Recipe - Rich Cake

1 pound Currants
One half pound Blanched almonds
2 tablespoon Orange flower water (find
in gourmet shops)
2 tablespoon Dry sherry (for almonds)
3 Egg yolks
4 Whole eggs
3 cup Powdered sugar (Three fourths lb)
1 One half pound Butter; room temperature
1 pn Each: mach; cinnamon,
cloves, nutmeg & ginger
One fourth cup Dry sherry
One fourth cup Brandy
1 pound Allpurpose flour
1 cup Candied orange & lemon peel;
minced to your liking

The name of this recipe is correct. This is a wonderful cake and it is
certainly rich, both in flavor and in cost. I first tasted it at Colonial
Williamsburg, where the cooks actually work in the kitchen of the old
Governor's Palace. They use only those pieces of equipment that were
typical of the area in the late 1700s and cookbooks that barely explain the
dish. You must go there and watch their efforts. You might even get a slice
of this cake!

I have cut the recipe down just a bit. The original writer of the recipe,
Mrs. Hannah Glasse, specified 4 pounds of flour, 6 pounds of butter, and so
on. You could feed an entire elementary school with her recipe.

Soak the currants in hot water for 15 minutes. Drain well.

Grind the almonds along with the orange flower water and the 2
tablespoons of sherry in a mediumsize food processor until fine. Set
aside.

Beat the 3 yolks and the 4 whole eggs together.

Cream the sugar and butter together. Stir in the almonds and add the
eggs. Beat until white and thick and then add the spices, the One fourth cup
sherry, and brandy. Stir in the flour. Finally, mix in the soaked and
drained currants along with the citrus peel.

Bake in two 10inch round turban cake molds or two 12inch ring molds.
Grease them well or spray with Pam.

Bake in a preheated 350ø oven for 70 minutes, or until a table knife
stuck into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

From The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American. Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe
Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.