All the ingredients were on hand, and I was looking forward to baking and eating Connie Whitten’s Blackberry Jam Cake when the sock-matching situation came up.

I know there won’t be any such thing as this in heaven because we will all be rejoicing to be in God’s presence — but if, by chance, there is, and I am put in the area dedicated to matching socks for the angels, I am going to be really, really mad about the whole thing.

It all started when our oldest child, Gaye, was an infant wearing the little white socks. Since then it has been baby socks, children’s socks, athletic socks, argyle socks, stretch socks, dress socks, and now with the children all gone we are down to my Ed’s socks. There is always a pile to be matched, and in this pile there are always socks that have no matches. Many predate home computers, certain countries, several presidents and frozen dinners. The Great Mystery of our time is, “Where do socks go?”

The thriftiness in me won’t permit my tossing the unmatched ones because maybe someday, somewhere from under the washer, in a never-opened drawer, or in the dust cloth bag, the mates will appear, but until that happens I’ll make Connie’s cake.

Connie is a member of Columbia Baptist Church in Princeton, part of the Palmetto Association. The pastor is Rev. Scottie Hendricks, who has been with them about three years. He’ll have to stay a while longer to help celebrate the church’s 200th anniversary in 2015.

Connie, retired from BASF, grew up in the church and works with both the youth and the senior adults. She enjoys playing both the organ and the piano, and serves as the assistant at church when needed. When asked about her interests, her reply was that she enjoys helping people.

The recipe she has shared with us is an old one, Connie says, who got it from her great aunt, Bessie Davis, on her father’s side of the family. Connie makes it every Christmas and suggests that this recipe will bring back a lot of memories not only for her family but also for yours. It makes a large cake; I baked it using three cake pans, and they were full. Don’t wait until Christmas; carry this cake to family gatherings this summer.

Although her Aunt Bessie’s recipe, like many old recipes, doesn’t give many instructions, I mixed it as I do most cakes: creaming the sugar and butter, adding the eggs one at a time, adding the jam, sifting together the flour and spices and adding alternately with the buttermilk. I tested it after it baked 30 minutes, then added another five or so until the toothpick came out clean.

Start the caramel icing as soon as you put the layers in the oven. It takes a long time to cook. Using a fork, Connie punches holes in the first layer and spreads on a third of the icing, then repeats with layers two and three. Some of the icing will dribble over the sides.

The cake is best if it sits, covered, a day before serving. We thank Connie and her Aunt Bessie for sharing this good cake with us to enjoy for any occasion, and especially when you have a crowd for … Sunday Dinner.

Blackberry Jam Cake

2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda in the milk
1 cup butter or lard
2 cups blackberry jam
2 teaspoons cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 cups plain flour

Grease and flour pans. Bake at 300 degrees until done. Makes 2 large layers or 3 small layers.

Caramel Icing

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup milk
2 cups sugar
1/2 stick butter

Cook on low until thick. Spread on cake while cake is still warm.

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