Sweet Baked Goods Chocolate Cake

chocolate cake

(from The Lady's Receipt-book: A Useful Companion for Large Or Small Families, by Eliza Leslie, 1847)

Ingredients:

3 oz. best chocolate, or prepared cocoa​

3/4 lb. butter​

1 lb. powdered loaf sugar​

1 tsp. cinnamon​

10 eggs separated into whites and yolks​

cake icing​

Instructions:

Scrape down three ounces of the best and purest chocolate, or prepared cocoa. Cut up, into a deep pan, three-quarters of a pound of fresh butter; add to it a pound of powered loaf-sugar; and stir the butter and sugar together till very light and white. Have ready fourteen ounces (two ounces less than a pound) of sifted flour; a powered nutmeg; a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon-mixed together. Beat the whites of ten eggs till they stand alone; then the yolk till they are very thick and smooth. Then mix the yolks and whites gradually together, beating very hard when they are all mixed. Add the eggs, by degrees, to the beaten butter and sugar, in turn with the flour and the scraped chocolate,-- a little at a time of each; also the spice. Stir the whole very hard. Put the mixture into a buttered tin pan with straight sides, and bake it at least four hours. If nothing is to be baked afterwards, let it remain in till the oven becomes cool. When cold, ice it.​

Photo by Heinhurd - CC-3.0​

In 1847 Eliza Leslie published her book, "The Lady's Receipt-book". It had her famous chocolate cake. Mrs. Leslie's recipe uses grated chocolate which gives the cake an attractive speckled look. She also included nutmeg and powered cinnamon. These gave cake a spiciness and enhanced the chocolate flavor.

 

[donna]

By the late 19th century chocolate cakes were included in many cookbooks. Chocolate was a favorite and included recipes for gooey iced chocolate layer cakes, chocolate brownies, and chocolate marble cakes. By the 20th century chocolate cakes became most prominent in the hierarchy of cake dominance.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

In 1847 Eliza Leslie published her book, "The Lady's Receipt". It had her famous chocolate cake. Mrs. Leslie's recipe uses grated chocolate which gives the cake an attractive speckled look. She also included nutmeg and powered cinnamon. These gave cake a spiciness and enhanced the chocolate flavor.

Her recipe:
"Scrape down three ounces of the best and purest chocolate, or prepared cocoa. Cut up, into a deep pan, three-quarters of a pound of fresh butter; add to it a pound of powered loaf-sugar; and stir the butter and sugar together till very light and white. Have ready fourteen ounces (two ounces less than a pound) of sifted flour; a powered nutmeg; a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon-mixed together. Beat the whites of ten eggs till they stand alone; then the yolk till they are very thick and smooth. Then mix the yolks and whites gradually together, beating very hard when they are all mixed. Add the eggs, by degrees, to the beaten butter and sugar, in turn with the flour and the scraped chocolate,-- a little at a time of each; also the spice. Stir the whole very hard. Put the mixture into a buttered tin pan with straight sides, and bake it at least four hours. If nothing is to be baked afterwards, let it remain in till the oven becomes cool. When cold, ice it."

Just thinking about all the arm exercise that went into making that cake back in the day makes my arm ache! It's been a long, long time since l saw a woman cream butter and sugar by hand, or beat ten egg whites til they are stiff.

 

[Fairfield]

Just thinking about all the arm exercise that went into making that cake back in the day makes my arm ache! It's been a long, long time since l saw a woman cream butter and sugar by hand, or beat ten egg whites til they are stiff.

Though I always cream butter and sugar manually but beating 10 whites till stiff takes more muscles than I have! I'm going to cheat and bring out the mixer.

When I feel the weight old kitchen implements at the museum where I docent, I believe that those women must have had muscles on their muscles! It's surprising that women didn't get the vote earlier: who would have the nerve to stand up to someone who could wield that kind of weight (and for hours on end)?

 

[donna]

Another Chocolate Cake for its day, Jan. 28th.

 

[donna]

I wonder if title should include Eliza Leslie to distinguish this recipe from other Chocolate cake.