Recipe: Banbury Cake with Fruit Sauce

Banbury Cake with Fruit Sauce
From Shakespeare's Kitchen - Renaissance Recipes for the Contemporary Cook, by Francine Segan, (Random House, NY
Source: Cape Cod Times, January 7, 2004

The first published version of this recipe appeared in 1615 and hails from the town of Banbury, England, a region renowned for its cheeses. This spiced cake is a bit more dense than what comes out of a box but is very rich, particularly when served with a fruit sauce in lieu of frosting.

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cream
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoons ground mace
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups cake flour

Fruit sauce
3/4 cup dried currants or dried cherries
1 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter, sugar, whole egg, egg white, milk, cream, baking powder, spices and salt in a large bowl until completely combined. Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time until just blended. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9-inch round pan and bake 30 minutes or until the cake springs back in the center and a knife comes out clean.

To make sauce, simmer currants or cherries and sugar in water for about 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Puree until smooth. Serve with wedges of cake.