Lemon Snaps, 1881
Ingredients
1 ⅛ cup sugar
⅔ cup butter
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon hot water
1 ⅛ cup flour
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Instructions
"A large cup sugar, two-thirds cup butter, half tea-spoon soda dissolved in two tea-spoons hot water, flour enough to roll thin; flavor with lemon"
Notes
MODERN BAKING NOTES: Roll the dough thin, like pie crust--about ⅛ inch. Bake on un-greased tins, at 420°, until golden brown around the edges. 5-6 minutes should do it!
Composition Cake (1892)
Ingredients
5 cups flour
2 cups butter
3 cups sugar
one cup milk
5 eggs
1 teaspoon soda
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup dried fruit raisins, currants, or citron
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
Instructions
"Five cups of flour, two cups of butter, three of sugar, one of milk, five eggs, one teaspoon of soda; two of cream of tartar, fruit as you please, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove to taste."
Notes
MODERN BAKING NOTES:
BAKING TEMPERATURE: 1800's cake recipes rarely specify temperature, and when they do, it tends vary from "moderate" to "medium quick". I went with a moderate 350°F for this recipe, and the result was lovely. You'll know the cake is done when it's golden brown, the center is set, and a toothpick (or broom straw if you'd like to be authentic) comes out clean. Baked in loaf pans at that temperature, my cake took exactly 45 minutes to bake.
MIXING THE BATTER:I found it worked very well to beat the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and milk, and finally the dry ingredients, which I'd already sifted together. Fold in the fruit after the batter is well mixed.
FRUIT:Cake in the 1800's very often included dried fruit. This was SO common, that many recipes assume you have your own preference for the amount and type of fruit you like in your cake, and that this could simply go without saying. Think, "season to taste." The most common dried fruits used in cake were raisins, dried currants, and citron.
SPICES: I used 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon cloves. I thought this was pretty nearly perfection, but if you really love a spicy cake, you could bump those amounts up even more.
WHAT PAN TO USE: Composition cake seems to have generally been made fairly deep, often in loaf pans. (As opposed to a thin cake like the gingerbread recipe we made last week). Two loaf pans works very well for this recipe. Grease those pans well.
Cracknels
(1764)
Ingredients
1 ½ c flour
1 c sugar
4 Tbsp. butter
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. caraway seeds
Instructions
Note: It is important that this dough be worked with your hands. Do not try to mix it with a spoon, mixer or food processor.
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees and line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.
Combine flour, sugar and caraway seeds in a bowl until well mixed.
Cut in butter. Beat egg slightly and add to flour, sugar and butter mixture.
Work the dough with your hands until the mixture holds together. If you find that the heat of your hands is not bringing the mixture together, you can beat one more egg and add a little bit at a time and work until dough holds together. This mixture will be stiff, so it is important not to add any more moisture than necessary.
Taking a small portion of dough at a time, roll out to 1/8” thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out dough with a 2 ¼ inch biscuit cutter and place on parchment lined cookie sheet ½-1” apart. Dough does not spread during baking.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cookies will be soft to the touch.
Allow to cool slightly on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely. As the cookies cool they will become hard and crisp.
Yield: using a 2 ¼” cookie cutter, about 7 dozen cookies.
