Barker began with an Easy-Bake Oven
Connie Barker is a talented, self-taught cook who started baking at just eight years old after receiving an Easy-Bake Oven.
“I’ve always had a love for cooking,” Barker said.
Barker specializes in cakes and cookies, with her lemon blueberry pound cake being a standout favorite. She also makes homemade candy that she gifts to friends each Christmas.
She is married to Jackie Barker, and together they have four children, Billy and Tyler Cumberland, Renee Willis, and Jody Burroughs, along with 12 grandchildren. She works as the head teller at Cadence Bank.
Barker said her Thanksgiving dinners are a family favorite, especially her chicken and dressing, strawberry cake, and banana pudding.
The Barkers are learning to cook on their new Blackstone grill, where her husband mainly takes charge of the grilling.
“Most of the time, I do semi-homemade stuff,” she said. “I take a recipe and just add to it. My lemon blueberry pound cake, for example, started as a pound cake recipe, but I added lemon zest, lemon juice, and blueberries.”
Barker also cooks regularly for her church, Linwood Baptist, where she prepares dishes like ham, dressing, and vegetables. Her husband often contributes with pulled pork sandwiches for the church as well.
Her go-to kitchen tool is a KitchenAid stand mixer, which her husband gifted her for their 10th anniversary. “I can’t cook without it,” she exclaimed.
Barker has even begun sharing her love of baking with her grandchildren, teaching them how to make cakes and cupcakes and letting them help with decorating.
Her advice to aspiring cooks is to find recipes and learn through trial and error. “If it doesn’t work the first time, just keep on trying,” she said. “Don’t stop.”
For Barker, the most rewarding part of cooking is getting to share her creations with family, friends, and neighbors.
CHOCOLATE BAR CAKE
1 chocolate cake mix
½ cup sugar
½ cup oil
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup water
Icing:
1-8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
½ cup sugar
1-16 oz. cool whip
10-18 oz. chocolate Hershey bars
Cake: Mix the cake mix, sugar, oil, eggs, buttermilk and water. Bake in 3 greased and floured pans at 325° for 20-25 min. Remove from pans. Cool on racks.
Icing: Beat the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and sugar until creamy. Chop the candy bars. Fold the cool whip and candy bars into the creamed mixture, reserving ½ cup chopped candy.
Spread icing between the layers and on top. Sprinkle the remaining candy bar on top of the cake. Keep refrigerated.
BUTTER PECAN BANANA CAKE
1 butter cake mix
4 large eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
¾ vegetable oil
½ cup sugar
¼ cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups chopped toasted pecans
Cream cheese frosting
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 10-inch bundt pan. Combine cake mix, eggs, banana oil, sugar, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl.
Beat at medium speed for 2 min. Stir in 1 cup of pecans by hand. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 45 to 50 min. Cool cake on wire rake 25 min. Remove cake from pan and cool completely. Spread frosting on cake and top with remaining pecans.
Frosting:
1-8 oz. package of cream cheese
½ stick of butter
2 to 3 tbsp. of heavy cream
2 ½ to 3 cups of powdered sugar
Splash of vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
Let cream cheese and butter come to room temperature. Beat until smooth. Add powdered sugar and heavy cream. Beat until smooth. Stir in pecans.
BLUEBERRY POUND CAKE
Cake:
1 pkg. yellow butter cake
1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
½ cup cooking oil
3 eggs
1-pint fresh blueberries, rolled in flour
Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
½ tsp. vanilla or almond extract (may substitute 1 to 2 tsp. lemon juice)
1/3 cup hot water
Mix cake mix, cream cheese, cooking oil, and eggs. Blend until smooth. Fold in blueberries. Bake in greased and floured bundt pan at 325° for 1 hour or until done.
Whisk together glaze ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake. (I add the juice of 1 lemon and zest to the cake batter. I use 2 tbsp. lemon juice and the zest of 1 lemon in the frosting.)