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
Academics have found proof that recipes existed back into the far past, in fact as far into history as ancient Egypt, and possibly even further than that. Interesting though that maybe, these, early cook books were just simple pictorial instructions for meal preparation.
Interestingly, the most ancient recipe found, according to experts in ancient history are some stone tablets in the Sumerian language which recount the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel wonderful and blissful. Later on, in Roman times 25BC a man called Apicius created a number of documents showing how to cook the recipes cooked by wealthy Romans. In his scrolls, Apicius tells us how the roman meals were split into starters, main course and desserts, something we still use today. This early Roman chef describes how the early Romans used many different spices and herbs, including a few you will know for example basil, fennel and asafoetida. In the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought us a variety of foods and herbs from the East, such as parsley, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new herbs and spices was responsible for an increase in books on cookery, most of which are kept safe in academic collections. By the arrival of the 1900s, cooking publications are greatly in demand mostly as a result of increased literacy, people having more spare time and a general increase in wealth. Like it or not, the introduction of television brings us TV chefs and the recipe books that accompanied them. Which brings us neatly up to date and the internet revolution, permitting everybody to access thousands of recipes like those on this site. |
We hope you enjoy this Black Cake recipe.
