Georgia’s Kitchen – Spice Cake

Georgia Diehm

Some of my Mother’s recipes were passed down to her through family; some were exchanged with friends & neighbors, but I’m guessing most of them caught her eye and she scratched them down on a recipe card.

It was a hobby she enjoyed that cost hardly nothing. I’ve done the same thing through the years.

Her cooking for the most part involved no measuring. She dumped, added a pinch of this & a little of that. That’s the way many women cooked a few years back. If I try that my food doesn’t turn out the greatest! My son is a great cook and he still does the same thing. Mom made one of the most delicious spice cakes that I’ve ever eaten…loaded with nuts & raisins & topped with her butter-cream frosting. She made it only for special occasions, such as for someone’s birthday.

When they were adults, some of my sisters asked her to write her recipe down, but she couldn’t come up with the right measurements. That was a disappointment!

Here are two old spice cake recipes:

Poor man’s Cake(Very Old)

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
2 cups raisins
1 cup cold coffee or liquid

Mix together and boil 3 min. Let cool. Add 2 cups flour(sifted), 1 tsp soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder…Beat well. Pour into an 8×8 pan and bake for 30 min in (350) oven.

My Grandmother’s Sour Cream Spice Cake

1 egg
7/8 cup sour cream(about)
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour, sifted
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 cup raisins
Break an egg into a cup & fill cup with sour cream. Pour into a bowl & beat thoroughly with egg beater. Add sugar & beat. Sift remaining dry ingredients twice & add to egg, cream & sugar mixture. Pour into a greased baking sheet & bake in a moderate oven (350) 45 min. Makes 1 (8 in) square cake. Or pour into muffin tins & make into cup cakes. Makes 12 cup cakes. Stewed prunes cut into pieces may be added & 1/4 cup prune juice substituted for 1/4 cup of the sour cream. Nuts may also be substituted for the raisins. Serve with a big pitcher of creamy milk.

Note: I’m guessing you add raisins with dry ingredients.