I've been pretty much glued to the Olympic games these past two weeks - cheering on the Americans like come-back kid, Bode Miller; Shaun (don't call me the flying tomato anymore) White; and Lindsey Vonn and that other American alpine skier who likes to pretend she's a princess. Now that the games have come to a close, I'm left with this thought: Why can't we Americans have a rousing sing-a-long kind of anthem like the Canadians? I got a big kick out of watching Canadian athletes belt out their song, especially skater, Scott Moir, who, head thrown back just sang his little heart out. The Star Spangled Banner is too hard to sing. Wonder what Canada would think if we borrowed their song:

Oh U.S.A. we stand on guard for thee

Oh U.S. A we stand on GUARD FOR THEE!!!

See - isn't that better?

The Book Babes met last Monday night, here at the house to discuss the book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. We loved, loved, loved this book and highly recommend it to all of you out there. The setting is Jackson, Mississippi in the very early 1960's. If you've read this book, you know that both caramel cake and chocolate pie figure into the story, so I wanted to serve one or the other to my Book Babe friends. For reasons you'll be able to guess (again if you read the book) I opted for the caramel cake, even though I've never tried my hand at baking one before.

I found Paula Dean's recipe for caramel cake online, but I almost backed out when I read some of the negative comments posted by people who had tried the recipe -most of the complaints were about the dryness of the cake and the fact that the filling became sugary. But, no, I decided they might just have been inept bakers, so I forged ahead. I liked the cake, but yes, the filling did get sugary, mainly because you're heating butter and sugar and, well, that's what it does when it cools. This cake contains five (5) sticks of butter and five (5) count 'em, cups of sugar. Here's what it looks like after stacking and applying the filling.

And here's the finished product. A little hard to frost, because again, the frosting firms up on you and you have to add more cream to get the cake frosted. I think the Book Babes thought the cake was a little much, and I think Bob thought the cake was a little much, but I'm standing by it and I'm going to make it again. And here, courtesy of Paula Dean, is the recipe:

Caramel Cake

For the Cake

1 cup (2 sticks ) butter - room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

3 cups sifted self-rising flour

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

For the filling:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 cups packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

For the frosting:

1/2 cup ( 1 stick) butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream or more, if needed

1 16-oz box powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour 3 (9 inch) cake pans.

Cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among pans. Level batter in each pan by holding pan 3 to 4 inches above counter and dropping it flat onto counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

For the filling

While cake is baking, in a saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, and milk. Cook and stir over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Remove cake layers from oven and allow cake to remain in pans and you prepare to stack and fill. Remove first layer and invert onto cake plate. Pierce cake layer with a toothpick over entire surface. Spread 1/3 of filling mixture on cake layer. Top with second layer, repeat process. Top with last layer and repeat process.

For frosting:

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat and stir In brown sugar and cream. Bring to a boil and transfer to a mixing bow. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat with electric mixer until it reaches spreading consistency. you may need to add a tablespoon of cream or more, if the frosting gets too thick (Boy Howdie)