Recipe: Civil War Cakes from 1833 to 1850

LINCOLN CAKE

2 eggs
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sweet milk
3 c. flour
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. lemon extract

Editor's note: Recipes, particularly for baked goods, usually did not give baking instructions as wood or coal burning ovens had no temperature controls. Every cook was expected to know what level of heat and length of time was suitable for her own appliance. We suggest you try 375 degrees for 45 minutes or so, keeping a close watch.

Two eggs, two cups of sugar, a half cup of butter, one of sweet milk, three of flour, one teaspoonful of
cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, and one of lemon essence. From Civil War Recipes: Receipts
from the Pages of Godey's Lady's Book, Lily May Spaulding and John Spaulding, editors. Recipe from
1865.

AUNT JANE'S LECTION CAKE

6 lb. flour
2 lb. sugar
1 lb butter
12 eggs
1 quart milk
1 pint yeast
Mace (1-2 tablespoons)

Pvt. Frederick Osborne of the 23rd Massachusetts wrote home on June 8th, 1862, from New Bern, N.C.
"Aunt Jane has been making lection cake I suppose, or is the time for it past?" Some cookbooks date this to around 1850, but in fact it is far older. It was a charming election
payoff, as slices were distributed to those voting a straight ticket. Cooking instructions invented by CWI so you can blame us if it doesn't turn out.

Mix milk into flour and add yeast. Let rise several hours or overnight. Beat butter and sugar together, then blend all together. Beat mace into eggs and add them. Distribute into pans [most sources call this a "loaf cake" so bread pans would be appropriate] and allow to rise again briefly. Bake at 375 degrees or so until they look and smell done. Osborne letter from Private Osborne, Massachusetts 23rd Volunteers by
Frederick M. Osborne, edited by Frank B. Marcotte. Ingredients as listed in The Yankee Cook Book,
which also claims the 1850 date. ELECTION CAKE

4 lb. flour
3/4 lb. butter
4 eggs
1 lb sugar
1 lb currants (or raisins)
1/2 pint good yeast
Milk as needed

Old fashioned election cake is made of four pounds of flour; three quarters of a pound of butter, four
eggs, one pound of sugar, one pound of currants, or raisins if you choose, half a pint of good yeast. Wet
it with milk as soft as it can be and [still] be moulded on a board. Set to rise over night in winter; in warm
weather, three hours is usually enough for it to rise. A loaf, the size of common flour bread, should bake
three quarters of an hour. From The American Frugal Housewife by Mrs. Child, 1833. CUP CAKE

1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
3 c. flour
4 eggs

Cup cake is about as good as pound cake, and is cheaper. One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, and four eggs. Beat well together and bake in pans or cups. Bake twenty minutes, and no more. [Recipe does not specify baking temperature--try 375 and keep a close eye on it] From The American Frugal Housewife by Mrs. Child, 1833. GENUINE BOSTON CREAM CAKES

Cream filling:
1 qt. milk
4 tbs. flour, sifted
4 eggs, separated and beaten
5 heaping tablespoons sugar
Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

Cakes:
1 pint flour, sifted
1/4 lb (1 stick) butter
1 qt milk
3/4 lb. flour
12 eggs, separated
Butter for greasing baking tins
1 egg to coat finished cakesTake one quart of sweet new milk, from which take three table-spoonfuls to moisten four tablespoonfuls of sifted flour, and put the remainder on to boil; separate four eggs and beat them as stiff as possible; add to the yolks five heaping table-spoonfuls of pulverized loaf-sugar; when the milk is boiling hot, stir in first the moistened flour, let it thicken but not boil, then stir the whites and yolks together and beat them well, pour a little of the boiled milk in the egg, stir it well, and then mix it in the hot milk, let it boil three minutes, then add the grated rind and juice of one lemon, and set it away to cool, then proceed to make the paste [dough for the cakes]; take one pint of sifted flour and one-fourth of a pound of butter, set it over hot water until it melts, then add a quart of milk and stir in three-fourths of a pound of flour, let it scald through; then let it become cold, beat all the lumps out, separate and beat twelve eggs, stir them in the paste, first the yolks and then the whites; butter twenty-four round tins, fill them not quite half full; bake thoroughly; when cold, open them a little with a knife and put in the cream; press the edges
together and wet them over with egg. These cakes must be used the same day they are baked. From Civil War Cooking: The Housekeeper's Encyclopedia by Mrs. E. F. Haskell, 1861 CIDER CAKE

1 1/2 lb flour
1/2 lb sugar
1/4 lb. butter
1/2 pint cider
1 tsp. pearlash

Cloves and other spices to taste A note on the ingredient "pearlash": this was a leavening agent, used for quick cakes when yeast would be too time-consuming. Baking powder would probably be easier to obtain these days and considerably healthier too.

Cider cake is very good, to be baked in small loaves. One pound and a half of flour, half a pound of sugar, quarter of a pound of butter, half a pint of cider, one teaspoonful of pearlash, and spice to your taste. Bake till it turns easily in the pans, I should think about half an hour. From The American Frugal Housewife by Mrs. Lydia Child, 1833.