What's Beer Got To Do With It?

Growing up, beer (and other alcoholic drinks) and cigarette commercials were the best.  We don't see cigarette commercials anymore, but I have a wealth of memories of Virginia Slims, Doral and Marlboro ads that I will never forget.  The Hamms' bear (it's okay if you have no idea what I'm talking about here...) and the Blatz jingle are ingrained in my memory.  I'm pretty sure that the producers of "Laverne and Shirley" were thinking Blatz...Schlitz...oh yeah...let's call it Schotz!  My parents never smoked or drank, but my Dad had a penchant for exclaiming "Good Gordon's Gin!" instead of "Wow!" and "Man oh Manischewitz!" rather than "Amazing!"  I picked up these expressions from him and use them to this day.  I still use "sure thing", "neato" and "groovy" too, on occasion.  I baked from scratch today (a rarity) and only one of my favorite sayings would do. 

It all started with canned plums.  Someone gave me canned plums.  I've never even seen canned plums and I didn't get the best feeling about them, but I do like plums...and prunes...so I was game.  

                                          Insert bad cellphone picture HERE...

Being heavy into research, as you know, I consulted the experts.  Dug out the old cookbooks.  Called Le Cordon Bleu.  Tapped into the wisdom and experience of the elders.  Then I came to my senses and posted a question on Facebook--"What in the world do I do with canned plums?"  I got a few suggestions, like plum tart, plum pudding, and this cobbler (which was actually labeled "plum pudding", but is decidedly "cobbleresque").  It was easy and "Man-o-Manischewitz!"  It is good.  I'll try to type and eat, but chances are, the eating will win and you'll be getting this post well after I've had a second helping.  First of all, here's the recipe:

http://www.cooks.com/recipe/g47mr9qn/aunt-jennys-favorite-cake.html

As simple as this recipe is, I ran into a few snags.  First of all, it calls for shortening.  I had some shortening once.  I discovered it when I was moving and it was about five years old.  It was brown.  I didn't think that was a good thing, plus it smelled weird, so I tossed it.  Shortening is something I use only when a recipe calls for it.  I use a spread, like Smart Balance, or olive oil.  Since I don't bake from scratch very often I have no need for it, so I had to run out for some.  I actually had flour, and I know it has to be from last Christmas, but stored airtight, it was fine.  The sugar?  Well, I did manage to eek out the 3/4 cup that I needed, but the rest was like this:

That is sugar in case you don't recognize it.  I don't use it very often.  

So I finally got the batter together. 

Then for those plums.  I am so glad that I decided to taste one, because I totally forgot about the pits.  Eating this first one saved me a lot of trouble. 

Yummy!  Now to just put this baby together and bake!  I probably shouldn't admit this, but I will--After about 30 minutes in the oven, I couldn't figure out why it wasn't done.  Uh-oh...the oven is on 275 instead of 375.  I've decided that this cake is foolproof, because after all that time, I turned it up and baked another 20 minutes and voila~ it was perfectly cooked, albeit a little darker than I would have preferred.  But delicious, nonetheless.

Good Gordon's Gin!

The cake to fruit ratio is off, but I really didn't expect it to rise like this!  It is a fantastic cake recipe and I will  be using it again.  My sweet dreams have already begun...