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Five Eggs (II)
Ingredients.
Nine ounces of castor Sugar.
Nine ounces of Flour.
Quarter of an ounce of Carbonate of Soda.
Quarter of an ounce of ground Ginger.
Six powdered Cloves.
Half a grated Nutmeg.
Quarter of a teaspoonful of ground Cinnamon.
Six ounces of Peel.
Quarter of a pound of Sweet Almonds.
Whisk the eggs and sugar over hot water. Cut the almonds in half and the peel in strips. When the mixture is beaten to a froth, stir in all the dry ingredients lightly. Pour the mixture into a well-lined cake-tin, and decorate with the almonds and the peel on the top. Bake in a moderate oven, and sprinkle over with icing sugar.
A whisked-egg spice cake in the genoise manner: no butter, all lift from the eggs. The title supplies the ingredient the list forgets — five eggs, whole, whisked with the sugar.
- The five eggsThe ingredient list never names them; the recipe title is the quantity. Use five large eggs, whole, beaten with the sugar.
- The hinge: the ribbon stageThere is no butter, so the eggs and sugar must be whisked over hot (not boiling) water until pale, tripled in volume, and thick enough to hold a ribbon from the whisk for a few seconds. Fold the dry ingredients in with a light hand — a few decisive strokes, not stirring — or the foam collapses and the cake bakes dense.
- Weights and conversionsNine ounces of castor sugar is about 1¼ cups of superfine sugar; nine ounces of flour is about 2 cups. Six ounces of peel is roughly 1 cup chopped, and a quarter pound of sweet almonds about ¾ cup whole blanched almonds.
- Carbonate of sodaA quarter of an ounce is close to 1½ teaspoons of baking soda, which is a great deal for two cups of flour and there is no acid in the batter to neutralise it. Modern palates will read that as soapy or metallic; a scant teaspoon of baking powder does the same job here without the aftertaste.
- Peel"Peel" means candied citrus peel — mixed candied orange, lemon and citron, sold as whole candied pieces and cut to strips as directed. The pre-chopped supermarket kind works but is sweeter and softer; buy whole candied peel if you can and cut it yourself.
- SpicesSix powdered cloves is roughly ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon ground cloves. Half a grated nutmeg is generous — on the order of a teaspoon or more — and grating it fresh matters more than the exact amount.
- Oven"Moderate oven" is conventionally read as about 350F. For a whisked batter this deep, 325–340F is safer: figure roughly 40 to 50 minutes in a lined and buttered 8-inch round tin, until the centre springs back.
- Almonds on topHalved almonds and strips of peel scattered on the surface will sink slightly and colour fast. Watch the last ten minutes and lay foil loosely over the top if the nuts darken before the cake is set.
- YieldOne 8-inch cake, ten to twelve slices. Dust with icing sugar only after it has cooled, or the sugar dissolves into the crust.
The title names the cake by the number of eggs it takes, and the "(II)" shows it is not the only one so named — a habit that reflects kitchen economics in which eggs were the seasonal, priced-by-the-dozen variable while flour and sugar were the constants. The method is the whisked sponge: eggs and sugar warmed over water to build a foam, the dry goods folded in, no butter at all. The flavouring is thoroughly English — ginger, clove, nutmeg and cinnamon with candied peel and almonds, the same flavour family as the older spiced seed and plum cakes.