I usually associate food with a lot of memories and whether they maybe good or bad, I think people will always relate the taste of the food with the memory that goes with it. Much of mine will date back to a lot family gatherings when grandmas and aunts would always have the traditional table fare but would never fail to add a special dish or two for us to rave about. Filipino family gatherings are like a entire fiesta buffet on its own. Oh yeah, this is something you need to experience should you ever find yourself on a full cultural immersion quest of the Filipino family.
The number of times you need to kiss and greet relatives is just enough to make you hungry! And the maze to the main table is so perfectly laid out to keep you coming back for seconds and thirds. Once you get to the table … it’s just pure sensory overload.
You’ve got everything to bust an artery a hundred times over, enough sugar to make you sweat honey, and salty sauces and dips that can take the Dead Sea off the map! Our food preferences are a dietician’s nightmare. But meh … on gatherings like these, moderation is put on hold. Forget your allergies and dietary restrictions. You just need to back it up with some payback repentance and purging the day after.
Growing up to these family all –you- can- eat shindigs, I wish I had paid much attention to ingredients and such, or at least bothered to ask for a recipe. Many of those dishes I still vividly recall to this day and have honestly tried to replicate but  much to my disappointment.  My dear beloved aunts and grandmas are now on the other side of life and err…too far for me to ask for a recipe.
One of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted in my lifetime was a prune cake made by a cousin at one of these family road trips up north. I still have not tasted anything that came close to that cake.  I am not very fond of prunes and I hardly really eat them. But, I was so taken with this cake and its creamy butter frosting, it just brought me to cake yonkers!
The next time you pass by the prune aisle at the supermarket … pick up the rest of the ingredients of this recipe below and give this Prune Cake a go!
Old Fashioned Prune Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup prunes, pitted and chopped
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dark corn syrup
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour Bundt or tube pan.
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, soda, salt, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine oil, eggs and 1 1/2 cup sugar. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed.
- Add flour mixture, alternating with 1 cup buttermilk, starting and ending with dry ingredients. beat well after each addition. Stir in prunes, pecans and 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla.
- Pour into greased and floured bundt or tube pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.
- Make large, deep holes in hot cake and pour topping in holes and on top of cake a little at a time, giving it time to soak in.
- For the topping: In saucepan, over medium heat, cook butter, 3/4 cup buttermilk, corn syrup and 1 1/2 cup sugar until sugar and butter melt. Remove from heat and add 2 teaspoons vanilla and stir.
Photo Credit: itsme0822
Photo Credit: specialcakes/tracey
Photo Credit: jenbaradas