Rich Bride or Christening Cake

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861
Source
The Book of Household Management
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (14)
Instructions (13)
  1. Prepare the ingredients: ensure flour is fine, dried, and sifted; wash, pick, and dry currants by the fire; pound and sift sugar; grate nutmegs; pound spices; whisk eggs thoroughly, separating whites and yolks; pound almonds with a little orange-flower water; cut candied peel into neat slices.
  2. Begin working the butter with your hand until it has a cream-like consistency.
  3. Stir the sugar into the butter.
  4. Mix the whisked egg whites (whipped to a solid froth) with the butter and sugar mixture.
  5. Beat the egg yolks well for 10 minutes.
  6. Add the beaten egg yolks to the flour, nutmegs, mace, and cloves.
  7. Continue beating the whole mixture together for at least 1/2 hour, or longer, until ready for the oven.
  8. Lightly mix in the currants, almonds, and candied peel with the wine and brandy.
  9. Line a hoop with buttered paper and fill it with the mixture.
  10. Bake the cake in a tolerably quick oven, ensuring not to burn it. Cover the top with a sheet of paper if necessary to prevent burning.
  11. To check for doneness, plunge a clean knife into the middle of the cake. If the blade comes out clean and not sticky, the cake is sufficiently baked.
  12. Once baked, the cakes are usually spread with a thick layer of almond icing, followed by a layer of sugar icing, and then ornamented.
  13. For baking a large cake, pay close attention to the oven heat; it should be a good soaking heat, not too fierce.
Original Text
RICH BRIDE OR CHRISTENING CAKE. 1753. INGREDIENTS.—5 lbs. of the finest flour, 3 lbs. of fresh butter, 5 lbs. of currants, 2 lbs. of sifted loaf sugar, 2 nutmegs, 1/4 oz. of mace, half 1/4 oz. of cloves, 16 eggs, 1 lb. of sweet almonds, 1/2 lb. of candied citron, 1/2 lb. each of candied orange and lemon peel, 1 gill of wine, 1 gill of brandy. Mode.—Let the flour be as fine as possible, and well dried and sifted; the currants washed, picked, and dried before the fire; the sugar well pounded and sifted; the nutmegs grated, the spices pounded; the eggs thoroughly whisked, whites and yolks separately; the almonds pounded with a little orange-flower water, and the candied peel cut in neat slices. When all these ingredients are prepared, mix them in the following manner. Begin working the butter with the hand till it becomes of a cream-like consistency; stir in the sugar, and when the whites of the eggs are whisked to a solid froth, mix them with the butter and sugar; next, well beat up the yolks for 10 minutes, and, adding them to the flour, nutmegs, mace, and cloves, continue beating the whole together for 1/2 hour or longer, till wanted for the oven. Then mix in lightly the currants, almonds, and candied peel with the wine and brandy; and having lined a hoop with buttered paper, fill it with the mixture, and bake the cake in a tolerably quick oven, taking care, however, not to burn it: to prevent this, the top of it may be covered with a sheet of paper. To ascertain whether the cake is done, plunge a clean knife into the middle of it, withdraw it directly, and if the blade is not sticky, and looks bright, the cake is sufficiently baked. These cakes are usually spread with a thick layer of almond icing, and over that another layer of sugar icing, and afterwards ornamented. In baking a large cake like this, great attention must be paid to the heat of the oven; it should not be too fierce, but have a good soaking heat. Time.—5 to 6 hours. Average cost, 2s. per lb.
Notes
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