Just How Did Nanny Make That Brown Sugar Icing?

Had a nice reminiscence visit via phone with my mother today. I was trying to imitate the icing that was like candy on hubby's birthday cake. Course, his day is not for three days but he hates birthdays so I snuck up on him, that way he gets cake and I get the satisfaction I did his birthday! These days, cake is about all I can do that and hugs and kisses but he gets this every day anyway!

However, what I found out about icing was enlightening. Any ideas as to why the Lane Cake had whiskey in the filling? I know today’s recipes say soak the cake. UNH UHH. It went into the filling so the cake would not go bad...no room in the icebox for cake!

And, since Nanny was stanchly Baptist, Uncle Ace, Tom’s daddy, had to sneak it into the house through the back door! Course, everybody came in the back door but at any rate...into the house came the whiskey and into the filling it went. Mom says it went over the fruitcake as well, during the holidays.

That’s so funny, I would love to have that container the whiskey came in but the giggles and shushes in front of my sister and I is a real memory. One of many snippets from that big house on Bessemer Road.

Back to the recipe. After much discussion, laughter, and definition of chef versus pastry cook, we decided it had to be trial and error, just as Nanny and her sister; Aunt Maybelle had done from recreating what they saw their mothers do. Take the brown sugar and corn syrup ad cook it to somewhere between soft and hard-boil stage. Too hard, it won’t spread. Too soft, it will just fall off. Moreover, the vanilla will have to go in last plus it has to cool off a bit before you spread it.

I am going to keep trying... the meringue cake was delicious so rich we couldn't eat all of it...probably not a bad thing...keep riding that bicycle Bethard eh?

The cake itself I told momma was nanny cake but she corrected me again...apparently nanny cake is the 4 egg cake and this was a 2 egg cake and the layers were split to make 4 layers...this was done frequently to make the cake a bit more moist and more elegant looking. I laughed at that and Mom reminded me of the actual times when this was occurring...it’s easy today to make something "Look" elegant, Michaels, Hobby Lobby stores and Jo Anne’s are everywhere...but at that time, the early 20th century; to make it elegant was up to your own two hands and imagination. I was properly chastised and rightly so. We often and especially now at Memorial Day, forget how very lucky we are.