Friday, June 18, 2010

My Grandmothers Frosting

I was asked by a dear friend what I had been up too lately… well, between cleaning out the basement, chasing around a two year old and getting ready to spend 5 glorious days at the ocean, I made a real honest to god home-made cake for my mothers birthday. To celebrate I pulled out a book of my grandmothers recipes. My grandmother was an interesting woman who lived a most extraordinary life. She grew up in Shattuck OK in the early part of the 20th century. Her mother died when she was 15 and her father was sent away to prison for bootlegging. She was left to raise her younger sisters with very little help. She had a high school diploma, attended art school and spoke several languages. After my grandfather died my family moved in with her so she would have help on the ranch. She was a part of my daily life until I moved away to Seattle. We were very close and when she died I was devastated. I still miss hearing her stories. One of my grandmothers greatest gifts was her baked goods. In her house you never, and I do mean never, got a piece of toast that was not burnt or a cup of coffee even a hardened truck drive could drink, but she made the most amazing pies and cakes. They did not look like fluffy, air filled pastries you can buy from a sparkly clean upscale pastry shop. Her baked goods had heft and they were never pretty to look at, but they always tasted like heaven. For my mothers birthday I made a family favorite, Caramel Frosting.


My grandmother always put this frosting on a chocolate cake. My mother is not crazy about chocolate so I made a yellow cake instead.



As you can see I am wearing my new apron, I forwent the black cocktail dress and heels and went for comfort instead, my grandmother would have approved.


This frosting is a bit tricky but I knew I had it right when it smelled like my grandmothers frosting.



Now if I just had my grandmothers oil sludge in a cup and one of her stories I would be truly content.

2 comments:

Julie said...

Oh, I knew whatever you were up to would be naughty! This time it's calories. The apron performed beautifully! I'll be the cake was a morsel of heaven (like everything you bake). Nice nesting doll measuring cups!

Craftymoose Crafts said...

How wonderful that you have these nice memories and the recipes, too!