Sweet Baked Goods Seed-Cake

common seed-cake
(from The Book of Household Management, edited by Isabella Beeton, 1861)
1775.

Ingredients:

1/2 quartern of dough​

1/4 lb. of good dripping​

6 oz. of moist sugar​

1/2 oz. of caraway seeds​

1 egg​

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Instructions:

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Mode: If the dough is sent in from the baker's, put it in a basin covered with a cloth, and set it in a warm place to rise. Then with a wooden spoon beat the dripping to a liquid; add it, with the other ingredients, to the dough, and beat it until everything is very thoroughly mixed. Put it into a buttered tin, and bake the cake for rather more than 2 hours.​

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Time. - Rather more than 2 hours. Average cost, 8d.​

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Seasonable at any time.​

a very good seed-cake
(from The Book of Household Management, edited by Isabella Beeton, 1861)
1776.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of butter​

6 eggs​

3/4 lb. of sifted sugar​

pounded mace & grated nutmeg to taste​

1 lb. of flour​

3/4 oz. of caraway seeds​

1 wineglassful of brandy​

Instructions:

Mode: Beat the butter to a cream; dredge in the flour; add the sugar, mace, nutmeg, and caraway seeds, and mix these ingredients well together. Whisk the eggs, stir to them the brandy, and beat the cake again for 10 minutes. Put it into a tin lined with buttered paper, and bake it from 1-1/2 to 2 hours. This cake would be equally nice made with currants, and omitting the caraway seeds.​

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Time. - 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Average cost, 2s. 6d.​

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Seasonable at any time.​

(Pubic Domain image)​

Seed-Cakes, flavored with caraway, were popular fare throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, but faded from glory in the early 1900s. If you don't want to make a cake from scratch, you can just add a tablespoon of caraway seeds to a store-bought sponge or butter cake mix!

 

[Mrs. V]

Wonder how big the wine glass was!! Reminds me of a poppy seed recipe I have. Oh, I really need to make that again, it's been a while..

 

[donna]

Eleanor thanks for adding. It does sound good.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

What would sifted sugar be? Confectionery sugar?

 

[Eleanor Rose]

What would sifted sugar be? Confectionery sugar?ugar absorbs moisture from the air, forming hardened lumps that can affect the texture of your baking projects. Sifting removes these lumps and makes the sugar fluffier by adding air. Any fine mesh can be used for sifting, most commonly a kitchen strainer

Sifted sugar has been sifted through a kitchen strainer. This makes the sugar fluffier by adding air.

 

[lupaglupa]

That, to me, would be a lot of caraway seeds. I might rather skip those. I wonder what other seeds would work

 

[Eleanor Rose]

That, to me, would be a lot of caraway seeds. I might rather skip those. I wonder what other seeds would work

I've seen variations of this recipe that call for caraway or "other flavourful seeds." Dill seeds would likely work.