I've been so busy shopping, wrapping, and cooking that I haven't got around to posting the other group of Santas. But here's a picture of the Lane Cake I made this morning. This cake is a holiday tradition in my family. We never cared for fruit cake, but Mama made this every Christmas.
If you search, you'll fine several variations of the recipe, which was invented by a lady name Mrs. Lane from Clanton, Alabama in the laste 1800s. Some include 7-minutes frosting, but we've never frosted ours. We find the filling is quite enough. We also add an 8-oz. can of crushed pineapple to the filling and omit the cherries. And I've never used the whiskey. I don't like the taste of whiskey, despite my Irish DNA.
The cake is mentioned in the book TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee. Here's what the online ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ALABAMA has to say: "In Alabama, and throughout the South, the presentation of an elegant, scratch-made, laborious Lane cake is a sign that a noteworthy life event is about to be celebrated. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Alabama native Harper Lee, character Maudie Atkinson bakes a Lane cake to welcome Aunt Alexandra when she comes to live with the Finch family. Noting the cake's alcoholic kick, the character Scout remarks, 'Miss Maudie baked a Lane cake so loaded with shinny it made me tight.' Shinny is a slang term for liquor."
I'll try to get the rest of the Santa's posted soon. The trouble is that the photos are on my Mac upstairs, so I can't post them with Blogsy with my iPad. And there's always something on the stove that needs watching, a dog in the backyard that will need letting in shortly, or a body just too tired to climb stairs.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
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On 12/24/2013, Barbara Anne said ...
Merry Christmas to you and your family, too!
The Lane cake looks so interesting and delicious. Being from Tennessee, I have never heard of Lane cake and don't remember hearing it mentioned in To Kill A Mockingbird. Do tell!
I made a Lemon Extract Cake today or to be specific, put it in two loaf pans rather than in a tube pan. Its ingredients are very much like a fruit cake with candied fruits and pecans, but it has the most wonderful light lemon fragrance. It has to be kept refrigerated so we kept one and I took the other to my cousin's home along with their gifts. Some of this cake batter is still decorating my shirt, too.
Merry Christmas, my friend!
Holly hugs!
On 12/24/2013, Sue G. said ...
This cake looks good Susan! My daughter made a fruit cake for my husband. He's Weird!!LOL He's the only person I know that loves that solid brick fruit cake that everyone laughs about!
Merry Christmas!!!
On 12/24/2013, Debbie P. said ...
I had forgotten all about that cake being in To Kill A Mockingbird. I will need to make that in February for my book club since that is the book we will be talking about. I hope you have a very Happy Christmas. I know I haven't been commenting lately, but I still read your blog everyday!
Tons of hugs,
Deb
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