A Nice Useful Cake

Ok, so I'll be honest with you guys. When I started choosing vintage recipes for my final major project, I wanted to choose recipes that I hadn't heard of before, but also that looked enticing and, most importantly, yummy. Looking at the recipe, these cake seemed fairly ordinary, but I just couldn't resist making a cake who's title was its purpose, not its flavour. Now, the original recipe calls for candied peel and currants, but I'm not a big fan of candied peel, so I followed the instructions at the end of the recipe that went as follows: "The currants and candied peel may be omitted, and a little lemon or almond flavouring substituted for them: made in this manner, the cake will be found very good." And it was indeed a good cake! Granted, it is very large and a little denser than your modern day cake but served warm with a little cream, it was actually very nice, and not overpoweringly sweet. Not only this, but the chopped almonds provided a nice texture that you don't usually get in cakes.

Here is the original recipe that I was working with:

A Nice Useful Cake

Bare Necessities:
4oz/115g Butter
4oz/115g Sugar
1/2tsp Lemon Essence
1lb/450g Plain Flour
2tsp Baking Powder
3 Eggs
1cup/8fl.oz/250ml Milk
2oz/60g Chopped Almonds

1. Pre-heat the oven to 320F/160C.
2. Grease and line a cake tin.
3. Mix together all of the ingredients until fully combined and well mixed.
4. Pour the mixture into the tin.
5. Pop it in the oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
6. Slice up and enjoy!

Almond Puffs

So this is a bit of a strange one. Honestly, I had never heard of these before, and looking at the recipe, I had no idea what to expect. Not only this, but there were no pictures, so I had no idea if they were supposed to do what they seemed to be doing. I did make them twice though because I overcooked the first batch so I'm fairly confident now. They're essentially mini Yorkshire Puddings in appearance, but macarons in taste. If you can imagine that. Either way, they're incredibly moreish, so you should give them a go!

Here is the recipe I was working with:



















Almond Puffs
Bare Necessities:

2tbsp Plain Flour
2oz/58g Butter
2oz/58g Sugar
2oz/58g Ground Almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C/Gas Mark 4
2. Melt the butter.
3. Mix together the butter with the flour, sugar and ground almonds until fully combined.
4. Place a small amount into each mini muffin slot and press down slightly.
5. Pop in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until the puffs are a light golden colour.
6. Leave the puffs to cool in the tin.
7. Transfer them to a plate and enjoy!