Monday, January 5, 2009

Now This, is a Cake!

When Bigmother made cakes they were sometimes 10" high. Having 3-4 layers of cake and 2-3 layers of icing. One of my favorites was her Jam cake with caramel icing. It tastes like a cross between a spice cake and gingerbread to me and when I make it now, I leave off the icing and bake it in 2- 5" X 9" X 3" loaf pans. The first recipe for caramel icing is the one she always used. The second one is a bit easier to make.

JAM CAKE
1 cup butter
2 cup sugar
3eggs, beaten
3 cup flour
1 teaspoon each of, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla, salt, soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup blackberry jam
1 cup nuts, optional
1 cup raisins, optional
Cream butter and sugar. add eggs and buttermilk, add jam, add spices to flour and mix together.
stir in additions of nuts and raisins.
Pour into 8-9" cake pans
bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. makes 3- 4 layers, frost with caramel icing

CARAMEL FROSTING
In a saucepan put:
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup butter
Stir, cooking until all is melted. Boil without stirring 3-5 minutes or to the soft-ball stage ( 238 degrees F)
Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat until cool and thick.
Double for more layers on cake.
OR
CARAMEL ICING
Melt in a saucepan: 1/3 cup butter.
Add 1 cup light brown sugar and 1/4 cup cream.
Cook to 238 degrees f. ( soft ball stage)
remove from heat and beat in 1 box powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.. Beat until thick enough to spread.

1 comment:

Grandma B said...

D:
Do you think Mimmi and Big Mother would have tried the new cranberry raisens if they had had them?

I'm going to try this cake. Jim has never had one. I'll bet it will turn out like the fig cake.

Bette D