Living 2 Eat |

Fending off some tough competition in the Dixie Classic Fair’s Creative Collards Contest, Dinah Reece of Pfafftown, North Carolina won with her collard-greens cake.

Dinah Reece of Pfafftown (NC) prevailed with her collard-greens cake to take first prize. Reece’s cake is “like a cross between an apple cake and a carrot cake,” she said. It’s flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg, and studded with raisins and chopped pecans.

 For more on this most unique Winston-Salem Journal story, click here.

Collard Greens Cake

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil, divided use

4 eggs, divided use

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups cooked fresh collards, drained and finely chopped

2 cups raw apples, cored peeled and finely chopped

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup raisins

¾ cup chopped pecans

Cream-cheese frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened

2 pounds powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup pecans

Milk

 Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three round, 9-inch cake pans.

 Beat sugar and ¾ cup oil in electric mixer until well combined. Add 2 of the eggs and the vanilla; mix well. In a blender, put remaining ¼ cup oil, remaining 2 eggs and all of the collards. Blend until smooth, until tiny flecks of collards remain visible. Stir collard mixture into batter along with the apples.

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Use 2 tablespoons of flour mixture to toss with raisins and pecans. Stir remaining flour mixture into egg mixture; mix well. Fold in the flour-coated raisins and pecans.

Divide batter into the three prepared pans. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or just until done.

Cool the cake in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.

 To make the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and pecans. Add milk, a tablespoon at a time, to reach desired frosting consistency.

Assemble and frost middle layers, sides and top of cake.

NOTE:  To get the collards finely chopped, use a food processor.