Two Hundred Year Old Granny Hamil Cake

LIQOUR STORES CLOSED COULDN'T MAKE RUM CAKE SO...

Today I did something I have been wanting to do for a looooong time. There is this cake recipe that has been in my family for at least 5 generations that I can count. It is called Granny Hamil's cake. I am not entirely sure but I think that Granny Hamil was my Dad's Grandmother's Mother. It has been made forever by someone in my family but I remember it being made for me by my Meema. It was my favorite cake. She made it for me and for everyone else for their birthday and always on Christmas or for big family dinner-type occasions. There are a couple of reasons that I have waited until I was 29 years old to attempt this cake.
1. I just started really getting comfortable with baking this year
2. I was scared it won't be right
3. If it is not right I will be sad because my Meema is in the nursing home now and she won't know who I am let alone be able to tell me how to make the cake. This is the main reason. :(


So today in celebration of 2008 and also because I was dying to try out my new mixer, Landry and I made the cake. It was quite an ordeal. We had to go and buy special pans because it has THREE layers and the only cake pan I had was a sheet pan. So we did that and then went to the grocery store for all the ingredients. Then we mixed it all up and ate a ton of the batter which was so delicious and then we baked it. And then we baked it again. Then we baked it again. I had to do three layers seperately which was a giant pain in the behiney and I am wondering how my great, great, great, great, great grandma had time to do all this while simultaneously birthing children and fighting off Indians. Then we had to let all the layers cool for hours and we had to make the frosting from scratch.

In a funny side note I have an actual recipe card written by my Meema and she didn't put how long to cook it or at what temperature!! I'm sure that is was so second-nature to her that she didn't think about it but for me it was some pretty needed information. I just improvised.

It is now sitting frosted and ready to go and I am waiting for Wes to get home so we can try the cake and see if it is right. I really hope it is but it was kind of neat the Landry and I made it today. I guess he is the 6th generation and I hope he will make it someday with his kids. It is not the prettiest cake I have ever seen but I am still proud of it.


update* Everyone ate the cake and loved it. Paul also came over and had some and he actually had the original Meema version and he said mine was even better. SUCCESS!