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Mocha Cakes
1 cup sifted powdered sugar 2 eggs 1/2 cup strong coffee 1 1/2 cups sifted pastry flour 1 teaspoon baking-powder 1/3 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup evaporated milk Cream the sifted powdered sugar with the beaten egg-yolks; add the coffee and the milk, then the dry ingredients sifted together. Bake in a long shallow pan at 350 degrees for twenty minutes, cut in fancy shapes as desired, cover the top and sides with mocha cream. Finely chopped nuts may be used to cover the sides, giving the effect of French pastries.
A thin sponge-type sheet cake, baked flat, cut into small pieces and iced on all sides — the American answer to petits fours. It is a lean batter with no butter, so handling matters more than baking time.
- Powdered sugarIn this period powdered sugar may mean confectioners' sugar, in which case it carries a little cornstarch; older usage sometimes meant a coarser grind. Either dissolves readily into the yolks, which matters here since there is no creaming of fat to do the aerating.
- The eggsTwo eggs are listed but only the yolks appear in the mixing directions; the whites are presumably meant to be beaten and folded in last. Doing so is the safer reading, since otherwise the only lift is the teaspoon of baking powder.
- Evaporated milkThe book does not say whether to dilute it; undiluted from the can is the likelier reading. It is thicker and slightly caramelised compared with fresh milk, which suits the coffee flavour.
- Strong coffeeHalf a cup of brewed coffee, cooled; the recipe does not define "strong", so brew it noticeably stronger than for drinking. Cold brew concentrate diluted down, or instant made up strong, works as a substitute.
- Pan and depthA "long shallow pan" means a thin sheet; a quarter-sheet pan (about 9 by 13 inches) suits this quantity of batter. Line it with parchment; this batter has no fat to release it.
- Baking350F for twenty minutes is accurate for that thickness. Test at eighteen minutes: the cake should spring back and pull just slightly from the sides. Overbaked, it dries out badly because there is no butter to keep it moist.
- CuttingChill the cooled sheet before cutting into rounds, diamonds or squares. A cold, firm crumb takes a clean edge and does not shed into the icing.
- Mocha creamThe recipe assumes you have one on hand: a butter icing flavoured with strong coffee, sometimes with a little cocoa added. Make it stiff enough to hold on the sides but soft enough to spread without tearing the cut faces.
- YieldA quarter sheet cut into small fancy shapes gives about 24 to 30 cakes, depending on the cutter.