Plum Cake
A rich and dense historical cake featuring a tender crumb loaded with sweet currants. This recipe utilizes a traditional mixing method where butter is incorporated directly into the flour, followed by the addition of eight eggs separated into yolks and stiffly beaten whites for lift. The result is a golden, buttery celebration cake perfect for slicing and serving with tea.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Wheat flour (All-purpose flour) (Originally '1 ratal' (1 lb).)
- 1 pound Butter (Originally '1 ratal' hard butter or clarified fat. Use unsalted butter.)
- 1 pound Sugar (Originally '1 ratal' sifted maida sugar (fine sugar).)
- 1 pound Currants (dried) (Originally '1 ratal'. Adjust quantity to taste if preferred.)
- 1 cup Milk (Originally '1 pasher' (approx 1 cup).)
- 8 whole Eggs (Separated into yolks and whites.)
- 1 tablespoon Baking powder (Originally '2 heaping spoons Berwick's baking powder'. Modernized to 1 tablespoon.)
- 1 teaspoon Salt (Originally '1 flat spoon'.)
- 1 tablespoon Butter (for greasing) (Quantity estimated for greasing the pan.)
Instructions
- 1Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Clean, wash, and thoroughly dry the currants. Toss them with a small amount of the flour to coat them (this prevents sinking).
- 2Separate the eggs. In a saucer or small bowl, beat the yolks thoroughly with a fork. In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they form a stiff, hard froth (stiff peaks).
- 3Sift the flour. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the butter into the flour until well incorporated (similar to a pastry method or rubbing in).
- 4Add the sugar, prepared currants, baking powder, and salt to the flour-butter mixture. Mix well. Combine the beaten egg yolks with the milk, then pour this liquid into the flour mixture and blend.
- 5Gently fold the stiff egg whites into the batter until just combined. Grease a round cake tin ('gol dabda') generously with butter. Pour the batter into the tin, filling it about three-quarters full. Bake in the preheated moderate oven (350°F/175°C) for 60-75 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.