The "lamb cake" is adapted from another of her recipes, Snooky's fresh coconut cake, for which she uses freshly grated coconut.
Since December, Clingan has been selling her baked goods at the Hagerstown City Farmers Market, where she is known as the "cookie lady."
But it is not the first time Clingan's cooking has been available for public consumption.
Clingan's mother, the late Dottie Thompson, owned the View Street Diner, a mom-and-pop restaurant that was open more than 30 years. The restaurant closed in 2000. Clingan said she was the restaurant's cook during the last five or six years it was open.
"If you've been in Hagers-town long enough, you've eaten at View Street," Clingan said.
Thompson, who died in 2004, told The Herald-Mail in 2000 that had it not been for Clingan and her daughter-in-law, she would not have been able to stay open as long as she did.
Clingan has been feeling the pressure to reopen the diner, but has not yet made up her mind. She considers selling her goods at the City Market a "baby step."
Diner or no diner, Clingan won't be hanging up the oven mitts anytime soon.
Talking with Fran Clingan
Clingan talks a little more about her love for cooking:
Q: If you had a chef at your beck and call, someone who would make up the dessert of your dreams, what would you request?
A: I like fancy things. If I had my way, I'd have chocolate mousse with white chocolate stripes. If I had a chef, I would want something I wouldn't make myself.
Q: Is there any baked good you absolutely would not eat?
A: No, not really.
Q: What are some things your family members request often?
A: My son likes chocolate delight - it has pudding in it. My daughter and I, we like most baked goods.
Q: What sorts of things do you make for dinner?
A: If I'm cooking for my husband, it's hamburger, hamburger, hamburger. Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes.
Q: So back to the chef scenario, if that chef were there to prepare you dinner, what would you request?
A: I probably wouldn't like that because I like to cook. Having this table down at the market allows me to fix so many things - each week it's something different.
Snooky's fresh coconut cake
For the cake:
2 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided into 1 cup and 1/3 cup
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons coconut extract
1 cup freshly grated coconut; can substitute store-bought, grated coconut
4 egg whites
For the frosting:
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
5 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
2 1/2 cups freshly grated coconut; can substitute with store-bought, grated coconut
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease two 8-inch-by-8-inch-by-2-inch layer cake pans, then line with wax paper. If you are using a cake mold, lightly grease the mold halves.
Sift flour with baking powder and salt and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening until creamy. Gradually add 1 cup of the sugar, continuing to beat until very light and fluffy. At a low speed, alternate adding 1/4 cup of the flour mixture, then 1/3 cup of the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat until just combined. Stir in the vanilla and coconut flavoring, and freshly grated coconut.
In a medium bowl, beat four egg whites until soft peaks form when the beater is slowly raised. Gradually add the rest of the sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.
With a rubber scraper, gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Pour the batter into the cake pans. If using a mold, pour batter into one of the mold halves.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the surface of the cake springs back when gently pressed with fingertip.
Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans. Cool completely on a wire rack.
While the cake cools, make the frosting. Combine egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and corn syrup with 5 tablespoons of water in the top of a double boiler. Cook over boiling water, beating constantly with an electric mixer at high speed until the mixture stands in stiff peaks when the beater is slowly raised.
Remove from heat. Stir in coconut flavoring and add vanilla, which is optional.
Frost cake and cover top and side with coconut, if using grated coconut.
The cake serves 12.
Cook's Note: If you are using fresh coconut, the cake has to be refrigerated.
Courtesy of Fran "Snooky" Clingan
