Cakes Desserts

Root Beer Float Cake & Cookbook Giveaway!

September 23, 2011

This time last week I was sitting at the Loveless Cafe about to pig out on one of the best breakfasts, in addition to some of the best desserts. A handful of folks were treated to brunch to celebrate the new cookbook, Desserts from the Famous Loveless Cafe by Pastry Chef Alisa Huntsman. Check out the dessert spread!

Loveless Cafe Desserts

That day we sampled Muddy Fudge Pie, Double-Coconut Cream Pie, Tennessee Sweet Potato Pie, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, Red Velvet Cake, Lemon Tunnel-of-Love Tea Cake, Loveless Banana Pudding, Blackberry Cobbler with Cinnamon-Swirl Biscuits, Coconut Chews, and my favorite from the day, Magic Bars. All of these recipes are in the book, too!

As if that wasn’t enough, we enjoyed a full breakfast. Complete with eggs, hashbrown casserole, fruit, biscuits and homemade preserves, bacon, sausage, country ham, fried chicken, gravy…you get the picture of why it was such a great Friday morning! We even got a chance to speak with Alisa and hear her talk about creating each dessert and how much fun she has in the kitchen.

Alisa HuntsmanExcerpted from Desserts from the Famous Loveless Café by Alisa Huntsman (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2011

 

I couldn’t wait to go home and make something from her new cookbook. Choosing a recipe to make first was difficult. I wanted to make everything! I finally decided on this Root Beer Float Cake. I am a huge fan of root beer and I’ve had plenty of desserts that say they’re root beer flavored, but it’s barely detectable. So I thought I’d put Alisa’s version to the test!

Root Beer Float Cake

So, how’s it taste?

I loved it! Alisa definitely knows her cakes. It tastes very much like a root beer float. I think the secret is the cloves, which sounds odd, but it complements the root beer flavor. Cloves can be found in some root beers along with the sassafras flavoring, so it makes sense to have it in a cake. This cake was spicy and warm and super moist. Perfect to help welcome fall which is fast approaching. And look at all that icing! It’s a vanilla glaze on top and that’s what makes the cake taste like a float. The cake itself isn’t too terribly sweet, so the icing is just right. If you’re a fan of root beer, you will love this cake, too!

Root Beer Float Cake Cut

Now on to the good part! The Loveless Cafe was kind enough to give me a copy of Desserts from the Famous Loveless Cafe for one lucky reader!

Desserts from the Famous Loveless CafeExcerpted from Desserts from the Famous Loveless Café by Alisa Huntsman (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2011


To enter:
All you need to do is comment on this post and tell me about your favorite dessert or if you’ve dined at the Loveless Cafe, tell me what you enjoyed.

Optional entries: For up to two additional entries, do one or both of the following and leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

1. Follow @sohowsittaste on Twitter and tweet the following: Win a copy of Desserts from the Famous @LovelessCafe cookbook from @sohowsittaste! http://bit.ly/owtrwd

2. Like So, How’s It Taste? and Loveless Cafe on Facebook.

I’ll randomly select the winner on Friday, September 30th at noon Central. Please make sure you enter a valid email address as an alternate winner will be chosen if I don’t hear from you within 48 hours. Good luck!

Congratulations to comment #35 from Brittany!
You’ll be enjoying some amazing southern desserts soon!

Winner chosen using Random.org


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Root Beer Float Cake

Ingredients:

Cake
2 cups root beer
3 1/4 cups cake flour
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs

Vanilla Glaze
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan. Open the root beer to let some of the effervescence calm down.

2. Sift the cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, and cloves into a bowl; set aside. In a mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time; scrape bowl. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the root beer, scraping the bowl in between. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan.

3. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake cook in pan for 15 minutes. Unmold and let cool on rack.

4. For the glaze, sift the sugar into a bowl. Add the butter, milk, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cake so the entire surface is coated.

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  • Vivek September 23, 2011 at 9:01 am

    To tell you the truth, I’ve only had blackberry cobbler at Loveless…and it was amazing!

  • Vivek September 23, 2011 at 9:01 am

    And, I like you on facebook already!

  • Vivek September 23, 2011 at 9:02 am

    And I tweeted!

  • Kelly September 23, 2011 at 9:05 am

    I tweeted! https://twitter.com/#!/sallaboutme/status/117237887916978176

  • Kelly September 23, 2011 at 9:06 am

    Whoa didn’t realized I hadn’t “liked” you on Facebook yet, but now I have as well as Loveless Cafe! Cool!

