FBF: The Charleston Cake Lady (and a Recipe!)

Welcome to Flashback Friday!

Today we’re not going back too far….to only 1998.  I was a young mother of a two year-old redhead living in balmy Charleston, SC.  I attended a MOPS group for a couple of hours every other Tuesday, and it was there that I met Teresa Pregnall, otherwise known as The Charleston Cake Lady.

Is she not the cutest little lavendar haired little lady you’ve ever laid eyes on?!

Mrs. Pregnall was the guest speaker at my MOPS group.  She talked to us about how she accidentally got into the mail-order cake business, how she was a guest once on the Today show (or it may have been Good Morning America…can’t quite remember), her former job on the board of Alumni Affairs at the College of Charleston, and most importantly, she talked about her cookbook and sold us some copies.

That book changed my life.  Before that I was intimidated by baking in general.  Sifting was an unknown territory.  Cake testers were frightening.  Flour was horrifying.  Rolling pins were…well, er…well, were…unspeakable terrors. (I still have issues with rolling pins!)  But Mrs. Pregnall’s baking methods were clear and concise.  She told us to not use low or non-fat ingredients for baking….they are cakes afterall…they are supposed to be fattening.  She gave us permission to start with cake mixes (doctored cake mixes were a new thing to me at the time).

I fell in love with the Charleston Cake Lady the first time I pulled an absolutely perfect Chocolate Chip Cake out of my rickety old oven, and my guests that night ooohhhed and aaaahhhed and devoured every crumb.  I never looked back, and I’ve baked with almost 100% success over half the items in her cookbook, Treasured Recipes from the Charleston Cake Lady, which is still available at Amazon.  (Just click the title to get to the link to buy new and used copies.)

In honor of this great lady, who passed away about a year ago, I’m sharing the recipe for the Chocolate Chip cake, which is easy, fun and delicious.  Here we go….

You will need:  1 box butter recipe golden cake mix, 1/3 c. granulated sugar, 8 oz. sour cream (NOT low-fat or nonfat!!!), 2/3 c. vegetable oil, 3 large eggs, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, 1 pkg. (12 oz.) mini semisweet chocolate chips, and 1 container of chocolate frosting

Preheat your oven to 325.

Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan (or just spray it with butter-flavored Pam).

That pan was my grandma’s, and even with the vanishing non-stick coating, with a thick coat of Pam, your cake will pop right out when it has cooled!

In a large mixing bowl, blend the cake mix, sugar, sour cream, and oil on low speed for 1 minute.

Add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.  Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 4 minutes.  If you don’t have a stand mixer, it will feel like your arm is going to fall off….but hang in there!  It’s worth it!

Add the vanilla extract.  Fold the chocolate chips into the batter by hand and stir gently until evenly distributed.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

While the cake is baking, lick this bowl clean. (This step is courtesy of the Pirate Mom.  A refined Charlestonian lady would NEVER tell you to do such.)

Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan.  Invert the cake onto a plate and marvel at the beauty.

Now, this next step is not from the Charleston Cake Lady.  It is pure Pirate Mom.  Take your container of frosting and microwave  (remove the inside seal and return the lid loosely first) for about a minute and stir it well.

Then pour about 3/4 to all of it on the top of your cooled cake, allowing it to drip down the sides and into the middle.  Unforunately, I forgot to take a picture of this step and the finished cake in all it’s ooey, gooey glory, but I’m sure you can just imagine the above cake with rich chocolate goodness all over the top.  UMMMM-UMMMMM!

I highly encourage all of you to check out the cookbook at the above link.  Mrs. Pregnall includes several other doctored cake recipes, delicious pound cake recipes and many traditional Charleston recipes, like ones for Benne Seed Wafers and Punch Bowl Cake.  Trust me….you’ll feel all Southern and proper (and a little fat).