times for a total
of 8 layers.
Nice and thin layers - To assemble: Place 1 cooled cake layer on serving platter.
Spread ¼ cup frosting over cake. (If frosting is too firm, let warm at room
temperature 5 minutes; then stir to soften.) Top with second cake layer and
additional ¼ cup frosting. Repeat, alternating layers of cake and frosting and
finishing with cake layer. Frost top and sides with remaining frosting.
Layer one
The finished layers -- note the slope to the edge. Still tasted good!
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