My paternal grandmother got this recipe from my maternal grandfather's second wife (my step-grandmother?), Callie Skidmore, during the early 1960's.
This cake was always my favorite of all the cakes my grandmother made, and it just gets better the longer it sets! The optional rum
or brandy in the filling is my own later addition (the alcohol cooks out and just leaves the flavor).
INGREDIENTS FOR CAKE:
WET INGREDIENTS: DRY INGREDIENTS:
1 & 1/3 Cup Buttermilk 2 Cups Sugar
4 Eggs 4 Cups Flour
1 tsp. Vanilla 1 & 1/4 tsp. Bicarbonate of Soda
1 Cup Butter 1 box Dates, pitted, chopped & soaked in hot water
1 Tbsp. Orange Peel, grated
1 Cup Pecans, chopped
INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING:
1 & 1/3 Cups Orange Juice
2 Cups Sugar
2 Tbsp. Orange Peel, grated
Optional: 1 Tbsp. Brandy or Rum
Materials Needed:
1 Bundt pan, greased and floured (I just spray it with ''Baker's Joy'')
1 Large mixing bowl (for dry ingredients)
1 Medium mixing bowl (for wet ingredients)
1 Stew Pot, any size that will hold filling ingredients
2 Mixing Spoons
1 set of measuring spoons
1 glass measuring cup for liquids
1 measuring cup for dry materials
1 Flour Sifter
CAKE COOKING METHOD:
Mix all Dry ingredients in the larger mixing bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in the smaller bowl.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir well by hand until no ingredients remain dry.
Pour mixture into a greased and floured Bundt Pan.
Bake at 350° F for 35 minutes, then reduce oven heat to 325° F and bake for an additional 40 minutes.
FILLING COOKING METHOD:
Mix all filling ingredients in a small stewpot. Cook over medium heat until it makes a thin syrup.
If you wish to add the optional Rum or Brandy, stir it in just before removing from heat.
FINAL PREPARATION METHOD:
For best results, spoon filling over cake as soon as you can remove the cake from the oven and remove it from
the Bundt pan onto a Cake Platter or other large plate.
Continue spooning the filling over the cake as it soaks in.
Cover the cake and allow it to set at least over-night. Occasionally you may want to spoon filling on top
of the cake that has worked its way down to the plate.
This cake is better if made a day or two ahead of time.
Enjoy!!!
{From my paternal grandmother, Bennie Humphries, who got it from Callie (Farmer) Skidmore
about 1962.}