Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1892 — CHRISTMAS CAKES [ARTICLE]

CHRISTMAS CAKES

. • "*’**ia^ifc-**^* X Harper’s Bazar. Many rich cakes improte with age, and it has always been the custom with the best Southern housekeepers to make their Christmas cakes several weeks in advance of the holidays. The following recipes are among the best used: Christmas Plum Cake.—Cream one pound of butter and one pound of sugar together; add the beaten yolks of eighteen eggs, one gill of molasses, one pound of sifted flour, six tablespoonfuls of coarse flour, and one wineglass of brandy; beat all together for five minutes. Add three pounds of seeded raisins, one pound of dried currants, half a pound each of sliced citron and almonds, well floured, two ounces of grated cocoanut. one tablespoonful each of ground allspice, mace and cloves, and two grated nutmegs; lastly add the beaten whites of the eggs. Mix well, pour in one large or two smaller cake moulds, and bake in a moderate oven for six hours. Ornament when cold with fancy sugar plums and a wreath of holly. Christmas Black Cake. —Cream three pounds of brown sugar and three pounds of butter together; sift in three pounds Of flour; beat twentyeight eggs separately, and add, with five pounds of seaded raisins, four pounds of dried currants, one pound of sliced citron, one ounce each of cinnamon and nutmeg, half an ounce of mace, cloves and allspice, with a glass of blackberry wine. Mix and beat well. Turn into a very large cake mould and bake for six hours. This cake will keep for years. Christmas Fruit Cake (a Creole recipe). —Take a pound of butter, a pound of powdered sugar, fifteen eggs, a pound of sifted flour, a pound and a half of raisins, half a pound of currants, half a pound of citron, half a pound each of candied cherries, orange and lemon peel, one grated nutmeg, half a tablespoonful each of ground cinnamon and mace; a teaspoonful each of ground cloves and ginger, two tablespoonfuls of rum, and the juice of two lemons. Seed the raishis, wash and dry the currants, slice 'the citron, orange and lemon peel thin; beat the hatter to a cream; add the sugar; beat the eggs until very light, and add them to the out ter and sugar; then slowly sift in the flour. Mix all the fruit together and flour well. Mix the spices in the batter; add the fruit; mix thoroughly; add the rum and lemon juice: beat again. Line a large cake pan with greased paper, turn in the batter, and bake in a very slow over for four hours. When done remove carefully from the pan; let cool. Ice and ornament the top with candied cherries, strawberries, on other small candied fruit. New Year’s Cake. —Cream one and a half pounds of butter and one and a half pounds of powdered sugar; beat well together. Beat fifteen eggs, and add, with a pound and a half of sifted flour ana three teaspoonfuls of baking powder; grate two lemons in half a teacup of molasses and add the butter, with two pounds of finely chopped almonds, two pounds of seeded raisins, and one pound of sliced citron. Turn in a caxe mould, and bake two hours in a moderate oven. Holiday Cake.—Blanch three quarters of a pound of shelled almonds, and -slice in halves; chop half a pound of citron; mix them together and roll in sifted flour; add to six well beaten eggs and three quarters of a pound of sugar; mix well, and sift in a pound of flour. Butter long shallow cake pans, put the batter in them, and bake in a quick oven. When done, take out, roll in sugar and finely pounded almonds. Put away in a tight tin box, and these cakes will ke?p for a year. White Fruit Cake—Cream one pound of butter and one pound of 1 powdered sugar together; add the beaten yolks of sixteen eggs, and a pound of sifted flour with two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Slice three pounds of citron, blanch a pound of almonds, and grate one oocoanut; add to the batter, with the stiffly beaten white of the eggs. Line a cake pan with greased paper, turn ;in the mixture, and set in a moder- ' ate oven. Bake slowly for two hours; | when cold slice with cocoanut frosting. If kept in a closetin box, this cake will keep two or three weeks.