Plum Cake: A Family Favorite

Dear Family Trails readers,

Finally! I have this post ready for "Weaver Wednesday." For a recipe that has been a "tried and true" that our family can usually make with our eyes closed and one hand behind our backs, that has been the most difficult post to write. Let me tell you why…

As I mentioned above, this cake is a family favorite and has been for years. There was always debate in our Weaver family as to the origin of this recipe. The "Plum Cake" recipe was shared between aunts, uncles, and cousins. After many years of discussion, I think I will go out on a limb and state that I believe the recipe originated from Era Boyd Weaver, who was married to my grandmother's brother, Dewey. In looking through some old family recipe cards, I found this recipe in Aunt Era's handwriting with her name on it in the corner. Aunt Era was a great cook, and I am sure she would not want us fussing over this. She was generous and always willing to share her recipes. As a result, the plum cake recipe became all of ours.
My father, Tom DeWine, made it all of the time…and I am not exaggerating on this! He had 2 small Bundt cake pans and cranked this cake out for gifts the entire month of December. He was famous for it in his office, so much so that of course, his co-workers started expecting it each year.
It is such an easy recipe to make, and that adds to its appeal as a good, homemade gift.

The unique ingredient that makes this cake so delicious is that it calls for 2 jars of baby food plums. The cinnamon and cloves make it amazing too, and the house smell so good while it bakes. 

Several years ago, Gerber stopped making baby food plums. What??? This was a serious problem for our family. We tried applesauce, baby food apples, anything that might be a substitute, but nothing worked. There was that mysterious taste that only the baby food plums offered. Then last year, sister Rebecca found these jars…"Earth's Best: Apples and Plums." Well, plums were not the first ingredient listed, but she thought it was worth a try. After Rebecca made the cake, she called me to report that her house smelled wonderful and that the cake was perfect!

Here is the recipe as it is written in our family cookbook:

Recipe for Plum Cake

2 cups self-rising flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup Wesson oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 small jars baby food strained plums
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Sift dry ingredients. Beat eggs. Add oil and dry ingredients along with plums and mix well.
Bake in a greased and floured Bundt or tube pan in a 325 degree oven for 50 minutes.
Cake will leave sides of pan when done. Allow cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove cake from pan and allow to cool completely.
Drizzle glaze over cake.
Tip: This recipe is for a regular size Bundt pan. It also works for 2 small Bundt pans that make 2 nice gift-size cakes.

Glaze recipe

1 cup confectioners' sugar
juice of one lemon or one orange
Blend well and drizzle over cake.

Now here is my take on this recipe:

1. I do not shift the dry ingredients.

  I put all the ingredients  in the mixing bowl and mix until blended.

2. For years, I used "Pam" on my pans. AND that always worked.

I never had a cake to stick to the pan when using "Pam", but recently, "Pam" has not worked. So this time, I buttered and floured the pan and had great results.
3. The recipe in the family cookbook states to glaze the cake while warm. I do not do this. I wait until the cake is cool. Also, limit the juice so the glaze does not get too thin.

In reference to my comment on "Pam:"  In my trial and error of getting the cakes out of the pans, I must say…" Pam" had always worked for me. When it stopped working for some reason, I started asking staff in different cooking shops, "Do you use Pam?" or "How do you get your cake out of the pan?" The resounding answers were, "No, I do not use Pam. It is bad for your nice pans. " In my research, I did learn about the product that Williams-Sonoma sells, and I have bought it but not used it yet. I'll let you know how it works. To be honest, I have these new pans, and I just thought I would not risk damaging them with any of my trial-and-error attempts yet.

Bak-klene ZT from Williams-Sonoma

I hope you enjoy trying this Weaver family favorite.
Oh, and one more thing to pass along… Plum Cake is great for breakfast!

Love,
Mariellan

How Do You See The World?

Good morning, Family Trails readers.
 I realize that I have not been meeting my goal of the "Weaver Wednesday" post very well. Sure, there are a few reasons for this….mainly LIFE. No complaints in that department for sure...life is good, and I wake up every day thankful for the gift of a new day. Though I may have missed quite a few posts deadlines, my mind is always looking for inspiring ideas to share with you.

For a long time, I have had some images in my mind from one of the trips that sister, Rebecca, and I took to Talladega. During the annual "April in Talladega" tour of homes, we had the opportunity to tour Manning Hall on the campus of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.  The main floor in Manning Hall holds a museum of the institute since its conception in 1858. There were many artifacts to view:  photographs, books written in Braille, portraits, school desks, old clothing, and old records, but one item stood out to me and its image has not left my mind. That is why I have named this blogpost,
"How Do You See The World?"

How do you see the world?
Do you wake up every day and look out of the window to check the weather?
Do you click on the TV to watch the news of the world?
Maybe you travel and experience the vast size of our country and even fly across the oceans to exotic destinations.
And of course, we all can see the world through books. A book can transport us into a secret garden, or Neverland, or a deserted island; we can ride alongside a cowboy or sit in a covered wagon, enter a spaceship and orbit the moon, or hike the Appalachian Trail with a man and his faithful four-legged companion.
We can also spin a globe of the Earth and run our fingers across the colorful countries as it spins.
Do I take these these opportunities for granted? I admit that I do, but touring this museum helped to remind me to "walk in someone else's shoes" for a bit and imagine how a child without eyesight sees the world.

In the museum in Manning Hall, there is a very old map of the world to help children begin to see the world. 

These maps grabbed my attention. They were hand-made in Louisville, Kentucky in 1882 by the 

American Printing House for the Blind. As you can see, the 2 sides of the globe were hand-carved to help children envision the vastness of the world in which they lived. Children could touch the shape of the continents, feel the mountain ranges, and rub their little fingers across the oceans to get an idea of just how large the Earth really is. 

Thankfully, these maps are preserved in this museum. There are only 2 of these sets that have survived in this country. 

As in a previous post, I would like to pay tribute to four of the Weaver ladies who taught school at the  Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. I am in awe of their commitment as teachers, and especially as teachers to children with such special needs. 

When I was a little girl, I understood in a childlike way that my grandmother, Ivera, taught children who were deaf. She taught me to sign the alphabet and to sign my name, which I can still do. And one of my most favorite memories has to be when she got frustrated with the 3 of us. I am sure we gave her fits at times. When she needed to discipline us and couldn't get the words out fast enough, her hands started signing. There is no telling what she was saying, but it sure got our attention! We would stop in our tracks and just stare at her red face and her little arms and hands just signing away!  

That's just a little memory of mine, and I hope you enjoyed it. 

And I hope we all continue to "see the world!"

With love,

Mariellan