A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to Dena and she mentioned something about Rodney making a “syrup cake.” I asked her what exactly is a syrup cake, and she said it’s basically some sort of old-fashioned cake that pretty much isn’t made by anybody under 75. She also said it’s delicious and addictive, so I decided I needed to make one of these for myself. I asked her to get the me recipe, and she sent me one that comes from Rodney’s grandmother. However, before I give you this recipe, there are two things you NEED to know. #1 you can use molasses, or another kind of thick syrup like cane syrup instead of sorghum if you need to. I wouldn’t use like a thin maple or that pancake syrup crap that people use all the time, but a real thick syrup. I went to four different places looking for sorghum only to find zero places that had any.
I could have went into Little Rock and probably found it at Whole Foods, but I didn’t feel like driving that far and I hate the smell of hippies, so I decided if I couldn’t find it close to my house I wasn’t going to use it. So we went to Cracker Barrel because that little store in the front sells all sorts of things, except of course sorghum. Then we went to the Food Giant because it just seemed like a good idea. I asked the guy stocking shelves if they sold it and he told me he had no idea what I was talking about. Fair enough. Then he said “oh do you mean ’saw-grum’?” No, I mean SOR-GHUM but I’m desperate so sure that’s what I mean. He redirected us to a catfish place that apparently sells random things like honey and “saw-grum”. We went there and of course they were out. So it was decided that we would go to Wal-Mart and just get whatever they had. I ended up getting this stuff, which is a mix of cane syrup, molasses, and honey. And it’s actually delicious.
it's called "the pride of Alabama" not kidding
Ok, now that I got my syrup story out of the way, on to #2. This cake is not good after it’s first baked. It just literally doesn’t taste like anything. So after you bake it, set it on the counter to cool totally, then cover it and stick it in the fridge for at least 24 hours. After it’s had time to sit, somehow the syrup seeps out of the cake and it becomes gooey and delicious. I love warm cake but this is not one you can eat right out of the oven. So here are the ingredients to this syrupy mystery:
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup of sorghum syrup
- 2 cups of flour ( I used all purpose)
- 1 tsp. of baking soda
- 1/2 tsp of baking powder
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup of vegetable oil
- 1 cup of buttermilk
- 1/2 tsp of allspice (I used a whole teaspoon because I’m heavy handed like that)
Mix everything together and place it in a 13×9 baking dish that’s been coated in non-stick spray.
i just wanted to show off my bad ass mixer
Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. Mine took exactly 45, but the original recipe says 35, so just use your judement. Then like I said earlier, leave it alone for at least a day. It should look about like this when done:
The next time I make this cake, I think I’m going to add cinnamon, and maybe some chopped pecans. In case you’re wondering, no there is no frosting for it, because with the syrup that sort of oozes out you really don’t need any, but I could see this being good with some whipped cream or Cool Whip on top.
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