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Dalton Sullivan's avatar

I love this!. My wife and I live in The Shoals in northwest Alabama, and on a recent trip home from Panama City, we stopped at a convenience store/gas station in Andalusia.

As I pumped gas, Miss M went inside and came out carrying a slice of Mrs. Dean's seven-layer caramel cake.

We sat there in the Shell parking lot and sharing one plastic fork, ate this mouth-watering morsel of goodness,. I may have even licked up the crumbs.

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Cindy Gallop's avatar

Great gas stop story….love it! Aren’t the crumbs a treat?

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Dalton Sullivan's avatar

Yes they are

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Ruth garrison's avatar

Love the Shoals and Jungle Jitney!

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Paul McCutchen's avatar

My wife is a cook. A country chef or whatever you call it, but she can cook, and she can cook cakes. I asked her to cook a friend of mine at work a pound cake because he loved pound cakes. She said she would cook one, but he would only get half because someone at her work also wanted a cake. When I took the cake to work and gave it to my friend, he put it in his desk and locked it up. His wife told me later he would wait till everyone went to bed then have a piece of cake. He did this for a week till it was gone. He made a mistake on the last piece and left crumbs on the counter. He finally told the truth but the cake was gone. People would ask what was so special about a Pound Cake and I will say this my wife doesn't bake just a pound cake. It has other things in it that makes it special.

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Lander Bethel's avatar

Rum cakes are pretty tasty.

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Fay Ferrell's avatar

(But will they lead to Danse'-in, Lander?!)

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Lander Bethel's avatar

Oh, they could lead to all kinds of dangerous, wild activity that just might add to the fun.

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Phillip H Saunders's avatar

Reminds me of my ma-in-law's bourbon-laced pound cakes. She told a story about her tee-totalling college co-op student that stayed at their house while in school at UNA who got hold of one of those cakes upon arriving after class one afternoon. He had no idea of the contents. It was so good, he couldn't stop. By the time she got home, she swore he was snokered.

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Lander Bethel's avatar

My mom's pecan pie; Mrs. Jergins' butter rolls; my grandmother's fried chicken and mashed potatoes; all good memories. Fortunately, my mom is still around and still making pecan pies for special occasions. Those good dishes bring back such good times.

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Paul McCutchen's avatar

No one around here liked pecan pie. My wife would make them for me till one day her daughters decided to have a bite. That ended my time alone eating pecan pie.

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Lander Bethel's avatar

Oh, tough thing having to share pecan pie. But, if more people like them, all the reason to bake more of them.

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Cindy Gallop's avatar

Yes they do! One of the best memories are those special dishes made by special people in our lives!!

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Julie RN's avatar

Sean, your story today came to life, full of so many details of small town living in the South. From riding your bike up the street to the gas station convenience store, and hauling home a Wilma Dean Jacob’s cake secured by bungee cords? Plus all the colorful details in between. Such a fun read!

My biggest chuckle was over your regional family trees that you call “Family Briar Patches”…you can’t get any more Southern than “Brer Rabbit”❣️

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Cindy Gallop's avatar

Funny! Ol Brer Rabbit……

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Ed Shelnutt's avatar

We had a delightful lady in our town who made amazing caramel cakes. Miss Mae is who you called when you needed one. They were always perfect, always ready when you needed one. The taste always reminded me of my grandma's smile.

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Cindy Gallop's avatar

My grandma’s smile…..love that ending!

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MAM's avatar

We miss the bakers who leave us. And somehow, even if we have the recipe, it never tastes the same as the original baker's cakes, cookies or whatever. My mom made the best oatmeal cookies ever. Yes, I have her recipe, but when I make the cookies they just don't taste the same. Has the butter flavor changed? Are the oats different? I don't know, but maybe it's just we enjoyed eating things that we didn't make. Your food stories, Sean, always makes one's taste buds drool just a tiny bit!

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Cindy Gallop's avatar

There truly is an art to good cooking/baking!

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MAM's avatar

For sure. I just spent almost two hours baking what I consider the best oatmeal cookies ever. Yes even better than my mom's. It's a very complicated recipe from a cookbook that was not available in my mom's day. It's really a two-person recipe. I'm doing the combining of ingredients often only a couple at a time, with my husband reading them to me, because at one point at least, an ingredient has to be put in while you're still beating the last ingredients together. The cookies are full of butter and oats, with other stuff, too. I love crispy cookies and these are the crispiest ever. I'm taking them to an event saying farewell to our church pastor, who has been transferred. Yes, it's a big giant potluck. I ate very little breakfast in anticipation of a feast! Whee! I'm also the official photographer for the event. :-)

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Cindy Gallop's avatar

Ooooooooo…….I, too, like the crispier cookies! Your oatmeal cookies sound like a blue ribbon treat! You will be bringing home a clean platter!

