Old English Spice Cake with Currant Hard Sauce
Here I adapted an 18th century English spice cake recipe which also makes nice cupcakes.
Yield
12 servingsPrep
20 minCook
75 minReady
90 minIngredients
| Amount | Measure | Ingredient | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cake | |||
| 1 | cup |
butter, unsalted
|
|
| 2 | cups |
sugar
|
|
| 4 | large |
eggs
|
|
| ¾ | cup |
milk
|
|
| 3 | cups |
unbleached all-purpose flour
|
|
| ¼ | cup |
water
hot |
|
| 2 | teaspoons |
baking powder
|
|
| ½ | teaspoon |
saffron threads
|
*
|
| ½ | teaspoon |
vanilla extract
|
|
| 2 | teaspoons |
caraway seeds
|
|
|
lemon zest
|
*
|
||
|
orange zest
|
*
|
||
| ½ | teaspoon |
cinnamon
ground |
|
| ½ | teaspoon |
cloves
|
|
| ½ | teaspoon |
mace
|
|
| ½ | teaspoon |
nutmeg
|
|
| Currant hard sauce | |||
| ½ | cup |
butter
unsalted |
|
| ¼ | pound |
cream cheese
|
|
| ¾ | cup |
powdered sugar
|
|
| 2 | tablespoons |
lemon juice
|
|
| ½ | teaspoon |
saffron threads
|
*
|
| 1 | teaspoon |
vanilla extract
|
|
| ¼ | cup |
raisins, seedless
yellow |
|
| ¼ | cup |
currants
|
|
Ingredients
| Amount | Measure | Ingredient | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cake | |||
| 237 | ml |
butter, unsalted
|
|
| 473 | ml |
sugar
|
|
| 4 | large |
eggs
|
|
| 177 | ml |
milk
|
|
| 7.1E+2 | ml |
unbleached all-purpose flour
|
|
| 59 | ml |
water
hot |
|
| 1E+1 | ml |
baking powder
|
|
| 2.5 | ml |
saffron threads
|
*
|
| 2.5 | ml |
vanilla extract
|
|
| 1E+1 | ml |
caraway seeds
|
|
| 1 | each |
lemon zest
|
*
|
| 1 | each |
orange zest
|
*
|
| 2.5 | ml |
cinnamon
ground |
|
| 2.5 | ml |
cloves
|
|
| 2.5 | ml |
mace
|
|
| 2.5 | ml |
nutmeg
|
|
| Currant hard sauce | |||
| 118 | ml |
butter
unsalted |
|
| 113.4 | g |
cream cheese
|
|
| 177 | ml |
powdered sugar
|
|
| 3E+1 | ml |
lemon juice
|
|
| 2.5 | ml |
saffron threads
|
*
|
| 5 | ml |
vanilla extract
|
|
| 59 | ml |
raisins, seedless
yellow |
|
| 59 | ml |
currants
|
|
Directions
Powder saffron, work into butter.
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, one at a time.
Add vanilla and caraway.
Sift together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to batter alternately with milk.
Mix in zest. Pour into greased, floured sheet cake or cupcake pan.
Preheat oven and bake at 350℉ (180℃) (175C) for about 1¼ hrs.
Check after 1 hour. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then on rack. Serve with dollop of Currant Hard Sauce.
CURRANT HARD SAUCE:
Powder saffron, work into chilled cream cheese. Cream together butter and cheese. Beat until light and fluffy. Mix in remaining ingredients and chill. Serve at room temperature.
