Now, I must admit,
I am down right ignorant of this "Famous Black Cake"
Would you care to enlighten me?
I thank you very kindly!
~Karen
Yes, please! More about the "Famous Black Cake"!!!
Sounds like a spell-binding evening...
Cali
That sounds like a wonderful experience! I always enjoy those types of things. I'm a fan of
'black cake' as well.
We have used a version for the 'family' birthday cake for over fifty years.
What a great adventure!
It's a lot of fermented fruit cooked with molasses. There are many recipes.
Maybe SherriAnne could share her recipe?
I'd be happy to share:
'Perfect Spice Cake' (aka 'Black Cake')
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of black pepper ( I use 1/2 tsp)
1/4 ground allspice
3/4 cup shortening or butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk ( I put 1 tsp vinegar in a cup of whole milk)
Preheat oven to 350
Grease and flour 3 8" round cake pans
Sift flour together with baking powder, baking soda, salt and remaining spices. Cream the shortening or butter until light and fluffy. Work the brown sugar in, a little at at time, then the granulated sugar, stirring until the sugar is incorporated well. Then add the vanilla. Add the eggs to the sugar/shortening mix, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture in , 1/3 at a time. Stir- don't beat it in. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk, stir well, then add more flour and then more milk. Pour the batter into the greased pans, dividing it amongst the three evenly.
Bake 30-35 minutes, until the sides of the cake pull away from the pan. Allow to cool 5 minutes before turning them out to cool completely on racks. Frost with any good boiled frosting of your choice. I use Sea Foam Frosting.
You may add golden and dark raisins. Or you may leave the cake frosted only between the layers and glaze with powdered sugar glaze. Or you can drizzle a bit of rum or cognac over the cake.
Hope you enjoy it.
Yummy sound delicious. I think I'll make it when I get home. It's so much fun to go shopping for ingredients up there because you can find anything you need. Not like down here that there's never everything you want.
Thank you Sherri. and what a tradition in your family to be baking it for so many years.
What was Emily Dickenson's version of the black cake like??
Emily Dickinson soaked a lot of fruits in rum, I believe ( something alcoholic) and used black strap molasses for sweetener. It's really very dark.
