19th Century Spice Cake

[donna]

Spice cakes were very popular during 19th century. They were indispensable at all celebrations from birth to weddings.

Recipe of a Spice Cake from 19th Century (recreated)

2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup bacon drippings
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup cold water

Mix all ingredients together, thoroughly. Bake in a greased and floured tube pan at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle glaze over cooled cake.

 

[MRB1863]

Spice Cake is one of my favorites! MrsMRB sometimes makes it with Peanut Butter Icing and sometimes a Cream Cheese icing! YUM!

 

[donna]

Thought bump this thread, as Spice Cake been mentioned.

 

[Deleted User CS]

Donna. Again another winner of a recipe. Spice cakes are very delicious and quite moist. I love them with hot chocolate or iced tea with lemon. I never heard of putting bacon drippings in a cake batter before. Nevertheless, anything with bacon drippings has to be good. An old flat tire would taste good with bacon drippings on it. Thanks for sharing. David.

 

[donna]

Thought bump this cake recipe. Spice cake was my Dad's favorite. Today, Feb. 17 would have been his birthday. Know he would have loved this cake.

 

[donna]

One of my Dad's favorite cakes. His Mom, my Granny, made a wonderful one.

Bumping some favorite cakes as today, Dec. 27th is my birthday. Any of these cakes be a winner.

 

[donna]

Today, Feb. 17, 2021 would have been my Dad's 100th birthday. Spice cake was his favorite. So bumping this recipe for my Dad. He is always missed but know he and my Mom together to celebrate.

 

[Fairfield]

Clearly your father was a man of discernment! Spice cake was one of my father's favorites too. Ordinarily he didn't much care for baked goods that contained a lot of spice (he said that spice was a preservative, not a comestible)--but he made this one exception. He liked it with a 7-minute frosting but I like it better with a coffee frosting or a maple frosting. You're right: it's a mighty nice cake!

 

[gggfJulius]

Spice cakes were very popular during 19th century. They were indispensable at all celebrations from birth to weddings.

Recipe of a Spice Cake from 19th Century (recreated)

2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup bacon drippings
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup cold water

Mix all ingredients together, thoroughly. Bake in a greased and floured tube pan at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle glaze over cooled cake.

This looks wonderful, but really, how much bacon needs to be cooked to produce 1 cup of drippings?? Not that any bacon would go to waste!

 

[donna]

According to cooksinfo.com takes 4 lbs of bacon grease to make cup. My Mom and my Granny always kept bacon grease so have for cooking.

 

[JOHN42768]

Spice Cakes Rule

 

[Mrs. V]

According to cooksinfo.com takes 4 lbs of bacon grease to make cup. My Mom and my Granny always kept bacon grease so have for cooking.

I have some in my fridge at the moment. Still have that goose grease too!

 

[Carol]

According to cooksinfo.com takes 4 lbs of bacon grease to make cup. My Mom and my Granny always kept bacon grease so have for cooking.

Both Grandmas and Great Grandma both did this. I can hear one them saying, If you don't have bacon grease, you don't have nothing worth cooking a meal with.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Both Grandmas and Great Grandma both did this. I can hear one them saying, If you don't have bacon grease, you don't have nothing worth cooking a meal with.

The exact same thing was said by both of my Grandmothers, my Mom and all of my Aunts . . . on both sides of the family.

 

[Shalom Hobbitess]

Huh. Seems I forgot to mention that I made this a good while back. A very different flavor profile from the Betty Crocker buttermilk spice cake recipe I was raised on! The Betty Crocker one was my father's birthday cake every year, served with piles of whipping cream on it. Which I think is what we had with this one, but if I make it again I believe I'll make some kind of sauce for it -- whipping cream and the faint bacon flavor did not blend well.

Much more aware of the bacon flavor in this than I ever have been in the cornbread I make with bacon grease, maybe because it's so unexpected.

 

[donna]

Bumping this recipe for Father's Day. This one of my Dad's favorite cakes.

Happy Father's Day to all dad's on the forum.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Thanks for the bump !

I'll only say ... don't forget to use REAL bacon grease.