To Make a Pretty Cake is a traditional British recipe, based on Hannah Glasse's recipe of 1747, for a classic rich spiced fruit cake made from a butter and flour base bound with eggs and leavened with yeast that's flavoured with sack and cooked in a cake tin. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: To Make a Pretty Cake.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Hannah Glasse's 1747 volume The Aft of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, the classic Georgian cookbook.
To make a pretty cake.
Take five pounds of flour well dried, one pound of ſugar, half an ounce of mace, as much nutmeg, beat your ſpice very fine, mix the ſugar and ſpice in the flour, take twenty-two eggs, leave out ſix whites, beat them, put a pint of ale-yeaſt and the eggs in the flour, take two pounds and a half of freſh butter, a pint and a half of cream ; ſet the cream and butter over the fire, till the butter is melted, let it ſtand till it is blood-warm, before you put it into the flour ſet it an hour by the fire to riſe, then put in ſeven pounds of currants, which muſt be plumped in half a pint of brandy, and three quarters of a pound of candied peels. It muſt be an hour and a quarter in the oven. You muſt put two pounds of chopped raiſins in the flour, and a quarter of a pint of ſack. When you put the currants in, bake it in a hoop.
Combine the currants and brandy in a bowl and set aside to plump up.
Combine the flour, sugar, mace and nutmeg in a separate bowl. Beat the eggs then add to the flour mix along with the yeast. Work together then set aside.
Combine the cream and butter in a pan. Heat until the butter melts then take off the heat and allow to cool to lukewarm before working into the flour. Cover the bowl and set aside in a warm place for 60 minutes to rise.
After this time, knock the dough back then drain the currants and work them in along with the mixed peel, raisins and sack. Beat well then turn the batter into a greased and floured springform cake tin.
Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 170°C cover with a sheet of baking parchment and bake for about 70 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown on top. If the top of the cake is beginning to burn, turn down the oven temperature.
Allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
