A special cake for Washington's birthday

Today, February 22, is the traditional birthday of our first president, George Washington. We all know the story about him chopping down a cherry tree, confessing to his father that he did the deed, showing complete honesty. Since then, it's often tradition to have a cherry dessert to commemorate this historical birthday. I remember as an elementary school student having cherry cobbler in our school cafeteria if we were in school on Washington's birthday.

I'd like to pass along the ingredients for a pretty and flavorful cake to celebrate our first president's birthday. The recipe, "Cherry Nut Party Cake", is a pretty cake with its pastel pink color and flavored with maraschino cherries. The cake is iced with a pink cream cheese icing. The cake can be baked in either layers or a 9x13 inch pan. The latter would be very handy in case you have to take a dessert somewhere.

You'll see in the recipe that it calls for cake flour. Some new bakers may not be familiar with this flour, so I'd like to review with you a little about what it is. First, it's NOT self-rising flour. Some bakers think that cake flour would have the leavening needed, but it doesn't. Cake flour is usually packaged in a box and three brands marketed nationally are "Softasilk" (put out by Pillsbury), "Swans Down" (marketed by Reilly Foods) and"King Arthur" (marketed by King Arthur Flour). You shouldn't have any difficulty locating at least one of the these brands. The type of flour is milled from soft, winter wheat and gives the cake a high, light texture and a tender crumb. On the other hand, self-rising flour, an entirely different item from cake flour, contains salt, baking soda and baking powder. This item is used most often in the southern part of the country and is usually used in biscuit making.

The recipe also calls for egg whites that are beaten and folded in. Make certain to have the egg whites at room temperature to insure the highest volume when beating them. Also, use care not to overbeat the whites to the point where they are dry. Dry egg whites can cause a dry cake.

This cake is very eye-appealing and if you're looking for other cherry recipes, I shared some sometime back. Here's the link to it, in case you need it again:

http://www.examiner.com/article/all-decked-out-red-cherries

Have fun celebrating the birthday of the father of our country with this pretty and flavorful cake!

CHERRY NUT PARTY CAKE

• 4 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2-1/2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup maraschino cherry juice
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup finely chopped maraschino cherries
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Beat egg whites until frothy and gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar. Continue beating to stiff peaks and set aside. Cream the shortening and the second 1/2 cup sugar. Combine the cherry juice and milk. Sift together the dry ingredients and add alternately with the liquid mixture to the cream mixture, starting and ending with flour. Beat until only smooth as the flour and liquid mixture is added. Fold in the cherries and nuts. Pour batter into two 9-inch layer pans that have been greased and floured or a 9x13 inch pan, also greased and floured. Bake the layers at 375 degrees for about 25-30 or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Bake the 9x13 inch pan for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If baked in layers, let cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto cake racks to cool completely. The 9x13 inch cake may be left in the pan. When cool, frost with "Cherry Cream Cheese Icing":

Cherry Cream Cheese Icing:

• 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice
• 1 (1-lb.) box confectioner's sugar
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Cream together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar with enough cherry juice to make the mixture smooth. Fold in the nuts.