Silver Cake

A butter cake leavened partly by beaten egg whites, given as a bare ingredient list in the fashion of the period. The method is assumed, so the notes below supply what the original leaves out.

• Method the list assumesCream the butter and sugar, add the milk alternately with the sifted flour and cream of tartar, then fold in the whites beaten to soft peaks. The soda goes in with the last of the flour so it does not sit wet in contact with the acid.
• Cream of tartar and sodaThis pair is a homemade baking powder, and 1 teaspoon cream of tartar to 1/2 teaspoon soda is the standard 2:1 ratio exactly. If you substitute commercial baking powder, about 2 teaspoons stands in for both.
• "Sweet milk"Ordinary fresh whole milk, named to distinguish it from the soured or buttermilk that recipes of the era often called for. Do not use buttermilk here; the acid balance is already set by the cream of tartar.
• Egg whitesEight whites comes to about 8 fl oz, or one cup, by modern large eggs; period eggs varied, so measure to a cup rather than counting. The whites share the leavening with the soda and cream of tartar, and give the pale colour that names the cake.
• FlourMuch nineteenth-century American cake flour was softer and weaker than modern all-purpose. A cake flour, or all-purpose with two tablespoons per cup replaced by cornstarch, gives a texture closer to what was intended.
• OvenNo temperature or time is given. Bake at 350F. A tube pan or two 8-inch rounds; 25 to 30 minutes for layers, 50 to 60 for a tube.
• YieldThe batter comes to about six cups and fills a 9-inch tube pan or two 8-inch layers, serving twelve to sixteen.
• The leftover yolksSilver cake was often paired with a gold cake using the yolks. Plan for them before you start rather than after.