Grandma's Plum Cake

I was talking to my mom the other day and I said, "Guess what I have in the oven?" After a couple of wrong guesses I added, "You haven't had it in years." With that hint she knew right away. Grandma's plum cake.

My grandmother (Olga, my dad's mom) made the best plum cake. It was one of those things that seemed to be devoured as soon as it was put out; it was that good. And I guess part of the appeal was that it wasn't ordinary. It wasn't something that you would expect, like cheesecake or cookies.

Of course plums aren't always in season, but my grandma managed to make enough cake to last what seemed like the entire year. She would always have extra plum cake in the freezer and when it defrosted it was as good as the day she made it.

Well, grandma passed away almost three years ago and since she was sick for quite some time before she went to be with the Lord she wasn't doing her usual things. Needless to say, my family hasn't had grandma's plum cake in almost five years.

About ten years ago I had the foresight to recognize that there were somethings that would die with my grandma and would be forever lost to our family. I'm not saying that I value the things grandma made, had, or did above her as a person, I just wanted to make sure that when she was no longer around, the things that reminded me most of her would still linger. So, I spent an afternoon with grandma and together we made plum cake. I wrote down each step we did, brought it home, and filed it away in my mom's cookbook. As the years passed by I forgot about that recipe. But when she passed away in 2005 that time I spent baking with her came rushing back to me and I frantically looked for the recipe. Obviously I found it! Today I have multiple copies, just in case.

I enjoyed making grandma's plum cake this past Wednesday. It turned out pretty good, but not exactly like grandma used to make. God willing I'll have as many years to perfect it as she did.