Category Archives: cake

Cooking American Cookery: Wine Cake Revolution

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Amelia Simmon’s “Rich Cake.”

One of my favorite historic American cookbooks is the first American cookbook: American Cookery, published in 1796 by Amelia Simmons, an “American orphan.” Her cookbook contains some of the first truly American recipes, featuring corn and maple syrup, pumpkins and squash, and “Cookies,” an American word derived from the Dutch. When I flip through the pages of Simmon’s thin volume, I often feel inspired by her combinations of seasonings and ingredients; especially when it comes to her baked goods. I’ve decided to cook my way through American Cookery, and I hope some of Simmon’s recipe inspire your own cooking as well.

A wonderful article on American Cookery, and why it is important, can be found here: Of Pearlash, Epmtins and Tree Sweetnin’ (American Heritage)

First up, a recipe Simmons calls simply “a rich cake.”
I was intrigued by this recipe’s use of wine as a leavening and a flavoring. I had never seen anything like it, and thought it had the potential to be really delicious. “Emptins” are a type of home-made yeast, and after it is added to the dough, it’s left to rise overnight. The result was wonderful–not too sweet, almost bread-like, and the combination of wine, cinnamon and rosewater gives it a complex and crave-worth flavor. I took it to a party and it was devoured. I’ve been requested to bake two more loaves. It’s a real re-discovery, and I encourage you to try it in your kitchen.
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Amelia Simmons’ Rich Cake
From American Cookery, by Amelia Simmons (1796)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup wine – I used a red; white would have a different, put probably equally delicious taste.
pinch salt
1 packet active dry yeast dissolved in about 1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp rosewater
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup – 1 cup raisins soaked 1/2 hour in brandy (optional)
1. Using your hands, take the butter, which should be slightly below room temperature, and rub it in to the flour until combined.
2. Add eggs, wine, salt, and yeast. Mix well, then cover with a towel and leave in a warm place to rise overnight.
3. The next morning, add sugar, rosewater, cinnamon, and raisins. Mix gently until just combined. Don’t overwork the batter; if there are a few swirls of unmixed cinnamon, that’s ok.
4. Pour into a greased or non-stick loaf pan, sprinkle the top with sugar. Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour. It is done when a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 30 minutes, the tip out and let continue to cool.
Serve warm with butter; but I think it tastes even better cold or toasted the next day.
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Left: batter at night. Right: The next morning.
The first time I made the recipe, I did it without raisins. It’s not because of my ongoing hatred of the things, I simply didn’t have any around the kitchen. However, even I think raisins would be a great improvement to the cake’s flavor, but it was also great without. Rosewater can be found in most grocery stores in the baking department, or in Middle Eastern specialty store. Or, you can make it yourself.

Taste History Today: The Original Boston Cream Pie

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The first Boston Cream Pie probably didn’t look like this one. But this Pie was purchased at the origin point of the Boston Cream Pie, the Parker House Hotel in Boston. If you are in town, swing by for Pie. But don’t eat there unless you like paying $60 for a terrible meal. My chicken was woefully overcooked, and my mom’s fried fish mournfully soggy. Even the famous Boston Cream Pie seems to have undergone some sort of morbid modernization. The Pie itself was good enough, but that was definitely redi-whip on the side.
You may be better off saving yourself the trip and baking The Pie from scratch using Parker House’s recipe.
A bit more on Boston Cream Pie from Foodtimeline.org:

Boston cream pie. A pie made of white cake and custard filling or topping. If chocolate icing is added, it is called “Parker House chocolate pie,” after the Parker House in Boston, Massachusetts, where the embellishment was first contrived. The pie goes back to early American history, when it was sometimes called “Pudding-cake pie,” or, when made with a raspberry jelly filling, “Mrs. Washington’s pie,” The first mention of the dessert as “Boston cream pie” was in the New York Herald in 1855.”

Although it was dubbed “Boston Cream Pie” in 1855, I don’t believe that it was The Pie as we know it. The chocolatey custard dessert has more of a late 19th c flavor profile. But I would say it warrants more research at a future date.

