While I appreciate the experience represented, the fact that one has dedicated his/her life to being a baker does not make one infallible. Fellow "non-experts," please remember this when reading reviews such as the previous one. :) Don't be afraid to try a recipe yourself, even if the professionals are naysayers. Now, for my experience... I made this recipe almost exactly as specified and it turned out great for me. Keep in mind that a cake made with oil will turn out a bit more dense. I think you also have to use some common sense with this one. It does not specifically say to use a mixer, but with most cakes you do. So, that is what I did with this one. Do not over-mix, though, or you will have an even denser cake. The only change I made was to use brown sugar instead of white. I also cut it down just a bit and added just a tad more flour to make up the difference (probably about 1/4 cup exchange). It looked like a slightly runnier cake batter when it was mixed completely. Also, before I added the wet ingredients to the dry, I mixed them first. Again, this just seemed sensible to me, based on other cakes I've made. I did cut back on the orange juice because I was afraid it would be overpowering to use as a strawberry shortcake. However, I wish I had not. The orange flavor would have been better with the full amount of juice. Great moist cake! Nothing wrong with the recipe. I think it just needs to be clarified a little to say exactly what it means.

Reviewed On: May 26, 2011

Excellent! I really love the addition of the nuts! They add more health benefits and better flavor, too! These were delicious and very easy to adapt to gluten-free for my gluten intolerant children. I substituted 1/2 C. Millet flour and 1/2 C. Buckwheat flour for the regular flour in the crust. I also used 1/4 C. Xylitol instead of sugar (ran it in the coffee mill to get the fine texture) because Xylitol has a low glycemic. For the filling, I substituted 1/2 C. Xylitol and 1/2 C. Agave nectar for the cup of sugar (xyltiol sometimes has a kind of "menthol" effect, so I added the agave). Because of the extra liquid, I increased the flour to 4 Tbsp., again substituting Buckwheat flour for regular. It seemed to work great. I just turned up the heat to 375 after adding the filling. Next time I will double the amount of filling and increase the lemon peel/juice because I like a stronger lemon flavor.

Reviewed On: May 6, 2007