This is a modern interpretation of a recipe in Eliza Leslie's Seventy-Five Recipes for Pastry, Cakes and Sweetmeats. By a Lady of Philadelphia, published in 1828.
ingredients
makes 28 cup cakes
100 g (4 oz) butter
100 g (4 oz) light muscarado sugar
175 ml (6 fl oz) molasses or treacle and syrup, mixed
200 g (7 oz) plain flour
5 g (1 tsp) bicarbonate of soda
2.5 g (1/2 tsp) ground allspice
5 g (1 tsp) ground cloves
10 g (2 tsp) ground ginger
1 egg
1 egg yolk
60 ml (4 tbsp) milk
method
1. Gently heat the butter, sugar and molasses in a pan until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved. (Do not boil or the cakes will be hard.) Draw off the heat to cool.
2. Sift together two or three times, the flour, bicarbonate, allspice, cloves and ginger, finally into a large bowl. Make a well in the middle.
3. Whisk the egg and egg yolk with about half the milk and pour the mixture into the flour with the cooled syrup. Beat to a smooth batter, adding more milk if necessary.
4. Use waxed paper cases and fill each no more than half full with the mixture, which rises a lot during baking.
5. Bake at 170‚°C (325‚°F) Gas 3 for 30 minutes, until well risen.
6. The cakes should feel slightly soft to the touch. Leave to cool on wire racks.
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