Apple Shortcake

A three-line sketch rather than a formula: the book assumes you already know how to make apple sauce and shortcake, and only tells you how to put them together. The points below fill in the numbers it leaves out.

• "M."The letter is most likely a contributor's initial rather than an instruction; community cookbooks of this period commonly credited donors by initials, name, or town.
• Shortcake means biscuit doughIn an American book of this era a shortcake is a rich baking-powder dough baked as one thick round, not a sponge and not the sweet spongy cups sold today. Roughly 2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/3 cup butter cut in, and about 3/4 cup milk gives the right texture for splitting.
• OvenNo baking instruction is given. A modern equivalent is a hot oven, about 425F for 15 to 20 minutes, until the round is browned and firm at the center; an underbaked cake is pale and doughy and tears instead of splitting.
• "Open and butter it"Split the hot cake horizontally, pulling it apart with a fork rather than cutting it, and butter both cut faces while it steams, so the sauce moistens the crumb without reducing it to paste.
• The apple sauceAbout 2 cups of thick, warm sauce for one 8- or 9-inch cake. Season with 2 tablespoons butter and sugar to taste; the "etc." of the original may cover cinnamon, nutmeg, or a little lemon. Drain or reduce a watery sauce first.
• Sweetened creamHeavy cream with sugar stirred in, poured over at the table, not whipped. If you prefer it whipped, keep it soft; the point is that it runs into the layers.
• Yield and timingOne cake serves six. Assemble at the last moment and serve warm, since the cake goes heavy and sodden if it sits with the sauce in it.