  • Shannon September 23, 2011 at 9:23 am

    I already like you on FB

  • Shannon September 23, 2011 at 9:23 am

    I like Loveless on FB.

  • Shannon September 23, 2011 at 9:23 am

    I’m tweeting as we speak….or type. 🙂

  • danielle September 23, 2011 at 9:28 am

    I haven’t been there in years – I can’t remember what I had the last time we went.

  • Shannon September 23, 2011 at 9:28 am

    Unfortunately, I haven’t been to the Loveless Cafe yet. I WANT to go. I’m sure if they have banana pudding, it would be wonderful and I would probably need a bucket of it.

  • Donna C September 23, 2011 at 11:56 am

    I love cupcakes! They can’t have nuts but they must have sprinkles!

  • Meghan September 23, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    My favorite is huckleberry apple pie

  • Lesley September 23, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    Favorite dessert? Just about anything someone else makes…as long as there’s not peanut butter or carrot in it. 🙂

  • Emily September 23, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    I have never had the chance to go, but judging from the desserts you posted about, it sounds great. I really love bundt cakes. They are so simple to make and they look good on their own, without much fuss.

  • Cindy B. September 23, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    My favorite dessert is Tropical Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Icing! YUM!!

  • Cindy B. September 23, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    I follow @sohowsittaste on Twitter and tweeted about this giveaway.

  • Cindy B. September 23, 2011 at 5:14 pm

    I like So, How’s It Taste? and Loveless Cafe on Facebook.

  • Corisa September 23, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    I love all dessert but I always enjoy something chocolatey especially molten chocolate cake!

  • Susan in the Boonies September 23, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    We had our wedding rehearsal dinner at the Loveless. Going there feels almost like going home again! We’re huge fans!

  • Susan in the Boonies September 23, 2011 at 8:46 pm

    Following you now, and tweeted about this giveaway. : http://twitter.com/#!/BoonieSooze/status/117414415854338048

  • Susan in the Boonies September 23, 2011 at 8:49 pm

    Like “So How’s It Taste?” and the Loveless on Facebook. I’m Susan Williams

  • Peggy September 24, 2011 at 10:54 am

    My favorite dessert is anything with lemon in it!

  • Courtney Gallaher September 24, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    How can you choose a favorite dessert . . . . but, if I had to pick one it would be the Blueberry Pie Delight that my mom makes. It is super simple and delicious. Ingredients consist of canned blueberry filing, graham cracker crust, dream whip, powdered sugar, and cream cheese. The memories associated with that dessert is what make it the winner!

  • Traciwilbur September 25, 2011 at 1:37 pm

    I love the Loveless! Unfortunately we don’t get over there as much as I’d like, which is a shame because it’s only 10 miles from our house. The last few times I’ve been I’ve had the fried Green Tomato BLT, it’s to die for.

  • Traciwilbur September 25, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    I already like you on FB and Loveless, too.

  • Traciwilbur September 25, 2011 at 1:40 pm

    I tweeted.

  • Erin @ One Particular Kitchen September 26, 2011 at 1:17 pm

    Oh my favorite dessert? How can I pick? Key lime pie would probably win, but I would have a hard time fully committing. 🙂

  • Sarah September 26, 2011 at 1:51 pm

    Chocolate chip cookies!

  • Candy September 28, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    I can’t pick a favorite dessert because I haven’t gotten past breakfast at Loveless! YUMMY!

  • Blake September 30, 2011 at 7:33 am

    Already like you and the wonderful Loveless on FB. Already follow you on twitter, but just now tweeted (talk about procrastination). Whenever I’m at the Loveless, I must have a piece of country ham. I once had a sweet potato biscuit with country ham at the Loveless Barn. To…die…for!

  • Stephanie September 30, 2011 at 7:48 am

    My favorite dessert has to be the Lemon Icebox pie made from scratch by the Mennonite ladies for the Blue and White Cafe outside of Tunica,MS.

  • Stephanie September 30, 2011 at 7:49 am

    Oh yeah and I already “like” you on facebook.

  • Brittany September 30, 2011 at 8:16 am

    Nothing beats Loveless Cafe’s biscuits!

  • Brittany September 30, 2011 at 8:18 am

    I just re-tweeted your giveaway link 🙂

  • Brittany September 30, 2011 at 8:20 am

    and of course I already “like” So How’s It Taste? on FB and now I “like” Loveless Cafe, too!

  • Jen @ Cup a Dee Cakes September 30, 2011 at 11:56 am

    I have never been to Loveless Cafe, but creme brulee is my favorite dessert!