Argentina Cake

This is the cake John requests for his birthday every year.  And, since it's delicious, and easy, and pairs perfectly with either ice cream or strawberries and whipped cream, it gets requested at a lot of other birthdays as well.

Argentina Cake (1-2-3-4-Cake)


1 pint of cream (light or heavy whipping--we've used both to good effect)
2 cups sugar
3 cups self-rising flour (or 3 cups flour, 1 tsp. salt, 4 tsp. baking powder)
4 eggs
1 drop of vanilla (but really, I use a tsp. of vanilla)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix cream with sugar.  Add eggs and beat well.  Sift flour (or flour + salt + baking powder) into mixture and mix gently until thoroughly combined.  Pour into 9x13 pan and bake for 1 hour.

This cake is terribly temperamental.  If you don't bake it too hot, it overinflates and then falls.  If you overbeat the cream, it overinflates and then falls.  However, even if fallen, it's still delicious.  So, never fear.

Hedgehog's Yellow Cake

This is Olivia's new favorite recipe because it comes from her second grade reader and is attached to a story about a hedgehog whose friends help him bake a cake (very cute).  It's basic, but delicious, reminding me of good sugar cookies.  I can think of a lot of ways to dress this sucker up.  (Grandma Nielson's fudge frosting anyone?)

Hedgehog's Yellow Cake
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1-1/4 cup self-rising flour (or 1-1/4 cup regular flour, plus 1/2 tsp. salt and 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder)
1 tsp vanilla (good vanilla--Watkin's is the best)
1. Ask an adult to set the oven to 350.
2.  Butter a 9-inch round pan.
3. Mix butter and sugar together in a bowl.
4.  Add eggs, one by one.
5.  Add vanilla.
6.  Mix in flour.
7.  Put batter into pan and bake for half an hour.
8.  Eat warm with a glass of milk.