Sweets: Soul Food Desserts and Memories
is a gem of a book. Anecdotes included throughout the book clearly convey the warmth, happiness, and fun shared among an extended family and their community. The author has written about the women in her family, what excellent cooks they were, and how well known they were for their sweets. These ladies took equal pride in the orderliness of their homes and the quality of their desserts. There are so many desserts that I wanted to make as soon as I read about them. The meringue topped banana pudding, the peach cobbler, and the strawberry layer cake are all on my short list. But, the first cake I had to have was the brown sugar pound cake. This cake came from the author’s maternal grandmother.
I made just a couple of alterations to the ingredient list. I used all butter rather than a combination of butter and shortening, and I used AP flour since I didn’t have any cake flour on hand. Then, for the frosting, I used natural maple syrup instead of maple extract. The flour and baking powder get sifted together three times. The sifting process along with the five eggs in the recipe, ensure an amazing texture for this cake. It was impossible for it to be anything but fantastic, and well, it was just that.
As Kurt and I tasted our first pieces of the cake, we both just nodded in agreement. Wow. It was a buttery, brown sugary, pecan-filled, just really, really good pound cake with cream cheese, maple frosting. Read this book if you get a chance, and try this brown sugar pound cake. I can very highly recommend both.
is a gem of a book. Anecdotes included throughout the book clearly convey the warmth, happiness, and fun shared among an extended family and their community. The author has written about the women in her family, what excellent cooks they were, and how well known they were for their sweets. These ladies took equal pride in the orderliness of their homes and the quality of their desserts. There are so many desserts that I wanted to make as soon as I read about them. The meringue topped banana pudding, the peach cobbler, and the strawberry layer cake are all on my short list. But, the first cake I had to have was the brown sugar pound cake. This cake came from the author’s maternal grandmother.I made just a couple of alterations to the ingredient list. I used all butter rather than a combination of butter and shortening, and I used AP flour since I didn’t have any cake flour on hand. Then, for the frosting, I used natural maple syrup instead of maple extract. The flour and baking powder get sifted together three times. The sifting process along with the five eggs in the recipe, ensure an amazing texture for this cake. It was impossible for it to be anything but fantastic, and well, it was just that.As Kurt and I tasted our first pieces of the cake, we both just nodded in agreement. Wow. It was a buttery, brown sugary, pecan-filled, just really, really good pound cake with cream cheese, maple frosting. Read this book if you get a chance, and try this brown sugar pound cake. I can very highly recommend both.
confession: i eat brown sugar by the spoonful. is that wrong? perhaps a better way of meeting my brown sugar needs is this pound cake--it looks fabulous, and i'd be tempted to pour that frosting straight down my gullet. :)
ReplyDeleteHey, I have this book too! I love that last picture with the icing dripping down!!! YUMMMMMMM!
ReplyDeletewhere's the recipe?????
ReplyDeleteAll pics, no recipes............
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that I receive so many similar comments on old posts from "Anonymous." My answer is always the same: I don't re-print copyrighted recipes from books. I post recipes when they are mine to give and when I have adapted a process enough to warrant writing it anew.
ReplyDelete