Sugar Cakes and Caramel Sauce

I'm not sure if most of you have heard of sugar cakes as they are a local favorite to York County. I have been eating them my whole life, and we have my Uncle Hoyt to thank for this delicious recipe. The store-bought version is such a poor representation of these delicious and light, but very dense cookies. There is a "bakery" here in York that makes sugar cakes, but trust me, once you make your own, you will never travel back to this "bakery"again. I especially like to add chocolate chips to the batter, but that is totally optional.
The caramel sauce is something I made to top a cake last week simply because I didn't have enough confectioner's sugar for a traditional frosting. I will never top my apple and raisin cake with a cream cheese frosting again. The caramel sauce seems to seal in the moistness of the cake, and while it was rather sweet, it was the perfect match for the dense texture of the cake.
Tomorrow I'll share a recipe for pasta salad, but I thought it would be a rather inappropriate partner for sugar cakes and caramel sauce!

Here is Uncle Hoyt's recipe:
Sugar Cakes
2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening (I use 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening)
3 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sour milk (buttermilk or 1 cup milk with 1 T vinegar)
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour

1. Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs and vanilla.
2. Alternately add dry ingredients with sour milk.
3. Chill batter at least four hours or overnight.
4. On a greased and floured sheet, put small scoop (maybe 4T) and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 370 degrees for 10 minutes or until puffed and golden, but not too browned on the bottom.


Caramel Sauce (this is crazy delicious on the apple cake from
Sept 4, "bear for dinner")

1/2 cup plus 2 T packed brown sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
2 T butter
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

Heat brown sugar, corn syrup and butter to boiling in 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened; remove from heat. Add cream and vanilla and stir until smooth.