Jean's Gravy Cake

I am a little behind on writing...unfortunately we lost my grandmother on Christmas Day, so needless to say the holidays took a bit of a turn for us.  We spent the weekend before last attending the funeral of an incredible woman.  So with this post, I thought I would take a minute and share a little bit about the life of Elizabeth "Jean" Roberts, and what made her so special to our family. 

There are so many things that were special about her.  She was the definition of good.  I have never in my entire life heard an ill word come out of her mouth.  She was a devoted mother, wife, grandmother and great-grandmother.  At the age of 50 she went back to school to get her GED and then she went on to college to become a nurse.  That took so much strength and courage, a type of courage that all of us possess, but most of us will never dare to use.  She loved deeply and had a sincere love for crafts, sewing, knitting, and creating beautiful things to give to other people.  She volunteered a tremendous amount of hours at the Carolina Medical Center knitting hundreds of baby caps for newborn babies and sewing baby outfits for those little ones that only lived for a short period of time after birth.  It was her way of honoring the loss of her own baby Fred so many years ago.  She connected with those mothers who had a full-term pregnancy and suffered such a loss.  She was grace in every sense of the word.  She was the type of woman, mother and wife that I strive to be.  And she is in heaven right now looking down and shining her beautiful smile on all of us. 

 

Tonight I want to share a little something that my Mammaw made for us every single time we came to visit.  She would time our arrival just right so that it was hot and ready for us when we walked in the door!  She made something we call "Gravy Cake".  She entrusted me with this recipe about five years ago and I have honored her every time I have ever made it, though nobody will ever make it like she did!!

 

 

Jean's Gravy Cake

 

Devil's Food Cake Mix (Prepared from the box instructions)

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 cup of Light Corn Syrup

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of butter

2 cups of evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla

 

Prepare the Devil's Food Cake per the instructions on the box, bake in a 9x13 cake pan.  Cool and set aside when finished.

While the cake is baking, in a small saucepan, mix in the sugar, corn syrup, salt, butter and 1 cup of the evaporated milk.  Bring to a boil and stir with a whisk constantly.  Stir this mixture for approximately 7-10 minutes.  After about 10 minutes, add in the second cup of evaporated milk and the vanilla.  Stir for another 5-7 minutes then let it cool for about 5 minutes to thicken up. 

 

In a bowl add a square of the devil's food cake and with a gravy ladle or gravy boat, pour the yummy gravy over the cake, grab a spoon and ENJOY this delicious dessert!!  When you eat this, think of Jean Roberts and know what you are eating was always prepared for us with the purest of love for her family!