One of my favorite things to take to a Pot Luck is a Spice Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting. (I actually had two potlucks to go to today.) (I love Pot Lucks, so this was pretty cool.) But back to my point......A good Pot Luck should have no duplicate dishes. I have a foolproof way of insuring that I don't bring the same thing as anyone else. It's the odd combination of Spice Cake and Peanut Butter. But today, I was stunned - stunned, I tell you, when an elderly lady came up to me and told me this was her brother's favorite dessert. How could this be? She had spent her life in Oklahoma and I had spent mine 1500 miles away. I asked her what her ancestry was - she said Cherokee, German, and Irish. I was about to give up finding a connection, when she said, oh, and my grandmother was full blooded French. Does Peanut Butter Frosting sound like a French thing to you? Me neither. Unless, of course, it started out as Almond Frosting and unable to get almonds, both our families substituted Peanut Butter. Marzipan Frosting on a Spicy Fruit Cake is not an uncommon dessert for a European.
Gosh, I started making spice cake because of a Tightwad Gazette recipe involving zucchini. However, courgettes (Brits use the French term rather than the Italian, in spite of spending hundreds of years at war with France) are dead expensive here so I use old (not rotten, but not nice) fruit that I pull out of the freezer (where I toss it to save it before it's too late) and blend to a puree. I must admit I've not ever heard of peanut butter frosting. Any chance you'd share the recipe? My step-son LOVES peanut butter and he quite likes my spice cake - everyone gets one for Christmas from me. The combination would have him worshipping at my feet! Not that I wish to trade Bill for a younger model - far from it. Simon is an awfully nice young man, though, and I would enjoy making him happy. He's famous for his love of odd foods...
ReplyDeleteAmazing that you should find a twin offering. Ah, potlucks! They must be v. American. Brits can't cope with serendipity - you HAVE to at least specify main course, veg or dessert, which I think is rather cheating... I'm almost homesick!
PS I could give you a recipe for black pudding...almost certainly not to be duplicated! HA.
ReplyDeleteOh Gosh, Shelley, I'm sorry to have made you homesick. What was Poirot referring to when he said the English are fond of growing the Vegetable Marrows?
ReplyDeleteIf you promise NOT to give me a recipe for Black Pudding (having been served enough blood sausages at my grandparents as a child to last a Vampire's lifetime), I'll give you my recipe for the frosting. Beat 1/2 cup peanut and 1/4 cup butter until creamy. Add 1 pound of confectioners (powdered) sugar and mix. Then add milk until the consistency of fudge. (Usually under 1/4 cup.) If your cake is very tender, you may have to pat this into thin sheets and lay it on the cake, instead of trying to spread it around. (This last little tip is how I knew the woman wasn't just kidding me. She knew this.)
I forgot to add that if I had to choose between my John in his 20's when we got married, or the 50+ John of today, I would chose my husband in his present state every time - titanium knees and all.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing! Simon is going to be so amazed!
ReplyDeleteIt's an old family recipe, and we're Pennsylvania Dutch (German). I'd love to know more about the history.
ReplyDelete