2 1/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp each baking powder
1 and soda
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup diced pitted dates
1 cup whole fresh cranberries
2 eggs, well beaten
3/4 cup salad oil
1 cup each sugar and orange juice
Directions
Source: Sunset Magazine, December 1961
Prepared somewhat like Baba au Rhum, this cake is soaked in syrup.
Sift the flour, measure and sift into a bowl with the sugar, salt,
baking powder, and soda. Stir in the nuts, dates, cranberries, and
orange peel. Combine the eggs, buttermilk, and salad oil; stir into
flour mixture until well blended. Pour into a well-greased 10- inch
tube pan; bake in a moderate oven (350ø) for 1 hour. Let stand about
15 minutes. Remove cake from pan and place on a rack over a pan. Heat
the sugar with orange juice until dissolved; pour over cake, catching
several times. Set cake in a deep dish, and pour over remaining
drippings.
Servings: 6 servings
Orange & Cranberry Cake Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cake; Cranberry; Dessert; Fruit
The History of Recipes
Experts have proved the existance of recipes back into the distant past, at least as far as the ancient Egyptians, and maybe even further. Interesting though that maybe, these, ancient cook books were just very simple hieroglyphic recipes for food preparation.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe in existence, according to historians is a collection of stone tablets in the Sumerian language describing the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel blissful. During the time of the Roman Empire a man called Apicius assembled some documents describing recipes enjoyed by the Romans. In his publication, Apicius recounts how the meals were divided into hors d`oeuvre, entrees and afters, something that is very familiar to us today. This early Roman chef informs us how the Romans made use of many different spices, including some that we all recognise for example bay, rue and dill. As our culinary historical trip moves on a few more years there are two interesting books which date from the 1300s : one book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary called `Curye on Inglish`. Although the titles sound familiar, these have no connection with the curry that appears on menues today, but rather accounts of the types of meals prepared by the cooks of the upper classes of the time. In the fifteenth century, the Crusaders brought back many spices and herbs from Arab cooking, including spices such as parsley, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new herbs and spices caused an outbreak in manuscripts on food, some of which still exist in private cookery archives. Over the following few hundred years, the powerful families of Europe competed with each other to serve the most exotic banquets, and as a consequence, chefs and their collection of recipes were much in demand. Even so, it wasn`t until the 1800s that formal cookery and recipe publications really came of age. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated years of their lives to collating, testing, and writing down recipes of the day. By the arrival of the 20th century, recipe publications were in high demand, mostly due to more people being able to read, increased leisure time and having more money. |
We hope you enjoy this Orange & Cranberry Cake recipe.
