In England Back in the 1700s, most cakes were simply breads sweetened with whatever sweetening was available. Then along came the pound cake. Since most of the population was unable to read, the recipe for pound cake was an easy one to pass on verbally: 1 pound of flour, 1 pound of butter, 1 pound of sugar and 1 pound of eggs.
The first known written recipe for pound cake appeared in the 1740s. One of the earliest, in 1747, appeared in The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy, by Hannah Glasse. It included 12 eggs and a few caraway seeds, was beaten for an hour by hand or with a “great wooden spoon,” and was then baked for an hour in a quick oven. It also added this note, “For Change, you may put in a Pound of Currants cleaned wash’d and pick’d.”
As you can imagine, this created a fairly large cake, and cooks being cooks, the recipe was tweaked as time rolled by, both for size and for taste. A leavening agent was added when those were invented in the 19th century, and cookbooks started to include the ingredients in more precise measurements: 2 cups sugar, at least 6 eggs, 3 1/2 cups flour, and 4 sticks butter, or in smaller measurements. As long as the four main ingredients are added in a 1:1:1:1 ratio, the cake will turn out terrific.
In the 1800s, recipes show the additions of brandy, wine, lemon peel, nutmeg, currants, candied peel, citron, sweet almonds or mace, and a couple substitute confectioner’s sugar for granulated sugar. Modern-day cooks have tweaked it even further with salt, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla or almond extract, sour cream, and/or milk, and we bake it in a low oven for more than an hour.
It makes a dense, moist cake that’s perfect any time. Serve it with coffee or hot cocoa, at breakfast or for a lunch dessert topped with fresh berries and/or cream, put an icing on it and slice it thin for dinner dessert, or just grab a plain slice for a midnight snack. It’ll satisfy your sweet tooth no matter what.
POUND CAKE RECIPES:
Denise Hix, Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee, would like the recipe for a pound cake that included 12 eggs, flour, sugar, milk, salt and butter.
Old-Fashioned Pound Cake Recipe From Texas
Original Pound Cake Recipe
Old-Fashioned Pound Cake Recipe From Wisconsin
SUET PUDDING RECIPE:
Carolyn Zimmerman, Yates Center, Kansas, is looking for a recipe for a suet pudding. It was served with a vinegar sauce.
Several recipes included sauces without vinegar, including this Soft Sauce from Gwen Weaver, Aladdin, Wyoming: 1/2 cup butter, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups boiling water, Juice of 2 lemons or oranges, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg.
Melt butter, blend in flour and sugar. Add boiling water slowly, then juice and nutmeg. Cook in double boiler, stirring until thick. Serve hot over hot pudding.
Lenore Penfold, Evans, Colorado, sends a recipe with a Vanilla Sauce: 3 cups water, 1/3 cup cornstarch, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon butter.
Combine water, cornstarch, sugar and salt; cook until thick. Remove from heat, and add vanilla and butter. Serve hot.
CHRISTMAS PUDDING RECIPE:
Louise White, Bentonville, Arkansas, remembers a Christmas pudding recipe her grandmother brought with her when she immigrated to the United States in 1898. The recipe was a molded chocolate dessert with currants and finely chopped nuts, probably English walnuts. Louise says it was served with a dollop of whipped cream.
None of the responses we received included chocolate. Does anyone have any recipes that might help Louise?
SOUP RECIPES:
Lance Ladue, Essex Junction, Vermont, writes to request a recipe published in the late 1970s in GRIT. It was for a bean and sausage stew/soup that Lance calls “great.”
“It has been a favorite of ours every winter since I found it in the food section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution several years ago,” writes Theda Davis, Lilburn, Georgia, who says it is delicious.
“The original called for cannelloni beans, but I have used other white beans. There are canned tomatoes flavored as listed, but you can use plain canned tomatoes and add the herbs. It’s simpler if you can find the flavored version; the herbs add a lot of flavor.”
Bean and Sausage Soup Recipe
Bean and Sausage Soup Recipe With Spice Blend
Bean and Sausage Chowder Recipe
RED-EYE GRAVY RECIPE:
Belle Warden, Granite City, Illinois, remembers that after her parents butchered a hog, the ham was sugar cured. Her mother would cook the ham and make Red-Eye Gravy. She says fat was poured off and water added, then it was simmered and poured over the ham. She doesn’t remember what else was added to the gravy.
A lot of people knew exactly what Belle was talking about, and they, too, remember the gravy with fondness. The missing ingredient, according to most, is coffee.
Jim Gilbert, Stockbridge, Georgia, sends this tidbit.
“Here in the Southeast, especially in Georgia, we don’t add water to the ham drippings. We add coffee. The reddish-brown color this gives the gravy, as well as the fact that it has coffee in it to help wake you up and pry open those sleepy eyes in the morning, is what gives the gravy its name. I’ve heard of people adding instant coffee with just a little water to the ham drippings, but that’s not real red-eye gravy. For the real stuff, add actual coffee to the drippings. You won’t be disappointed.”
Senior Associate Editor Jean Teller adores cake, particularly with any type of chocolate — dark is her favorite — in the batter or drizzled on top. However, pound cake buried in blueberries sounds like an excellent alternative.
Help wanted
• N.J. Blackwell, Daleville, Alabama, hopes to find a yellow squash casserole recipe similar to one given to her in the early 1980s by a friend in southern Alabama. The recipe included a packet of dry ranch salad dressing and shredded cheese.
• Belle Warden, Granite City, Illinois, wants to expand her recipe collection, and her project this year is no-bake cookies. She says, “I find these recipes are few and far between.” Send your favorites!
• Marie Swackhanier, Caro, Michigan, would like a recipe for Hot Cross Buns, which are usually served at Easter.
• Sadie Mares, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, is looking for recipes for chicken and sausage gumbo, as well as seafood gumbo.
• David King, Piedmont, Alabama, remembers the orange biscuits his mother made in the late 1940s and early ’50s. He says they were delicious to a boy who loved cinnamon, and he thinks the recipe came from an early version of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.
• Aileen Sager, Montezuma, Iowa, has lost a recipe for Yogurt Pie. Her sister gave her the recipe many years ago, and the ingredients include plain yogurt and flavored gelatin. She says it is simple and delicious.
• Evelyn Jessen, Pittsgrove, New Jersey, is looking for a recipe called Hawaiian Torte that was in a Pillsbury Bake-Off cookbook back in the 1950s or ’60s. The topping was baked with the cake and contained brown sugar, coconut and pineapple.
If you’ve been looking for a long-lost recipe, or can provide one, please write to Recipe Box, c/o GRIT, 1503 S.W. 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609, or email us at recipebox@grit.com. Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. Recipes cannot be returned, as they are eventually sent to the person requesting the recipe. Recipe requests and responses will be printed at our discretion and as space allows. Addresses are not printed to allow GRIT the opportunity to publish recipes before sending them on to the requesting party.