Thursday, July 21, 2011

Fruit Cakes: Not just for Christmas anymore (or at least they weren't in 1891)

In this, the season of weddings, what better recipe to share than one for wedding cake?
(And don't forget the Harries' Baking Powder! The advertisement for Harries' was found on the page facing recipe below).




Do any of you bakers out there have any idea how many people a recipe like this would feed?

Wedding Fruit Cake
Six pounds of raisins, six pounds of currants, one pound of chopped fine blanched almonds, three pounds of citron, orange and lemon peel, three pounds of dark-brown sugar, two and a quarter pounds of butter, three pounds of sifted flour, one and a half ounces of mace, three teaspoonfuls of rose water, three wine-glassfuls of brandy, three of wine, and thirty fresh eggs, beaten very light.  Mix these ingredients well together and take the cake to the bakery, making the engagement beforehand to have it baked.

-from Palatable Dishes: A Practical Guide to Good Living, arranged and compiled by Sarah J. Cutter, 1891.

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