SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
Photo Credit Google Search and NYT cooking
I don’t remember just where I got the recipe for my favorite pound cake, but I made it often when we lived in Wiesbaden, West Germany, and the years following. It was a bit time-consuming, as the “batter” needed to be whipped with an electric mixer (at that time I only had a hand mixer), until it turned “white.” That’s a little difficult to describe, but the batter actually takes on a “white” look after being beaten for a while. The cake doesn’t work well unless it gets to that point. And the color change IS noticeable. The other ingredients are added, then baked in an Angle Food pan, or possibly a Bundt pan, if you desired. I liked the look of the Angle Food pan. After cooling, the icing is made and applied. It consists of softened cream cheese and crushed pineapple, as well as powdered sugar mixed together. It became one of my favorite cakes to make and eat. The cake itself was wonderful, but with the icing…yummmm.
I made that cake one evening when the Deacons from our church in Wiesbaden had come to our house for a meeting. The cake went fast, many asking for seconds, in spite of how rich it was. One gentleman came up to me and told me that he didn’t like pineapple…but this was the best cake he had ever eaten and would I give his wife the recipe??!!
Since this was one of my favorite things to make, when we moved to Florida, I made it for one of our family gatherings. Not one single comment – good or bad – from anyone there! And so, I’ve not made it since. No need to make something no one liked.
One of my favorite cakes to make, and an easy one, is what lot of people call Texas Sheet Cake. I got the recipe from a friend, named Mabel, so I just called it “Mabel’s Chocolate Sheet Cake.” The cake mixture is actually made in the 15″ x 10″ lipped pan. Mix it all together, then bake. While cooking, make the chocolate icing, with powdered sugar and pecans. Put the icing on the cake when it comes out of the oven, then let it cool together. I learned the hard way that it is tastier when it is completely cooled. For some reason, it just doesn’t taste as good when it is warm. Weird! But this is a GREAT cake.
When Kraft developed its Miracle Whip salad dressing, they presented a cake recipe to help market the salad dressing. Sounds strange, but it made the BEST chocolate cake ever – nice and chocolatey and moist – probably the most moist chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten. It became my brother’s favorite cake. There was also an icing along with the cake recipe that took a bit of work. But it was well worth it.
Mother used to make the cake fairly often, especially when Bill (my brother) was home, but made it less frequently after he left home. I believe I have made it once or twice, but not very often. As I said, it is a bit of work, and I tend to be lazy!
When we were first married and Fred was studying at the Seminary (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas), we were poor students. But somewhere I found this recipe for Lemon Jell-o Cake, and I remember making it often. However, I haven’t made it in many years, but I remember the taste of it, and how much we enjoyed it.
~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
Old Things R New 
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