"Jeanne's Style" Birthday Cake

Submitted by Shar-on

"A bakery in Winnipeg is famous for this special cake and ship it to all parts of Canada. A recipe request column in the Winnipeg Free Press printed this copycat recipe submitted by a reader. Enjoy !"

 

• Ready In: 3hrs 50mins
• Ingredients: 20
• Yields: 1 8 inch square pan

ingredients

• Base

• 1⁄3 cup shortening
• 1⁄4 cup icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1⁄3 teaspoon baking powder

• Cake

• 1⁄2 cup shortening
• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup milk

• Frosting

• 1⁄2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1⁄4 cup shortening
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 dash salt

directions

1. To prepare base, cut shortening into dry ingredients, mix well.
2. Pat firmly and evenly into an 8 inch square pan and bake at 350 deg. F. for 10-12 minutes. Cool.
3. Note: the base and cake are baked separately.
4. For cake: cream shortening, and sugar; add eggs and vanilla, beating well until fluffy.
5. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.
6. Pour batter into a greased and floured 8 inch square pan.
7. Bake at 350 deg. F for 25 - 40 minutes.
8. Frosting: in small saucepan, stir tog. milk and flour.
9. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixute is thickened and smooth. Cool.
10. On highest speed of mixer, beat cooled flour mixture with butter, shortening and vanilla until smooth and fluffy.
11. Blend in icing sugar and salt; continue beating until frosting is very fluffy. This will take at least 15 minutes.
12. To assemble cake: place shortbread base on serving plate; spread with small amount of frosting.
13. Place cake on base. (you can split the cake for layers).
14. Cover top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. If desired, garnish sides of cake with shaved semi-sweet chocolate.

Reviews

[ecparks2000]

It took me about 4 hours to make this cake and it was AWFUL! I made this for my mother's birthday and NO ONE liked it. It is definitely an acquired taste! If you're not used to this cake or have never tried it--be aware and try a "dry run" before using this recipe for a big event. It has no real flavor and I did even use the chocolate shavings. I guess you could say that it has a very "delicate" flavor. Anyway, as I said if this is not a cake that you've had before and loved it, try it before the big event to make sure that you like it. The frosting was very interesting though and I might try messing with it to make similar light frosting but with more of a bold flavor.

 

[Ill have seconds]

I also grew up in Winnipeg, but moved away long ago. I have tried this recipe and it is exactly like the bakery cake. The first thing you must know is, you have to use a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer for this cake and frosting. Do not try this recipe unless you have one, because you will fail. Bake the cake in a glass pan, it will end up lighter and more fluffy. Make sure you whip the cake batter for at least 5 minutes till fluffy. I always use whipping cream instead of milk, but you can always go half and half to make up the milk measurement. You must cut the edges, top and bottom off the cake once it has cooled. The original cake never had crisp sides or top so you must cut them off, if you have a Lab they will love you for the cake scraps. Jeanne's cake is very bland, so you could always substitute pure orange extract into the recipe to add flavor. When you make the frosting, again you must use a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. At the original bakery they are not using some wimpy set of beaters to make the icing. The icing will separate if you add food coloring so be careful. I don't know which brand of coloring they use, so I always leave the icing just white.

 

[Terricakes]

I grew up in Wpg and was pleased to see a recipe for the Jeanne cakes I have come to adore over the years. But I agree with the other reviewers... although a tasty cake (not too sweet) and close to the original, it doesn't quite cut it - something is missing. I thought the icing was really good, but I had trouble coloring it and I'm not sure why -it seemed to separate. I have made many types of icing over the years and have not run into this. I use Wilton and Americolor gel colors.

 

[greengirl347]

I have never had a "Jeanne's" cake before, but I thought that this cake was very tasty. I took the advice to use butter instead of shortening in the base and cake.

 

[Jacquie]

I'm looking forward to trying this recipe. I'll update the stars when I do. My husband is from Winnipeg and he says he grew up with this cake. Thanks for posting! I made the cake today. Since I've never had a Jeanne cake, I can't tell how they compare. I like the cake. It came out dense, but I may be used to box cakes.