Tenlock Cake
This historical Parsi recipe, likely a phonetic adaptation of 'Ten O'Clock Cake,' is a dense and aromatic fruitcake perfect for afternoon tea. Packed with a generous amount of raisins, currants, almonds, and candied peel, it offers a rich, textured bite spiced with cardamom and nutmeg. The batter uses a high volume of eggs and pure butter to create a sturdy, golden loaf that pairs beautifully with a hot cup of tea.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Wheat flour (all-purpose) (Originally 'Mill's No. 1 Wheat Flour' (refined flour).)
- 1 pound Raisins (Originally 'Kishmish drakh'.)
- 1/2 pound Currants (Dried currants. Quantity inferred from context.)
- 1/2 pound Sugar (Finely chopped/granulated. Quantity inferred from context.)
- 1/2 pound Butter (Originally 'Soji Makhan' (Pure/Cleaned Butter).)
- 1/2 pound Candied orange or citron peel (Finely chopped.)
- 1/4 pound Almonds (Blanched and split.)
- 1 tablespoon Cardamom powder (Originally '1 tola' (approx 11.6g).)
- 1 tablespoon Nutmeg powder (Originally '1 tola' (approx 11.6g).)
- 14 large Eggs (Originally '12 to 16 fresh eggs'.)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons Lemon essence (Originally '2 to 3 spoons'.)
- 2 tablespoons Butter (For greasing the mold.)
Instructions
- 1Clean, wash, and thoroughly dry the raisins and currants. Dust them lightly with a little of the flour to prevent sinking. Blanch the almonds, peel them, wash, dry, and split them into halves.
- 2In a tinned vessel or large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Using a cake beater or whisk, cream them together until the mixture is soft and well-blended.
- 3Break the eggs one by one into the butter-sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. Once all eggs are incorporated, gradually add the remaining flour, mixing until the batter is uniform and smooth.
- 4Fold in the prepared raisins, currants, almonds, candied peel, cardamom, nutmeg, and lemon essence into the batter until evenly distributed.
- 5Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a large cake mold or deep baking pan with butter. Line the bottom and sides with thick white paper that has also been greased with butter. Pour the batter into the mold, filling it slightly below the top to allow for rising. Bake in the preheated moderate oven for about 1.5 hours, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Alternatively, it can be baked in a covered vessel (langdi) over a stove.