Wisdom From Grandma

This recipe for Jewish pound cake was passed down to Grandma from her great-grandmother, who got it from her mother-in-law. Of course, the recipe has changed through the generations as more modern ingredients became available.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 pint sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla

Cinnamon Mixture Ingredients:
2 tablespoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar together.
2. Add eggs to this mixture one at a time.
3. Sift together your dry ingredients.
4. Slowly add sour cream and your dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating the sour cream and the dry ingredients until they are all combined.
5. Add your vanilla.
6. Combine your cinnamon mixture ingredients in a separate bowl.
7. Grease your Angel food cake pan. Grandma also lined it with waxed paper.
8. Pour half of your cake mix into the pan.
9. Add half of your cinnamon mixture.
10. Carefully use a knife to mix the two together to create a marbelized effect.
11. Pour in the other half of your cake and cinnamon mixtures and then marbelize them.
12. Bake at 350 degrees for 75 minutes.
13. Allow the cake to cool thoroughly before serving.

This recipe has a bit of a scandal attached to it. Nan says it was actually her recipe, but Grandma borrowed the recipe and took the cake to a party. From then on, everyone considered it to be Grandma’s Sugar Plum Spice Cake recipe. I guess they thought Nan was too young to come up with something this delicious!

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of shortning
2 1/2 Cups of cake flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon baking soda
3/4 Teaspoon salt
3/4 Teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 Teaspoon cloves
1 Cup granulated sugar
2/3 Cup brown sugar packed down

1 Cup plus 2 tablespoons of sour milk
2 Eggs
1 Cup of cooked prunes
Frosting

Instructions:

1. Soften shortning.
2. Sift in dry ingredients.
3. Stir in brown sugar.
4. Add 1 cup of milk and beat the mixture for one to two minutes.
5. Add eggs and the two remaining tablespoons of sour milk.
6. Beat the mixture for an additional minute.
7. Pour mixture into ban and bake at 375 degrees for approximately 25 minutes. Test doneness with a toothpick.
8. Let cake cool and then frost with your favorite frosting.
9. Cut your prunes into small pieces and spread them on top of the cake.

(For an extra special cake, bake several small round cakes instead of one large one and create a layer cake, with the frosting and prunes between each layer.)