I think the orange version sounds delicious!! We love cakes with orange and/or lemon peel. I wonder if you want it more like the wine cake if you could substitute purple grape juice?

Wine cake is mostly about the alcohol burning away and just leaving the wine flavor, so I think - technically - grape juice could be used to imitate the wine flavor. Co-workers who made the recipe at home had discovered that the really cheap red wines give it the best flavor, while the more expensive wines don't give much of a flavor at all. Perhaps grape juice concentrate? (Don't quote me on it, though.)

Since I've made the orange one I can definitely vouch that it's a refreshing orange flavor that blends well with the almost-poundcake-like texture and is not overwhelming.

Hmmm...this is a puzzling one, Chilipep. It the alcohol evaporates, which I have heard before, does that affect the liquid component in the recipe? Would you use less grape juice? This is best left to the experts, of which I am not one. When I was a kid (10-ish) my Aunt used to make what she called a wine and nut sponge cake that was so yummy. She's gone for many years and ZI am sure her recipes went with her. I should ask my cousin. She likeks to cook/bake and may have gotten the recipe from her mom.

Yeah, that's why I was unsure about the concentrate in place of the 'normal' fluids. The texture of the cake is sort of between a regular homestyle cake and pound cake. Just dense enough to be rich, but not overpoweringly so.

A wine sponge cake sounds like the cousin to this one so if you can locate your aunt's recipe, it'd be nice to see/taste the contrast between the 'almost-pound cake' and sponge cake versions.

That sounds amazing! Thanks for the recipe

I actually got the stuff together to try it tomorrow. I am going to try out the applesauce first then diced apples and see which fares better.

The one I was trying has a caramel icing on it. Saw it on a blog a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to try a red velvet cake but oldest DD doesn't like nuts.

It really is, but I wish I had a bigger kitchen and better appliances. My hubby will eat just about anything I cook simply because I tried. The kids, well that is another story altogether. The oldest will eat most of what I cook but has specifics about what she doesn't like in her food. The youngest will eat it if prompted but she is very weird. For instance she really doesn't care for steak or spaghetti but will eat both. I on the other hand have found that many things I disliked as a child I love now. I was just trying to find a nice dessert to try so I would have something to take to family's home where we are having our first real holiday meal even though we've been together forever...( long story short -half his family disapproved because of my race and that was the part that hosted all of the family get togethers)So I want to make something really good!

Well, first I am glad it sounds like family issues are working out. 2nd, don't make any foods that are the in-laws family favorites or specialties, for 2 reasons: you don't want to show them up and you are setting yourself up for failure--one of those no win kind of things. I'd stick to an easy, simple thing that most, if not all, will like and then run it by your partner. For example, I find that everyone loves strawberry shortcake. The easiest way I know is to bake an angel food cake (from a mix). After it is cooled completely (like several hours or overnight so bake on Wednesday) cut the cake into 1 inch or 2 ince cubes--you can trim the "crust" before you cut up the cake if you want the brown edges gone, for "pretty" reasons. Personally, I like when the Mrs. trims the brown because that is my favorite part and I get to eat it!! It does taste better for the shortcake if you trim it and it looks prettier. So, now that you have cake cubes, put them in a plastic bag and seal it so they stay fresh. Buy those frozen strawberries that are sweetened and make sure they are completely thawed. Put them in your own plastic container so no one knows you didn't make them. Then, either whip some real cream, or get some of the cans of whipped cream (you know--the ones everyone wants to squeeze right in their mouth!!). I like the cans better than the frozen "cool whip" types, but it's a personal preferance. Adjust the amounts to how many people you are serving and you can have everyone put their's together after the meal, or at the last minute put it in a prety bowl and there you are. OH--if you are ambitious (but this is a bad time of year because berries are hard to come by fresh and they are expensive) slice fresh berries and add a bit of sugar (to taste). It makes a syrup by itself. There are frozen, unsweetend berries by (I think Dole) and our supermarket has their own brand also that will thaw and you can add some sugar. If I am serving people with diabetes, you can use "equal" or what ever sugar substitute you like. You can change this up by also offering vanilla ice cream with the whipped cream. Good luck--I'm sure they will love you--its a first step anyway!! Last advice to suck up--bring some flowers or a pretty plant and if there are any young children, hit the dollar store!!

Come to the meeting---we'll tell you how!

Honestly, there's not a "mystery" about it. I just made mashed potatoes for the first time ever this morning and they tasted just fine!

No I don't know how to the pictures yet. Please tell me and I will be sure to take some later.

Start small. My mom never had the time really to teach me to cook so when I was 13 I started going through her cookbook. I was babysitting my nephew and we would look through for desserts and try a new one everyday. It only depended on what was in the kitchen. Now I just look for something I want to cook and I try it. I make an awesome Ziti Al forno ( an Olive Garden dish!) Everyone loves it and I simply looked the recipe up on the net, printed it out and went from there. It helps to have people you trust who trust you and are willing to be tastetesters.

I wish I could participate but I wont even be home that night..

Well it'll still be there to read through later!

Yay! Looking forward to what you've dug up for tonight.

Woo! I'm excited too. There's no way I could forget, though, I spent like all morning uploading pictures that I've taken over the last two weeks (pant!)

But now there's a kitty on my lap and some warm food in my stomach and I'm looking up all of the cooking trivia