Recipes & Food Styling

Gumdrop Cake

Welcome to Gumdrop Forest! My grandma’s Gumdrop Cake is in the perfect setting here in Gumdrop Forest, where bits of peppermint bark from the trees are scattered everywhere and puffs of peppermint meringue swirl from the chimneys. The Winter Ball is happening now in the Garden Ballroom. Hershey kisses hang from the trees. Like sentinels, Snowmen watch over ice skaters, on the frozen pond.

A dollop of Peppermint Ice Cream and shavings of Peppermint Bark are wonderful toppings on a piece of Gumdrop Cake. Perfect for a December birthday or other special occasion.

I learned about gumdrop cake when I spent time in the kitchen with my grandma a few years before she passed away. Take time to talk with people while you can and you will learn so much!

Loaded with poached raisins, walnuts and gumdrops, this festive cake provides the look and feel of a fruitcake but with less effort and time and delightful flavors. I doubled the batch to fill the gingerbread house mold by Nordic Ware.

The cake decorations are from a Bûche de Noël that I bought in Paris many years ago. I still use these on my Christmas cakes, and they make Paris feel a little bit closer to home.

Gumdrop Cake

I cup dates, chopped (can use raisins)

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 cup gumdrops

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup walnuts

1 teaspoon vanilla

Boil raisins in one cup of water and cool. Cream sugar, butter and eggs. Add the dates and fold in the flour, salt and soda Add vanilla, walnuts and gumdrops, floured.

Bake in greased pan at 275 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.