Tropical Storm Texas Peanut Butter Sheet Cake

Tropical Storm Gaston is fixin' to strike a glancing blow on the Houston area later today and we're already seeing rain. I'm thankful it didn't have time to become a major hurricane, but it could make grilling those burgers and hot dogs for our Labor Day cookout this evening a damp outing.

Since it's just a Tropical Storm and not a Hurricane, Gaston doesn't rate the Texas Chocolate Sheet cake. So I decided to bake this Texas Peanut Butter Sheet cake instead.

Tasting of the batter and frosting proved promising! The technique is similar to that of the Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake except that mini-marshmallows are added to the frosting to help spread the peanut buuter. If you want to try the recipe, which you can find here, I advise you to make a double recipe of the frosting because it didn't come close to covering the cake the first time. I'm planning to serve it with vanilla ice cream.

GA 219 Goes To Ground So QG Cooks

For those of us PresbyPolityGeeks who are NOT attending GA 219 in person, the GA has gone to ground for the next couple of days as commissioners burrow into a millionty committee meetings that are not being streamed live. So until the next plenary meeting on Wednesday, we rely on our blogger, Facebook and Twitter feeds to learn what is happening.

Here's a shout-out to the Presbytery of New Covenant delegation: they have their own blog ( PNC Notes from Minneapolis) and several new posts went up today from commissioners. Keep up the good work! Pray for our EP Rev. Mike Cole as he testifies against the Middle East Peace report today.

Meanwhile, I've been cooking, so I'll share two "keeper" recipes from yesterday's Fourth of July festivities Chez QG.

The first one is a variation of the beloved and famous Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake-- the Texas Strawberry Sheetcake.

Kudos to blogger Homesick Texan for the recipe which you can get here. Everyone really LOVED this. It is easy, very fruity and moist.

The second one is a super fabulous Truffle Mac and Cheese. I got this one from the site What We're Eating. Here's the link to the recipe. It's a rather fussy recipe, so not exactly something you're going to whip up on a weeknight to go with your meatloaf. However for a special occasion it is outstanding. My guests gave it 5 stars and requested a re-run for Labor Day and Thanksgiving.

As I always say, when the goin' gets tough at GA, the tough get cookin' at home.

Different Take on the "Grace" Cake

Recently my SIL made a White Texas Sheet cake that the whole family gobbled right up. It's really just the Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake that the RevGals know and love as the "Grace" Cake--but without the chocolate.

I whipped it up this morning because I'm expecting a bit of company over the weekend. It's delicious and seems more summery than the original version. I've seen some recipes for this that include pineapple--but I prefer my pineapple fresh not baked in a cake. Here's the recipe:

WHITE TEXAS SHEET CAKE

1 cup butter
1 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
4 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup chopped nuts-- I used slivered almonds and toasted them first!

In a large saucepan, bring 1 cup butter or margarine and water to a boil. Remove from heat, and stir in flour, sugar, eggs, sour cream, 1 teaspoon almond extract, and baking soda until smooth. Pour batter into a greased 10 x 15 x 1 inch baking pan.

Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20 to 22 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and tests done. Cool for 20 minutes.

Combine 1/2 cup butter or margarine and milk in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

Mix in sugar and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Spread frosting over warm cake. Sprinkle nuts on top.

Makes 1 - 10 x 15 x 1 inch sheet cake that serves a big crowd!

More than a Cake--Its a "Grace Cake"

Back on July 4, 2005, when I was just a newbie blogger, I wrote a post titled: The Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake, A Fourth of July Tradition.

The post drew several comments and lo, it came to pass that making, baking and talking about that cake became a catalyst for the formation of the RevGalBlogPals webring (now numbering more than 300 members from around the world representing many different Christian denominations and traditions), and the publication of two books of devotions written by members, and the organization of RevGalBlogPals, Inc.

Songbird, one of the founding members of the ring, and the president of RevGalBlogPals, Inc., is a UCC minister in Maine. Recently she posted a picture of the Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake that she made at her daughter's request for her birthday and reminisced about how that cake played a role in drawing the RevGalPals all together. The recipe is included in both my link above and Songbird's link here, so click on one of them to get it.

This morning Songbird was still talking about the cake. Songbird took that post and rewrote it for her weekly column in a local newspaper. You can read her column here. In the column, she called the cake the "Grace Cake". And so it has become. It's not about me or my blog at all--the name reminds us that God's grace can use a computer, the internet, weblogs and a cake recipe to bring us together and bless a community of believers.

Thanks be to God!