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Pork Cake
1 t allspice 1¼ lb. salt pork, chopped fine 1 pt. water 1 pt. dark Karo syrup 1 C brown sugar 1 lb. seeded raisins 1/2 lb. candied peel 1 t cinnamon 3 t soda Flour to form a batter that very nearly spreads itself Nutmeats may be added, if desired Scald pork with 1 pt. hot water, add other ingredients, and bake about 1½ hours at 325 degrees. 1 Mrs. Allie T. Nicholas.
A fruitcake in which finely chopped salt pork stands in for butter — the fat renders into the crumb as it bakes. The recipe assumes a cook who knows what cake batter should look like, so the two things to settle before starting are how much pork and how much flour.
- The pork quantityThe printed page was checked: the recipe calls for 1¼ lb. salt pork, chopped fine, which is what our text now gives. That is in line with the fruit and liquid in the rest of the recipe.
- What salt pork is doing hereIt is the shortening. Use fat salt pork, not bacon (no smoke) and not lean side pork, and chop or grind it until the pieces are barely visible. Scalding with the pint of boiling water softens the fat so it disperses through the batter instead of sitting in lumps.
- "Flour to form a batter that very nearly spreads itself"That is a thick batter that slumps level in the pan on its own but will not pour in a stream. With this much liquid it will take a good deal of flour; add it gradually and judge by the batter rather than by a cup count.
- Dark KaroStill sold, and still the right thing: dark corn syrup with refiner's syrup in it. Dark molasses is not a substitute at a full pint — it would overwhelm the cake and change the acidity the soda is reacting with.
- Three teaspoons of sodaThat is a full tablespoon. It is probably as written rather than a misprint, given the volume of flour and liquid; brown sugar and dark corn syrup are at most mildly acidic. Dissolve it in a little of the warm liquid rather than dumping it dry into the flour, or you risk bitter streaks.
- Candied peel and raisinsHalf a pound of candied peel means mixed citron, orange and lemon peel, sold today mainly around the winter holidays. Dredge the fruit in a spoonful of the measured flour so it does not sink.
- Pan and donenessThis makes a large quantity; expect it to need two loaf pans or a large tube pan, and judge by how full they are rather than by a fixed count. Line with parchment; the sugar and syrup make it stick. At 325F, 1 1/2 hours is right for loaves -- test with a skewer at the centre, which should come out clean of batter, and give tube pans longer.
- KeepingLike other fruitcakes it improves after a few days wrapped tightly in a cool place. The salt in the pork and the high sugar make it a good keeper, which was much of the point.
Pork cake belongs to a family of thrift fruitcakes common across the northern United States and Canada from the mid-nineteenth century into the mid-twentieth, in which salt pork from the barrel replaced butter that a farm kitchen might not have to spare in winter. The pork is scalded rather than fried so that it contributes fat and salt but no browning, and the result tastes like spice cake rather than anything porky. Recipes of this kind travelled well in community and church collections, the cake made from staples that kept on the shelf all year, sweetened here with dark corn syrup rather than the older molasses, which places this version comfortably in the twentieth century. It is filed under "Breads, Rolls, Muffins, Etc." rather than with the cakes.