1 lb raisins, minced
1 lb prunes, pitted, minced
1 lb currants, dried, minced
1 lb cherries, glaced, minced
6 oz lemon peel, glaced, minced
6 oz orange peel, glaced, minced
3/4 liter passover wine (manischewitz is good, )
3/4 liter rum, dark
2 lb sugar, dark brown
4 1/4 cup flour, cake
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg, grated
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cup butter, sweet, softened
10 large egg
1 tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup almond paste, if desired
ICING
2 lb sugar, confectioners, sifted
6 large egg white, room temp
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 drages, for decoration
Directions
In a large bowl, mix all the fruits thoroughly with the wine and the
rum; let the fruit macerate, covered, at room temperature for at
least two weeks. In a heavy skillet combine one pound of the brown
sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring
until the sugar is dissolved, and gently boil the syrup, swirling the
skillet occasionally, for a few minutes, or until it is reduced to 1
3/4 cups. Let the syrup cool; reserve. Sift the flour, baking powder,
cinnamon and nutmeg together into a bowl. In the large bowl of an
electric mixer cream together the remaining brown sugar and the
butter until it is fluffy; then beat in the eggs, one at a time,
beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, the flour
mixture, and 1 1/3 cups of the burnt sugar syrup, reserving the
remaining syrup for another use. In another large bowl, combine well
the flour mixture and the fruit mixture and divide the batter between
two buttered and floured 10" springform pans. Bake the cakes in the
middle of a preheated 350 F. oven for two hours, or until a toothpick
inserted in the centers comes out with some crumbs adhering to it.
(The centers of these cakes will be quite moist.) Let the cakes cool
in the pans on a rack, remove the sides and bottoms of the pans, and
wrap the cakes in foil or wax paper. Let the cakes stand at room
temperature for a week. Roll out half the almond paste between sheets
of plastic wrap to form a 10" round and remove the top sheet of
plastic wrap. Fit the almond paste layer over one cake, trimming the
edge if necessary, and remove the other sheet of plastic wrap. Roll
out and fit the remaining almond paste onto the remaining cake in the
same manner. ICING: Using an electric mixer, beat 4 cups of the
confectioners' sugar with the egg whites and lemon juice until the
mixture will hold a soft peak. Beat in the remaining sugar, and beat
the icing until it will hold a stiff peak. Transfer two cups of the
icing to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip, spread the
remaining icing on the tops and sides of the cakes with a long metal
spatula, and pipe the icing in the pastry bag decoratively onto the
cakes. Arrange the drages on the cakes. Makes two cakes.
Servings: 24 servings
Black Cake Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cake; Dessert
The History of Recipes
Historians have traced the existence of recipes far back into distant history, at least as far back as early Egypt, and maybe even further. Interesting though that is, sadly, these early cook books were just very simple hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for preparing food.
Progressing into The time of the romans 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a collection of documents detailing recipes cooked by wealthy roman citizens. He recounts how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into starters, main meal and dessert, a very modern way of dining. He also tells us how the Roman chefs used many aromatic flavors, including some familiar names for example thyme, mint and asafoetida. Over the following few centuries, the powerful and wealthy competed to offer the most extravagent meals, and because of this chefs and their recipes were greatly in demand. However, it was during the 19th century that haute cuisine and recipe books became popular. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, devoted their lives to collating, trying out, and writing down recipes of the day. By the arrival of the twentieth century, cook books were in great demand, mostly as a result of higher levels of literacy, leisure time and being a little richer. |
We hope you enjoy this Black Cake recipe.
