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Plum Cake, Rich

Put a pound and a half of butter into a good-sized bowl, and beat it to a cream. Mix with it the whites of eight fresh eggs whisked to a froth, and afterwards the yolks well beaten, and add a dessert-spoonful of salt, a pound of powdered sugar, a pound and a half of flour, two pounds of currants washed, picked, and dried, eight ounces each of candied lemon and citron cut into narrow strips, half an ounce of mixed spices, consisting of nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice, all pounded to a powder, half a pound of almonds, blanched and pounded, three or four lumps of sugar rubbed upon the rind of four oranges, and then powdered. Add each ingredient separately, and beat it well in before adding another. A glassful of brandy may be stirred in if liked. If this cake is to be light, it should be beaten fully three-quarters of an hour. Line a tin with double folds of buttered paper, pour in the mixture, and bake the cake in a moderate oven. Put twelve folds of paper under the cake, and four or five on the top of it, to prevent it burning. Time to bake, three hours if made into one cake, one hour and a half each if made into two. Probable cost, 5s. 6d., without the brandy. Sufficient for one large or two small cakes.