Thursday, December 17, 2009

Ready or not?

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A house up the street from a few years back.
I wonder if everyone is ready for Christmas....I am...almost. I still have a few things left to wrap. And actually need to get gifts for the little kids next door. And I have yet to get in all the fixings for Christmas dinner. But that is not that much left to do.

Neal and I were talking the other night...our talks always include talking about childhood and the things we remember. I was telling him, the one memory that really stands out in my mind is all the cakes mom would bake at Christmas. There was a metal cabinet that had two shelves up top behind glass, and those two shelves would be full of cakes! I could not remember if it was just a year or two that she did that, or every year.

He said he thought it was every year, and that he helped her bake them. So, I told him I didn't remember actually eating them...he thought that she gave most of them away. Which makes sense...I just can't imagine not remembering eating them.

I cannot remember the variety that she made, but know she almost always made a jam cake...it tasted sort of like a spice cake if I remember correctly, and she always made a caramel icing for it. She also made a stack cake...at least that is what we called it. She had no written recipe, and did not measure a thing....but she made this dough. I know it had eggs and sugar in it, and other than that I can't recall what else. I know I liked the dough raw, better than baked.

She would divide take a dough ball about the size of a fist or maybe just a bit bigger....she would pat that out flat in a greased iron skillet. She kept two iron skillets in the oven and would make anywhere from 8 to 12 or 14 layers.

For the filling in between the layers, she used dried apples and cooked them down to something similar to apple butter but with more texture if I remember correctly. ( I know water and cinnamon were added to the apples, but think there were other spices, just don't recall what all.) That was a cake that company always enjoyed. I have never seen the cake made by anyone else, but I did find a recipe that sounds right here.

Thinking back, that is one of my favorite memories.

8 comments:

  1. These are wonderful Christmas memories. Thanks for sharing these with us.

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  2. What a delightful post. But, you have made me hungry and I'm going to have to stop blogging for awhile to find something to eat. You can bet, however, there's nothing like what you describe in the house! Unfortunately!

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  3. I had never heard of a Jam cake until I met George's parents. That's his Daddy's favorite cake. Janet (daughter) always makes him one for Christmas.

    Great Christmas memories, Rose.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  4. That sounds interesting and I'm a little tempted to try it out. I love cake.

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  5. What an interesting sounding cake! I've never heard of one like it.

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  6. I've never heard of jam cake before. Your mom must have been a great baker!

    You've reminded me that I have to bake today!

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  7. The outside lights look very festive! Nice nighttime shot. Your remembering the cake making was very interesting. For someone who loves to bake, Christmas time must have been a delight in a special way. I haven't wrapped a single gift yet! :-(

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  8. Oh the memories...Mom made stack cakes too. She would start baking cookies,cakes and candy in October if I remember correctly and I do remember eating them.Yummy!! She would give all the neighbors her baked goods for Christmas.How I do miss those days.Thanks Rose for the post.{{{Hugs}}}

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