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Sandwich (Cut sponge cake into slices)
Cut sponge cake into slices a quarter of an inch thick; cut the slices into rounds. Chop candied cherries fine, moisten with a little orange juice. Spread the mixture on the rounds of cake; press two pieces together. Garnish with a candied cherry.
A dessert "sandwich" of the 1900s tea table: two rounds of sponge with a candied-fruit filling. The whole thing hinges on the cake being firm enough to cut cleanly.
- Use day-old cakeFresh sponge tears and compresses under a knife. A cake baked the day before, or briefly chilled, will take quarter-inch slices and hold a round shape.
- Cutting the roundsA 1½ to 2 inch plain cutter gives a two-bite sandwich; the recipe itself specifies no diameter. Press straight down without twisting so the crumb edge stays sharp.
- Candied cherriesThese are the glacé cherries sold for fruitcake, not maraschino cherries in syrup, which are far too wet for this. The recipe asks for them chopped fine.
- How much orange juiceThe original says "a little" and means it: a teaspoon or so per quarter cup of chopped cherries, enough to make the fruit spreadable and no more. Too much and the filling soaks the sponge and the layers slide apart.
- AssemblyPress gently and evenly. The filling should reach nearly to the edge but not squeeze out, since there is no frosting to tidy the sides.
- GarnishA half cherry set on top with a dab of the filling underneath will stay put; a whole one tends to roll off. A brush of warmed, sieved apricot jam will give a gloss.
- Yield and keepingYield depends on the depth of the cake and the size of the cutter. Assemble within a few hours of serving; they dry at the cut edges quickly and are best covered with a damp cloth or in a closed tin.
Sandwich books proliferated in the United States between about 1900 and 1920, when afternoon teas, card parties and "luncheons" created demand for small, hand-held food that could be made ahead and arranged on a platter. Once the form was established, compilers extended it well past bread and butter: this sweet section treats cake as simply another material to be cut into rounds and filled, the same logic that produced the ribbon sandwich and the rolled sandwich. Candied cherries were a natural filling for the period, keeping for months without refrigeration.