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MAM's avatar

Actually, I came home with 3. They are huge and I think that turns people off, so we benefitted at home. We split one of the big ones for dessert tonight. yummy!

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Cindy Gallop's avatar

Only 3? Still a good sign that they were de-lish!

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Penny Radtke Adams's avatar

It's funny how the death of an elderly person brings back childhood memories. Wilma Dean made cakes. My Aunt Maggie (real name was Olive) collected bells. While visiting her in her tiny apartment in Gettysburg, SD, when I was a teenager, she gave me one of her bells. She was "downsizing," she said. So when she died at age 101, what first entered my mind? The time she gave me the bell, of course! And every time I look at it on my knick knack shelf now, I think of her. Too bad you couldn't bronze one of Wilma Dean's special cakes! :-)

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Jan(et) Lord's avatar

Nothing better than a sweet seven layer memory.

Here in north Florida you can find a 12 layer Mayhaw Jelly cake at a locally owned farm store.

But multi layer Carmel cakes only show up at church’s “dinner on the grounds”. Funny thing most people get their dessert first when they spy that beautiful specimen on the dessert table. 🥮

Still praying for our Becca

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Cindy Gallop's avatar

Good desserts will always leave the table first! Praying also for Becca…..

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Cheryl Chastain's avatar

You really can't have "too many" bungee cords.

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Susie S's avatar

Just like you can't have too much duct tape or WD-40.

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Sharon Thomason's avatar

You really painted a picture with your words today, Sean, and I loved every bit of it! It brought back memories of my mother-in-law’s seven-layer cake. She was from Pleasant Home, Alabama, right outside Andalusia, and hers was a yellow cake with chocolate icing. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Makes me miss her, too. She was quite a lady.

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Pubert Earle Bozemann's avatar

ST dT sounds "Down Home" good. Dat dere caramel is too sweet"

Pubert Earle

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Te Burt's avatar

I've always had a bone of contention about a "7-layer" (or 10-layer, but that's truly ambitious) chocolate cake. It's not chocolate. No, no, it's a 7-layer vanilla cake with a little chocolate smeared on it - but who would get excited about that? So whoever baked the first one fudged (literally and figuratively!) the name!

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PMc's avatar

RIP Miss Dean, caramel cake is truly a labor of Southern Love. Pecan pie is my #1 and caramel cake close second.

Peace and Love to All from Birmingham.✝️💜🥮🇺🇸

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Keith's avatar

Wonderful article. I laughed when I read about all the special occasions, such as parole release. I've also "experienced" Miss Dean's layered caramel cakes. Watching them all made by hand. We are blessed to be from the south, and to get to ride through Andalusia is just one example. God can turn any experience into a blessing. Thank you for the memories, Sean. I'm praying for Becca.

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Carol Pilmer's avatar

Rest in Peace, Ms. Dean…Thanks for all the deliciousness and the memories your creations made.

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Patricia Maness's avatar

Sean, I had no idea Miss Dean passed away! I’ve bought several of her caramel layer cakes. Sometimes I’d buy the half cake so you could see the layers! A chevron station in Greenville.

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Cindy Gallop's avatar

That’s a beautiful image, isn’t it?

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Pubert Earle Bozemann's avatar

Whar' dat PM?

Peb

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Cindy Gallop's avatar

Where the heck have you been Peb? Haven’t seen you on here in a while! Missed ya!

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Patricia Maness's avatar

Peb,

Driving north on I-65 it’s the 2nd exit, right at the light, go through light and it’s on the left. Also, the station right by Bates House of Turkey!

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A L B's avatar

My mom in East Tennessee made caramel cake. But only 3 layers!

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ricpayson@yahoo.com's avatar

A gracious good morning and happy Sonday to all yall. My bride loves those cakes. Purchasing Dean's cakes was similar to what you described. Of course, they're not any better for ya now as they were then. Ya gain a pound just by looking at at one of em. We're on our way to the equine halfway house. Yall have a splendiferous day and ...

Peace

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