I have always love daisies. They are one of my favourite flowers. Actually, any flower resembling a daisy is a favourite. I love the word, the cheerful vibe, the happy look. I even named my cat Daisy. So a book called “Daisy Cakes Bakes” absolutely had to make its way into my hands.

The story behind Daisy Cakes rests with Kim Nelson. Raised in the South, Nelson grew up eating homemade food created with fresh ingredients from their own land. Eggs from the family’s chickens, veg from their own garden, hand-churned butter, and so on. However, knowing that not everyone enjoyed baking as much as she did, Nelson had an idea.

In 2011, she applied to be on the American TV show, Shark Tank. Nelson made her presentation and secured a $50,000 investment from “shark” and real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran. Her idea? Continue to bake her family’s tried-and-true recipes using locally sourced ingredients and then deliver them fresh to homes across the country.

In the first year Daisy Cakes sold more than 25,000 cakes in every state. As her business grew (and encountered a few big bumps along the way) Nelson said that everything, ingredients, baking tins, labels etc. still came from domestic sources. Before “Shark Tank”, the Daisy Cake annual sales were $27,000. By 2017, the number had grown to $5 million. Now that’s impressive…but is the new Daisy Cakes Bakes cookbook as impressive?

The book is nicely designed with inviting images and short, personal stories about each recipe. There are handy tips like “Freezing the cake layers make them much easier to frost. I usually freeze them for 2 to 3 hours, uncovered on a sheet pan. Spreading the frosting over the frozen layers keeps the crumbs out.”

I decided to make a cookie and, of course, a cake recipe. I originally had borrowed the book in the winter so made a partial batch of Nelson’s Gingerbread Cookies to compare with mine. I have a wonderful recipe I have used for years and thought I’d do a “cookie-off”. While the Daisy Cakes cookies were good, mine definitely won the blind taste testing as voted by family and friends.

The second recipe I tried was “Your Signature Coffee Cake”. Coffee Cakes sound a bit retro but they are just wonderful if not too dry or loaded with way-too-much streusel topping. The cake smelled wonderful baking away with its blueberry & strawberry filling. I chose not to do a topping or glaze but probably would do if it was for guests as it is rather plain looking. The Daisy Cakes recipe made one very moist and tasty, can’t-stop-at-one slice cake.

There are quite a few other recipes I’d like to try including the Scotland Orange Cake (although the fact that it takes 9 eggs is a bit off putting), Butter Brickle Cookies (partly just because of the name) and Miss Geraldine’s Italian Cream Cake because the photo looks delectable. Overall, I’d say don’t bother ordering a Daisy Cakes cake (they don’t ship to Canada anyway) just bake it yourself with Kim Nelson’s easy-to-follow recipes. Two whisks up!

• Sandi H.

Your Signature Coffee Cake

Cake Batter

½ c butter or margarine, room temperature
1 ½ c sugar
2 large eggs
1 c whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c all purpose flour
¾ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

Filling

2 c. fresh blueberries (I used frozen mixed berries)
¼ c brown sugar
1 tblsp fresh lemon juice (my idea…and it was nice!
Zest of 1 lemon

Glaze (optional)

1 ½ c icing sugar
1tblsp whole milk
2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 1 – 8 x 8” baking pan. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar on high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in eggs and beat on high for 1 minute. Beat in milk and vanilla.

Add in dry ingredients, on low or stirring in by hand. Combine just until ingredient are all blended together. Set aside.

In food processor or blending combine filling ingredients.

To assemble cake, put 1/3 of batter in pan. Spread evenly. Add 2/3 of the filling. Spread evenly over batter. Top with the rest of the batter.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with just a few crumbs on it.

Serving: when the cake is cool, mix the ingredients of the glaze together and pour over the top of the cake. Let sit before serving with some of the fruit filling on the side.