Last week, before Thanksgiving, Gram was baking her famous pound cake & I asked if she’d show me how. Growing up, I didn’t really like fancy cake (still don’t care for nuts) and even pies, so Gram always made sure I had a pound cake since I loved them. Step 1 involved getting the pan greased & floured so it would be ready just as soon as we mixed everything together. Gram recipe still called for sifting the flour, so sift the flour we did!
The next key trick is to have all the ingredients room temperature so they’d mix better. Gram was kind enough to get everything out & ready, pre-measured all the ingredients and got everything prepped. I loved Gram’s old mixer- reminds me of so many childhood memories.
Whip, whip, whip the butter & then whip it some more until it is nice and fluffy. For the record, that’s 2 STICKS of butter & then you add in 2 cups of sugar- the recipe is off to a delicious start! Then add the eggs individually, continually whipping the batter.
I gave Gram, who can barely hold her dinner plate, my enormous camera & she wanted to take pictures of me actually baking. It’s tough to pour flour & keep whipping, while the bowl slides around & I’m trying to explain to Gram how to use the camera- quite the funny scene.
I was having a grand old time mixing & making fun patterns in the batter. Of course, the best part of the whole day is licking the beaters! We poured the batter into a bundt pan and then into the pre-heated over for 60-75 minutes.
I learned that Gram’s father had been a baker & even owned a bakery. Her sister Melba was the prolific baker in the family & she had a 20+ year old copy of the recipe that she had written down. When was the last time anybody called it Oleo? I love that it had clearly been used enough that there were remnants of flour still stuck on the paper. Gram was adorable- she’d recopied the recipe down for me before I got there.
Stick it into the oven until the top turns a beautiful golden, brown & starts to slightly break. Let it cool for a while until it starts to separate from the edge of the pan, and then Gram started giving a few gentle love taps to help it loosen up some more so we could get it out of the pan.
We sat and visited while the cake baked, talked about other things she could teach me in the kitchen. I copied the recipe into my journal so I’d have it forever.
We enjoyed our delicious cake for Thanksgiving & the rest of the weekend. It turned out dense & delicious- with the perfect crumbly top. I was so glad I got to spend some time with Gram & also learn to bake a family tradition.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The start of Advent today & I’ve started reading a great little devotional.
