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Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Cake
1 cake yeast 1/2 cup milk, scalded and cooled 1 tablespoon sugar 2 cups sifted flour 1/2 cup light brown sugar 2 tablespoons shortening 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon salt Dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in the lukewarm milk. Add 3/4 cup flour to make sponge. Beat well, cover and let rise 45 minutes in a moderately warm place. Add shortening and sugar creamed, egg well beaten, about 1 1/4 cups flour, or sufficient to make a soft dough, and the salt. Knead lightly, place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 2 hours, or until double in bulk. Roll 1/2 inch thick and place in well-greased pan and let rise until light-about 1 1/2 hours. Cut across top with sharp knife, brush with egg, sprinkle liberally with sugar and cinnamon. Bake 20 minutes in a moderately hot oven.
A straightforward enriched yeast dough, sponge-started, baked flat and finished with cinnamon sugar. Nothing here is difficult; the only real translations are the yeast and the oven.
- One cake yeastA cake of compressed yeast of this era is about 0.6 oz, equivalent to roughly 2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry or instant yeast — one modern envelope. That is a generous amount for 2 cups of flour, which is why the rises are still measured in hours rather than days: the dough is heavy with sugar, egg and fat, all of which slow the yeast down.
- Moderately hot ovenRead that as 375–400F. At 400F the cinnamon sugar on top will set quickly without scorching; 20 minutes should be enough for a half-inch sheet, and the cake is done when the base is browned and it sounds hollow tapped underneath.
- Scalded milkScalding is traditionally said to deactivate something in raw milk that weakens gluten; it also dealt with bacteria in unpasteurised milk. With pasteurised milk it is generally unnecessary — warm the milk to about 100F and proceed. If you do scald, cool it to lukewarm before the yeast goes in, as the recipe insists.
- A moderately warm placeAbout 80F. Modern kitchens are often cooler than the ones this was written for, so expect the stated 45 minutes, 2 hours and 1 1/2 hours to run long. Judge by the dough: the sponge should be foamy and domed, the bulk rise doubled, the panned dough puffed and slow to spring back.
- ShorteningVegetable shortening or lard, creamed with the brown sugar as directed. Softened butter works and tastes better, though it makes a slightly slacker dough.
- Pan sizeNo pan is specified. Rolled to 1/2 inch, this quantity of dough suits roughly a 9-inch square or an 8x11 pan; it will rise appreciably in the pan and again in the oven. Much larger and the cake bakes thin and dry.
- Cutting and toppingThe knife cuts across the top are shallow slashes, made after the final rise — cut gently so you do not deflate the dough. Brush with beaten egg, then a heavy hand with cinnamon sugar; roughly 1/4 cup sugar to 1 teaspoon cinnamon is about right for the surface.
- YieldServes six to eight, cut in squares. It is best the day it is baked and stales quickly, as most low-fat enriched doughs do.