Syrup Platz (Cake)

This is an old family recipe - a favourite of my mother-in-law. I remember her making it often from the time I first sat at her table in 1963.

She always called it Syrup Platz, although I don't really know why since it is more a cake than a 'Platz'.

I found her hand written recipe (in German, of course) tucked into her Mennonite Treasury Cookbook. It is stained and yellowed and so typical of how her generation preserved recipes.
On the side she has noted a couple of forgotten ingredients... salt - no amount given, cloves - a little.

The bake time and oven temperature are written across the top. No method instructions.

I know today our recipes are so neatly electronically saved, but I wonder if in future years our descendants will have the same emotional connection to them that I have when I hold my mother-in-law's recipe in my hand.

Syrup Platz Cake

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup syrup (always made with Roger's Golden Syrup - only available in Canada - but corn syrup would work as well)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 1/3 cups buttermilk
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Beat eggs with brown sugar
2. Add syrup, oil, buttermilk beating until smooth
3. Add blended dry ingredients and hand mix until smooth
4. Turn into a 9x13" baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top springs back. (do not over bake as it tends to turn too brown on the bottom)
5. Wonderful with a dollop of whipped cream or ice-cream - serve warm or cold.
6. Freezes well.