FLOUR

   From what I have seen on the cooking shows and read in cookbooks, online, and on social media, it would seem that incorporating unusual or surprising ingredients in a recipe is popular now.  A mash-up of flavors in a recipe that might first appear....let's say, different, is what I mean.  I'm referring to unlikely spices or ingredients in a mac and cheese recipe, or an herb used in a savory dish instead of what would be added to a dessert..  Some of them surprise me at first...then I start to think about it and before you know it, my mind can imagine the change.      
     Actually unusual ingredients have been showing up for a while.  Think Carrot Cake.  The first time someone offered it to me.....I must admit it was many years ago..... I quickly turned it down.  Boy was I wrong.  I noticed a few odd ingredients in cake recipes recently when looking for a different idea for my husband's upcoming birthday.  AND, his number one favorite is chocolate.  I came across "Salad Dressing Devil's Food Cake."  First, I repeated the title in my head and thought oil and vinegar and said "yuck" to myself.  But as I kept perusing all of a sudden it hit me, "OH! salad dressing...like mayonnaise."  This is an unexpected ingredient, for sure, in a cake, but you know it would up the moisture factor.  Then I saw Crazy Chocolate Cake, which adds vinegar to a batter with baking soda, (BOOM?).  I also saw Chocolate-Applesauce Cake.  The two individual tastes have been done before, but I have not experienced them together.  One more chocolate one...Potato Cake.  Just reading those two words with no prior knowledge, what would you think about its taste?  Not chocolaty, but with a fruit flavor was Apricot Nectar Cake and Mandarin Orange Cake.  Now it IS easier to imagine cake with some type of fruit inside; apple, banana, strawberry, etc.  I have known Apricot Nectar Cake since my teen years.  I wanted to make one after eating a slice at a friend's house.  When I went to the grocery store to buy the nectar I had no idea what to look for.  But what about mandarin oranges?  Aren't they usually found in salads?

     Anyway, I settled on making the Salad Dressing/Mayonnaise Cake for the soon-to-be birthday.  I mean it is chocolate.  I REALLY don't have to tell him anything.  After he eats a few pieces, then I might spill the beans.  Here's what it looked like from the oven.  You can see that the batter made one nice size layer, enough for us.  Since the recipe did not include a frosting, I thought I would show the actual cake itself.  Then I will frost it; probably with a chocolate ganache.  Below is the recipe.  Maybe you will want to "walk on the wild side' the next time you bake.

     Mayonnaise Cake was taken from The Beta Sigma Phi International Desserts Cookbook, copyright 1968 by Favorite Recipes Press.

MAYONNAISE CAKE

1 cup sugar                                                 2 c. flour
1/4 c. cocoa                                                2 tsp. soda
Few grains of salt                                       1 cup mayonnaise
1 c. cold water                                            1 tsp. vanilla

Sift first 5 ingredients together.  Mix in mayonnaise, water and vanilla; beat well.  Pour into greased 8 x 13-inch pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done.

Notes:  I tasted the batter and it was not as rich as others I have made.  Next time I will probably add more cocoa, maybe 1/2 cup instead of 1/4.  I will probably add more vanilla in the future; at least 1 1/2 tsp.  It was also not as sweet, but okay for us.  Perhaps a 1/4 cup more regular sugar or maybe brown sugar.  I used a 9 x 9 inch pan for my cake and the baking time in my oven was approximately 25 minutes.

FLOWER

White and pink dogwoods

     Most people around here where I live in Southeast Missouri seem to like seeing the blooming trees and flowers.

     Now is a really pretty time with the dogwood buds open on both the pink and white specimens.  In another week, a nearby community will have a spring celebration known as the Dogwood-Azalea Festival.  Azaleas are also known for their beauty this time of year.

     Also we have Redbud trees blooming and their purplish-pink flowers are dazzling.

Redbud

     This Snowball tree (Chinese viburnum) is one I get to see when I take a long walk in my neighborhood.  I wish the blooms would stay around longer, but they are fleeting.  This tree can be started in your yard by a cutting.

Snowball tree

Japanese Maple

     The Japanese Maples I have seen are striking.  It is as if they are stepping forward to say hello when I walk by a property where one is growing.  I think their showy deep red leaves are such a change from the gray gloom of winter, that people can't help but notice.