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FOOD FOR THOUGHT By
Wanda A. Adams
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| • | Celebrating the onion |
Prune cakes seem to dog my steps. I'm forever being asked for old-fashioned prune cake recipes. Some people want them light, some people want them dense. Some recall them at lu'au, some recall them as groom's cake.
In response to a reader's request, Dierdre "Didi" Todd, longtime food expert at Macy's and author of several recipe collections, sent me a fond memory: "It seems that back in the late '60s and early to mid '70s, at every shower, at every wedding, at every funeral, the dessert of choice for our families was either chichi dango or prune cake. The ladies in the families would be up until wee hours of the morning of the event wrap, wrap, wrapping those individual slices of prune cake, carefully placing them in those tiny little boxes. Who's idea?? Oh, right, it was a wonderful bonding time for the women, and Oh! So delicious!"
Here's her recipe, which is made with a glaze that soaks into the cake, helping to give it that classic groom's cake density.
PRUNE CAKE
For the cake:
For the icing:
Pour boiling water over prunes and let soak 30 minutes. Drain. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; lightly grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. In separate mixing bowls, cream together sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients together. Add dry ingredients to sugar mixture, alternately with buttermilk. Add prunes and optional walnuts. Spread into prepared pan; bake for 1 hour.
In a saucepan, bring icing ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat. When cake is done, prick several holes into cake with a skewer; pour icing onto top of cake. Allow to sit 1 hour.
Makes 12 servings.
* Today, prunes are often sold in vacuum-packed bags and are very soft, not like the old-time hard dried prunes. You may wish to just throw them into the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Then cover with boiling water, as directed above.
Send recipes and requests to: Wanda A. Adams, Food Editor, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com; or fax 525-8055.
Send recipes and queries to Wanda A. Adams, Food Editor, Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802. Fax: 525-8055. E-mail: wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.
For more information about our 150th anniversary cookbook, call 535-8189 (message phone; your call will be returned). You can order the cookbook online.