Martha Washington’s Great Cake

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In honor of our first president’s birthday, I wanted to share the recipe for Martha Washington’s infamous big-ass cake.

From the Mount Vernon website, Mrs. Washington’s Original Recipe:

“Take 40 eggs and divide the whites from the yolks and beat them to a froth. Then work 4 pounds of butter to a cream and put the whites of eggs to it a Spoon full at a time till it is well work’d. Then put 4 pounds of sugar finely powdered to it in the same manner then put in the Yolks of eggs and 5 pounds of flour and 5 pounds of fruit. 2 hours will bake it. Add to it half an ounce of mace and nutmeg half a pint of wine and some fresh brandy.

Notes on making Martha Washington’s Great Cake:

In making the great cake, Mount Vernon’s curatorial staff followed Mrs. Washington’s recipe almost exactly. Where the recipe called for 5 pounds of fruit, without specifying which ones, 2 pounds of raisins, 1 pound of currants, and 2 pounds of apples were used. The wine used was cream sherry. Since no pan large enough was available to hold all the batter, two 14 layers were made and stacked (note: the original was one single tall layer). The layers were baked in a 350 degree oven for 1.5 hours. Should be iced with a very stiff egg-white based icing, flavored with rosewater or orange-flower water.”

And in the spirit of the Month of Presidents, and the ongoing celebration of Lincoln’s 200th birthday, Dj Bryan sent me this post on What about the plastic animals? about Mary Todd Lincoln’s White Almond Cake:

“The Lincoln Home National Historic Site has the recipe, which I assumed was authentic. It turned out well. The recipe called for six whipped egg whites to be folded into the batter. That made the cake fairly light, but still denser than an angel food cake…

Another recipe still has me scratching my head. And I quote: ‘Because I love a challenge, I took this recipe home and made Mary Todd Lincoln’s cake. Even with today’s modern technology, the process was slow going. In all, it took about four hours to cream the butter, whip the egg whites, chop the almonds and get it all mixed and baked. I used a mixer and a mini chopper…’

Four hours? Discount the baking time and there’s still three hours left. What task could have possibly taken three hours? I don’t mean to brag but it took me all of 15-20 minutes using an electric hand mixer, a mini food processor, and a large wooden spoon. Did she shell, peel and blanch the almonds? Were the almonds chopped one at a time? Did she forget to mention that she has no arms? I am baffled.”

Me too. Happy Birthday, Presidents!

History Dish Mondays: Cider Cake

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I’m launching a new feature: Each week, I’m going to test a historic recipe. Check in on Mondays to see the results.

This week, Cider Cake. It is fast and easy to mix up and a delicious snack or breakfast. The ingredients are simple, so prep is a breeze.

Cider Cake
Original recipe from The Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child; modern recipe is adapted from The Old Sturbridge Village cookbook.

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar (refined, unrefined or maple. I used regular white shug)
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup apple cider

Preheat oven to 350. Sift flour, baking powder, and spices; set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add flour mixture and cider alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Scrape bowl and mix until combined. Pour into a loaf pan and sprinkle top with sugar. Bake 50-55 minutes.

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Although I used fresh apple cider, this recipe can also be made with hard cider. It’s actually more historically accurate; I think I’ll try it sometime in the near future, I’m curious how it alters the taste. Additionally, Childs says to “spice to your taste.” For the era that this recipe is from, that would usually mean some combination of nutmeg, ginger, and possibly mace. I used cinnamon, not popular in the first half of the 19th century, because I like it best.

When I mixed up the cake and I added the cider, the batter really blossomed with a delicious apple-y smell. I put it into a loaf pan and sprinkled the top with some sugar to give it a nice, sweet, crust. I baked about 50 minutes in a 350 oven, and turned it halfway through.
The cake came out lighter in color than I expected; the level of sweetness and texture reminded me very much of a zucchini or banana bread. I think this recipe could be made even more delicious with the addition of some sliced apples or nuts.

Rating: A
I would make this again.