Now that the holiday countdown has begun, our thoughts have turned to shopping for gifts, bringing out decorations and lights, making lists for our upcoming parties, and baking the holidays.
My mother loved to bake for the Christmas season; When I was little, she started in early fall, making light and dark fruit cakes that she prepared, steamed, and baked, then wrapped in aluminum foil before placing in ceramic pots for six weeks or more, to allow the variety of flavors will merge. .
These days, most of us don’t have time to bake cakes that take hours to prepare and six weeks or more to ripen to make them flavorful; I have Mom’s small, medium and large fruitcake pans with their removable bottoms, but I confess that I have never made a fruitcake. But I have prepared many other recipes for her, such as her Gumdrop Cake; This cake is a delicious option for today’s busy cook who still wants to serve up special treats to family and friends during the holiday season. For those of you who like raisins, I also include a gummy cake recipe that not only uses this fruit to add flavor, but also uses applesauce to replace the milk found in most cake recipes. .
If you’re starting your search for recipes to brighten up this holiday season, check back often for the cakes, cookies, squares, breads, and other treats I’ll be posting in the coming weeks. Who knows, you may find new ‘family favorites’ of your own that one day you will want to pass on to your loved ones.
Mommy’s Gummy Cake
1 cup of vegetable shortening
2 cups of white sugar
4 eggs (drop one at a time and beat well before adding the next)
1 cup of warm milk
3 cups of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon
1 ½ pounds. gummies cut into pieces and floured with ½ cup of flour.
Method
Beat the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well each time. Add the liquid and dry ingredients alternately. Add the floured gummies last. Spoon batter into greased, lined tube mold. Bake 1 ½ – 2 hours at 350 ° F; cover with aluminum foil for the first ½ hour. When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes in a pan before placing it on a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap or aluminum foil to retain moisture.
Flora Gummy Cake
1 cup of butter
1 cup of white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups of applesauce
2 ½ cups of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound. gummies
1 pound. grapes
Method
Whisk in the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add applesauce and dry ingredients alternately. Cut the gummies into chunks. Mix with the raisins and ½ cup of flour. Add to the dough last. Spoon batter into greased and lined funnel pan (tube pan) and bake at 350 ° F for 2 – 2 ½ hours. Let cool for 10 minutes in a skillet before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.