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Traditional Southern Cakes

Growing up in a Southern family with a Mother, two Grandmothers, an Aunt and a Great-Grandmother who were all incredible bakers, I know my cakes. One ingredient they all prized above all others was Chocolate. If they put a cake on the table that had any amount of chocolate in it, they knew it would be consumed before it had time to get stale.

Of course for company, these hard-working women would spend a little extra money and buy coconut. For them Coconut was the "splurge" ingredient in cake baking. Combine Coconut and Chocolate and you've got yourself a German Chocolate cake. For years that was the fanciest homemade cake in the South. If a Hostess made a German Chocolate Cake for your visit, you knew you were truly an esteemed guest!

In the Spring, with the arrival of fresh fruits, come the magnificent "fruit" cakes. These should not be confused with the heavy, Christmas type fruitcakes. These are wonderfully light, tongue-tickling marvels. First is the Strawberry Shortcake. That incredible combination of a cake that's not really a "cake" at all, the juiciest, plumpest strawberries, and freshly whipped cream. Yes, I said freshly whipped cream, because store-bought whipped topping just won't do for a True Traditional Southern Strawberry Shortcake! You can enjoy the same goodness with raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries.

Later, when Summer brings us Peaches, we get to combine them with one of our favorite Traditional Southern cakes, the "Pound" cake. If you've never had the joy of being there when your Mama or Nana takes a Pound cake out of the oven and gives you a warm slice with real butter on it, well, Darlin' I just feel sorry for you. As with the Strawberry Shortcake, we like our Pound cake and Peaches with some Whipped Cream.

What account of Traditional Southern Cakes would be complete without mentioning one of my personal favorites, the Praline Cheesecake? Yes, Darlin', we took a traditional New York dessert and put our own unique Southern touch to it by making a crust using our beloved pecans in that sugary mixture we like to call "praline". Since we had to get pecans, and make the syrupy praline mixture anyway, why not make enough to swirl some through the filling, too? As if cheesecake weren't rich enough as it's traditionally made. But that's us Southerners, anything worth doing is even better done to excess.

There are a couple of traditional Southern Cakes that I should mention because all the Ladies made them when I was a child. Since I am over the half-century mark I feel free to speak my mind about Angel Food Cake with that dreadful treacly pink icing and Red Velvet cake. I didn't like them when I was a girl and my opinion hasn't changed as an adult.

I don't care if they are Southern Institutions. I don't care if Angel Food Cake is low in fat and calories. It is the driest, most tasteless cake I have ever had the misfortune to put in my mouth. Oh, it's sweet, but what good is sweetness without flavor? The Red Velvet cake is another nearly tasteless cake. The icing has some flavor, but the cake itself is virtually tasteless. I think it became a popular cake, and a recipe for Red Velvet is in every Southern Cookbook I own, simply for it's color.

Learn more about this author, Holly Berry.
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