Friday, March 11, 2011

Boiled Raisin Cake...


This is my beautiful Aunt Mary...She is my father's sister and the most wonderful cook. She raised a large family and has a million grandchildren. She has cooked great homemade food all her life. She has some of the best recipes. Aunt Mary is an original 'Foodie'..She loves to feed people..all people. And laugh...I will always remember what I heard her say once...She loves to be' in the middle of the giggle'...isn't that the best?









Her Children made a cook book of her recipes.
This is not your ordinary aunts cookbook.










Yes it has pictures of her family and sections with dividers....

but check this out...there is her hand writing under each recipe! And she didn't write a word! How did they do that? Well...they sent a transcript and a sample of her handwriting and there is a magic program that does this for you! it is so cool!

two of her children got her on the phone and they talked to her about every recipe in the book and one of her children was typing out every word....uncensored....so unknown to her they added all her own words and stories about every recipe...it is a hoot to read!

so here we are at one of my very favorite recipes. It was made by her mother, my grandmother and is a family favorite..

And Aunt Mary has a great story that went along with it......(but dont tell Edith)


Boiled Raisin Cake
2+C. Raisins
3 1/2 cups of water
2 cubes of butter, 1/2 pound or 1 cup
2 C sugar
4 C flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs unbeaten
Boil raisins and water together for 10 minutes. While it is hot, add the butter and then sugar. Stir and cool. In a separate bowl, sift dry ingredients together, then add to raisin mixture and stir up. Add vanilla and eggs and stir again. Pour into large baking pan, that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in 350 degree oven for 35 minutes, or until done. While cake is cooling make the glaze.
Glaze
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup of butter
3 T cream or milk
heat glaze ingredients on the stove top on medium heat until bubbling, then simmer until dissolved and smooth..Pour over warm cake and serve...


I used golden raisins..because I only had golden on hand...but would certainly use regular raisins if I had them..boil  them for 10 minutes and then take off the burner...

put in 2 cubes of butter and 2 cups of sugar, dissolve....it takes about a half hour to cool ...

it turns into this buttery thick syrup...smells great!...

this is how I sift ingredients...if I had a sifter I probably wouldn't get it out to use..this handy strainer works great....

pour the raisiny mixture into the dry ingredients and stir well...add the vanilla and eggs and stir again...
pour into a large pan...I used my over sized 9x13 inch pan...

bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees...gosh don't look at my messy oven...

while it is finishing up baking cook the glaze...add the sugar, butter and cream..cook over medium heat until bubbling, cook until smooth....about 5 minutes or so....

I considered mine done...but I like it a little gritty...it tastes like penuche to me...

put the glaze over the hot cake...cool the cake until it is just warm ....doesn't this picture make the cake look long?

cut, and enjoy every single

crumb...hmmmm....it is so moist and buttery and brown sugary..

Cheers to Happy Aunt Mary!!!

9 comments:

  1. I haven't seen this cookbook yet, and she's my grandma!!

    I, of course, love this cake, and I look forward to getting my hands on one of these cookbooks.

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  2. How sweet of you to write about Mom. She is one in a million! Thanks...

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  3. What a fun post about my grandma!! I created the handwriting font but I love that the others thought of using it in the cookbook with her own words. It's brilliant! I read this cookbook for fun...who needs a novel when you can read this stuff. Beautiful pictures of a yummy recipe.

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  4. I love this cookbook. It makes me want to change my life. . . or at least improve it. She's my grandma too - and I have such yummy feelings about this cake. -Kallie

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  5. Moist, delicious, and divine! Thank you so much for posting!! <3
    I'd love to get my hands on that cookbook!

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  6. you girls are all the best! Aunt Mary is truly one of the coolest people I know! The cookbook is so fun...I love the comments! It is fun to just read, but I have so many favorites in it too...I am going to make the creamed new potatoes and peas next...one of my favorites..Once, when we went to Idaho she made it for us...the ultimate in comfort food!

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  7. Hey, what is a cube of butter? I am getting different results from "googling" the term.

    The picture makes one of them look pretty big. A lot bigger than a stick of butter.

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  8. Hi Peruby! a cube of butter and a stick are the same thing...I think in the south they call it a stick, I can just hear Paula Deen saying 'a stick of buttah'... near me they call it a cube...it is however, a half of a cup...hope this helps! Thanks for following me...you rock!

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  9. Although "Grandma Mary" isn't part of my family -- this recipe has been in "my" family for many years -- My grandmother called it the Depression cake and my mother called it "boiled" cake.. I made this for my hubby one year for his Birthday, and he fell in love with it and has demanded I make this each year since -- the only twist I have is we put a Peanut Butter frosting (also cooked on stove) place while cake is still warm and let cool completely.. I will have to make the "glaze" that's posted her once and see how it tastes.. either way, the cake itself is delicious!! (Also, is this book available to the public? or just family members?)

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