18th Century Wedding Cake
Fruitcake with candied peel and dried currants with two kinds of icing
City/Region: England
Time Period: 1769
For a long time, wedding cakes were fruitcakes with a white icing. White not only symbolized purity, but was also a sign of wealth. Pure white sugar was very expensive, and so the whiter the icing, the more expensive the cake.
The icing on this cake has to be just for show because it dries down to be rock hard. The main flavor in the cake comes from the currants, though the citrus and spice comes through as well. I thought it would be more Christmassy, but the spice flavor isn’t strong enough for that, which is nice because then you have a wedding cake and not a Christmas cake. The texture is moist, but also crumbly, so it’s kind of a combination of moist and dry.
This wasn’t the cake that I had on my wedding day, and I’d admittedly be rather disappointed if I went to a wedding and was served this, but it’s still lovely.
“To make a Bride Cake
Take four pounds of fine flour well dried, four pounds of fresh butter, two pounds of loaf sugar, pound and sift fine a quarter of an ounce of mace and the same of nutmegs, to every pound of flour put eight eggs, wash four pounds of currants, pick them well, and dry them before the fire, blanch a pound of sweet almonds, and cut them lengthways very thin, a pound of citron, one pound of candied orange, the same of candied lemon, half a pint of brandy. First work the butter with your hand to a cream, then beat in your sugar a quarter of an hour, beat the whites of your eggs to a very strong froth, mix them with your sugar and butter, beat your yolks half an hour at least, and mix them with your cake, then put in your flour, mace, and nutmeg, keep beating it well till your oven is ready, put in your brandy, and beat your currants and almonds lightly in, tie three sheets of paper round the bottom of your hoop to keep it from running out, rub it well with butter, put in your cake, and lay your sweetmeats in three lays, with cake betwixt every lay, after it is risen and coloured, cover it with paper before your oven is stopped up; it will take three hours baking.
To make Almond-Icing for the Bride Cake.
Beat the whites of three eggs to a strong froth, beat a pound of Jordan almonds very fine with rose-water, mix your almonds with the eggs lightly together, a pound of common loaf sugar beat fine and put in by degrees; when your cake is enough, take it out, and lay your icing on, then put it in to brown.
To make Sugar Icing for the Bride Cake.
Beat two pounds of double refined sugar, with two ounces of fine starch, sift it through a gauze sieve, then beat the whites of five eggs with a knife upon a pewter dish half an hour; beat in your sugar a little at a time, or it will make the eggs fall, and will not be so good a colour, when you have put in all your sugar, beat it half an hour longer, then lay it on your almond iceing, and spread it even with a knife; if it be put on as soon as the cake comes out of the oven it will be hard by the time the cake is cold.”
Ingredients:
Cake
- 4 cups (450 g) flour
- 1 teaspoon ground mace*
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (450 g) unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cup (225 g) light brown sugar
- 6 large eggs, separated
- 3 1/2 cups (450 g) zante currants
- 1 cup (130 g) blanched almond slivers
- 1/2 cup (115 g) citron
- 1/2 cup (115 g) candied orange peel*
- 1/2 cup (115 g) candied lemon peel
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) brandy
Almond Icing
- 1 cup (225 g) ground almonds or almond flour
- 1 cup (225 g) castor sugar
- 1 tablespoon rose water
- 2 egg whites
Sugar Icing
- 3 egg whites
- Scant 4 1/2 cups (500 g) confectioners sugar*
*See notes below.
Instructions:
- For the cake: Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment. Tie a strip of parchment around the outside of the pan to mimic the effect of the wooden form the cake would have been baked in.
- Sift the flour into a bowl. Whisk in the mace, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the brown sugar and cream together until nice and fluffy.
- In another bowl, beat the egg yolks until they’re a pale yellow.
- In yet another bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Be sure to clean the beaters well before whipping the egg whites. A little bit of yolk can prevent them from whipping fully.
- Add the yolks a little at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing until incorporated. Mix in the brandy. All of the rise in this cake comes from the air trapped inside the eggs, so we’re going to gently mix and fold in from here on out so we don’t knock all that air out and have a dense cake.
- Gently mix in the flour and spice mixture a little at a time. Mix until just incorporated.
- Gently fold in the egg whites until there are no streaks.
- Gently mix in the almonds and currants.
- Mix all of the candied peel together.
- Spoon 1/4 of the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle 1/3 of the candied peel mix on top. Repeat with the remaining batter and peel until you have 4 layers of batter and 3 layers of peel.
- Bake for 2 hours or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan and cool completely. When it’s cool, transfer it to a lined baking sheet.
- For the almond icing: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Whisk together the almonds and sugar. Whisk in the rose water.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg white to stiff peaks.
- Slowly beat the almond mixture into the egg whites until incorporated. It should form a sort of paste, but if it doesn’t hold together, beat another half an egg white and add it in.
- Turn the almond icing out onto a piece of parchment. Cover it with another piece of parchment and roll it out into a disk that’s large enough to cover the top of the cake. Cut the icing into a round the size of the top of the cake and place it on top of the cake.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the top starts to brown. Keep a close eye on it because it will go from lightly browned to burnt in seconds.
- Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool.
- For the sugar icing: Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. While continuously beating on high, very slowly add the sugar, about a tablespoon at a time. If you add the sugar too quickly, you end up with more of a liquidy glaze, and we want a fluffy marshmallow whip consistency.
- Spread the top and sides of the cake generously with the sugar icing.
- Slice and serve it forth on the special day.
Notes
- Mace comes from the outside of a nutmeg seed and tastes similar to nutmeg with notes of cinnamon and black pepper. It's used in a lot of historical recipes and is definitely worth getting.
- Use confectioners sugar that has cornstarch in it. If yours doesn’t, mix in 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
- Link to mace: https://amzn.to/3SMkVJ5
- Link to candied orange peel: https://amzn.to/3dCL7jn
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