TASTE
Old-time spiced prune cake with boiling icing
| • | Bread, sweat and fears |
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor
Here, for reader Charlie Makinney, is an old-fashioned prune cake with a boiled icing of the kind you don't often encounter anymore.
A note about prunes: In making prune cakes and other prune confections, you really want stewed prunes, which used to be widely available in jars and cans. Now these can be hard to find. You can use the very soft pitted prunes sold in vacuum-sealed foil pouches. Or in a pinch, you can pit hard-dried prunes and stew them by placing them in a saucepan with enough water to cover (or even water with a splash of brandy) and cooking a few minutes, until softened. Use this liquid in place of the prune juice called for in the recipe.
KAMUELA PRUNE CAKE
Prepare two 8-inch cake pans by spraying with flour-oil spray (e.g. Baker's Joy) or buttering and flouring pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Set aside.
In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter with sugar until very fluffy. Add egg yolks and beat. Add prunes and blend. Add flour mixture alternatively with prune juice in several additions, beating in between. Mix thoroughly and finally gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Turn batter into prepared cake pans, dividing evenly, and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
Cool cakes on a rack. Turn onto cake platter and fill and frost with Seven-Minute Icing with prunes (recipe is below).
Makes 8 servings (with icing).
For this recipe, you'll need a double boiler and a hand-held electric mixer or old-fashioned rotary beater (and a whole lot of arm power). You can fake a double boiler by putting a smaller pot in a larger one but be sure that the bottom of the smaller pot doesn't touch the boiling water below. And take care that you don't get tangled in the cord, or drag it on the stove, when you're beating the icing. Boy, those old-style cooks would brave any hazard for a good cake!
SEVEN-MINUTE ICING
In the top of a double boiler over boiling water, combine all ingredients except vanilla and prunes. Mix well with a hand-held electric mixer. Allow to cook over boiling water for three minutes. Remove the entire double boiler from the burning, leaving the mixture over hot water while you beat with a hand-held mixer for 7 minutes or until frosting forms stiff peaks. Remove pot from above hot water, beat in vanilla and prunes and beat a couple of minutes, until frosting holds deep swirls.
Makes 5 cups.
Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.
