Note.—With the same kind of batter, and by using a biscuit-
forcer,* the shape of these small biscuits may be easily varied accor-
ding to taste or fancy.
1277. PLUM CAKE.
INGREDIENTS required:—One pound and a half of flower, one pound
and a half of butter, one pound of fine sugar, one pound of dried
* These biscuit-forcers are also made of tin, resembling a funnel in shape; they have
bag of wash-leather, or canvas cloth, affixed round the upper part, with a string run
ning through the top, which, when the bag is filled with batter, is drawn tight, thus
effectually preventing it from escaping at the upper end, while it is forced out at the
point below. The use of this utensil, however, is objectionable, from the leather or can
vas contracting a nauseous odour. In other respects it answers the purpose well enough.
2 D
cherries (slightly chopped), one pound and a half of currants, one
pound and a half of candied orange, lemon, and citron peel, in equal
quantities,—all these must be cut in small shreds; eight ounces of
ground or rubbed almonds, eight whole eggs, the zest or rind of four
oranges (rubbed on a piece of sugar and afterwards scraped off), half
an ounce of ground spices, consisting of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg,
mixed in equal proportions, half a pint of Cognac brandy, and a tea-
spoonful of salt.
Place the butter in a large white earthen pan, and work it with
a wooden spoon until it presents the appearance of a creamy substance;
next add gradually the flour, sugar, and the eggs, still continuing to
work the batter the whole of the time. When these have been
thoroughly mixed, the cherries, currants, candied-peel, ground almonds,
brandy, spices, and salt, must also be added gradually, and as soon as
these ingredients are incorporated with the batter, let the preparation
be poured into a convenient-sized tin hoop (previously lined with
double bands of buttered paper), and placed on a stout-made copper
baking-sheet, with two sheets of buttered paper under the cake, to
prevent the composition from becoming calcined by the heat of the
oven. A moderate heat will be sufficient to bake this cake, and care
must be taken not to put any fire under the oven while it is baking,
so as to increase the heat.
These cakes when baked should be iced over with sugar in the
following manner:—
First, mix eight ounces of very fine pounded almonds with double that
quantity of fine sifted sugar, a little orange-water, and sufficient
whites of eggs to form the whole into a soft paste; spread a coating
of this all over the surface of the cake (after it has become cold); and
when it is hardened by drying, let the whole be iced over with the
following preparation:—
Place about six whites of eggs in a convenient-sized basin, add
about one pound and a half of the finest sifted loaf-sugar, and work
these well together with a clean wooden spoon, adding occasionally a
little lemon-juice, until the whole presents the appearance of a very
thick yet comparatively liquid shiny substance of a pure white.
Use this icing to mask the entire surface of the cake, with a coating
about a quarter of an inch thick; allow this to become firmly set, by
drying, for which purpose the cake should be placed in a warm tem-
perature, and kept covered with a large sheet of paper, to preserve it
from dust, &c. When the icing has become perfectly hard, decorate
the top and sides of the cake with raised ornaments of gum paste,
(stamped out from boards cut for the purpose) and arranged with
taste, either in the form of garlands, wreaths, scrolls, &c.; or else the
cake may be decorated with piping, using for that purpose some of
the icing worked somewhat thicker, by adding to it more sugar and a
little prepared gum-dragon.
When intended for a wedding cake, the ornaments must be all
white, and some blossoms and sprigs—or, even wreaths of orange-
flowers should also be introduced.