I wanted soul food and all I got was this darn pandemic

Every year since my Mom passed away I usually go down to North Carolina to see my paternal family to have Thanksgiving dinner with them. I LOVE it! I don't love Tarboro, North Carolina but I sure do love my family. They are funny, have minimal filtration and are wonderful cooks. They have been a sanctuary especially these last four years. So when the coronavirus pandemic threatened to end my soul food streak, I was pretty sad.  I've been avoiding doing a lot of cooking for the past few years. You may have noticed that this blog has a post from 2014 and nothing after that because a few months later, my Mom died and through the years cooking has been more difficult for me. It reminds me of my grief and loss and has slowly begun to no longer bring me the joy it use to. So being forced to celebrate Thanksgiving in New York without family this year is a little triggering as you can imagine. That is why I'm going to try to make it as fun as I can. Thankfully, I won't be doing the cooking alone which will help tremendously and if anything goes horribly wrong whoever is reading this blog will get a great chuckle out of it. 

How Is It Going?

Monday, November 23 - So far today, I've recorded a special Thanksgiving episode of my podcast, Theatre Geeks Anonymous which you will be able to hear on Thanksgiving Day. It's our present to ourselves and all the geeks who listen to our pod. If you've never listened and your interested, here you go! 
I've taken the turkey out of the freezer to thaw and am really struggling with whether to brine or not to brine. You can brine your turkey as it thaws so I may brine it on Wednesday morning for the last 6-8 hours of it's thaw time before smothering it with herbs and vegan butter before it goes in the crockpot before I head to bed. My podcast co-host Pamela is a good cook as well and she talked me into seriously thinking about brining. Neither of us have done a turkey before this year so we're figuring it out. We'll see if I brine.  I'll keep you posted. 
Tonight I have a fun Friendsgiving social hour planned with the think tank I started with some friends in the spring called the Think Tank for Theatrical Innovation. This group is filled with some of the most majestic human beings and I am so excited to talk to them about nothing and everything while we eat and drink tonight! 
Lastly I'm thinking about re-watching my church's service from yesterday. It reminded me about perspective and gratefulness during a plague and how to give God glory for the good He has done. I still have a job, friends, a home and so do my siblings and extended family. We are a blessed group and there's a lot to be thankful for this year even if 2020 had some plot twists nobody wanted. 
Tomorrow I'll share some photos of the sides we're cooking, but for now, enjoy the photos of past Thanksgivings with my family in North Carolina. 

Not only is Gotham the, "City that Never Sleeps" it's also the "Artists Mecca".  We come from our little towns in the middle of nowhere or lands where we grow up feeling that we don't speak the language to find our voices here.  So, needless to say, a majority of my friends are artists and I love that!  Why, because I'm one and they get me. Well, as much as one can get me, I'm definitely a different breed but, who doesn't feel that way?
So, about a week after my last blog post a dear friend of mine had a birthday.  She's an Actress going to auditions at the crack of dawn, waiting in line to not even get seen, callbacks, more auditions... etc. You know the deal.  So, because last year we were both preoccupied with trying to move here to the Big City during her last birthday; I had been holding on to this recipe for all that time, chomping at the bit to make it for her.  Her favorite cake is spice cake and I'd wanted to make this recipe ever since I'd seen it in a 2007 October issue of Family Circle that my Mother had sent me back then.  So, when I met Jennie, which is now two years ago, I decided this was the person I would make it for.
I was excited about this cake because I LOVE THE FALL!  I love the colors, the cool weather, sweatshirts, warm blankets, hot tea and all of the flavors fall bring with it.  Saying that, I feel that spice cake is one of the quintessential fall desserts.  It has a nutty yet warming quality about it and a beautiful coloring that is perfect for the season!

As usual, I've changed up a few of the ingredients but, it's pretty much the same.  I'll post a link to the original recipe but, post my ingredients here on the blog. 

Chocolate-Glazed Spice Cake


Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 c. solid vegetable shortening

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp all-spice
1 tsp ginger

1 c. packed dark-brown sugar
3/4 c maple syrup
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c.  Vanilla Rice Milk

Filling:
8oz cream cheese, softened
1/4c. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. Vanilla Rice Milk
3 c. confectioner's sugar

  

Chocolate Frosting:

1/2 c. heavy cream

 1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

The explicit instructions to putting this cake together are listed here:
Chocolate-Glazed Maple Spice Cake
I didn't top the cake with walnuts because Jennie doesn't like nuts much and I'm not a big fan of walnuts myself. So, instead I put flowers on top and I think it's quite pretty.
I want to give you an explanation for why I changed certain things in the recipe and be upfront about how it turned out and what I would do differently.  I'm no professional and I like to be forthcoming about what the real journey was from start to finish.

Things I would not worry about, do differently or do again:
1.  I would have put a layer of bread on top of each cake layer as it cooled.  I wasn't happy with the moistness of my cake, I felt it was a bit dry.  A slice of bread on top is supposed to help keep the moisture in.
2. The cake looked much bigger in the original picture and I worried it was too small.  Don't be fooled.  Jennie had about 20 or so people at her party.  Everyone had a piece and there were leftovers to boot!
3. I added milk to the filling so that it would be a bit looser and easier to spread.  This idea worked well.
Some goals I have are to find a good substitute for shortening, butter and heavy cream.  Any suggestions?  Please post a comment if you know good alternatives to this and I will try them and post my adventures on this blog!


Of course the entire point of making the cake was to see this happen with it! ;-)

I hope you try this cake during the Autumn season and it warms your soul!

Ebony