From Mount Vernon

Martha Washington’s Great Cake recipes results in the type of cake traditionally served for Twelfth Night (January 6, the last day of Christmas or Epiphany), which was the Washington’s wedding anniversary (they were married January 6, 1759). The original recipe was copied down by Martha Parke Custis, the second of Mrs. Washington’s four grandchildren.

Original Recipe:

“Take 40 eggs divide the white from the yolks & beat them to a froth then work 4 pounds of butter to a cream & put the whites of the eggs to it a Spoon full at a time till it is well work’d then put 4 pounds of sugar finely powdered to it in the same manners then put it in the Youlks[sic] of eggs & 5 pounds of flower [sic] & 5 pounds of fruit. 2 hours will bake it add to it half an ounce of mace & nutmeg half a pint of wine and some frensh [sic] brandy.”

Modern Adaptation:

Ingredients:

• 10 eggs
• 1 lb butter
• 1 lb sugar
• 1 1/4 pds (20 oz) flour
• 1 1/4 pds (20 oz) assorted fruit & nuts
• 2 1/2 tsp ground mace
• 2 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 oz wine
• 2 oz French brandy

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Separate egg whites from yolks and set yolks aside. Beat egg whites to a “soft peak.” Cream the butter. Slowly add the beaten egg whites, one spoonful at a time, to the butter. Slowly add the sugar, one spoonful at a time, to the egg whites and butter. Add egg yolks. Add flour, slowly. Add fruit. The following items are suggested based on what would have been available to Mrs. Washington, either fresh or dried. (Note: nuts would have been considered fruit)

• 5 oz of pear (peeled, cored, and diced)
• 3 1/2 oz of raisins
• 9 1/2 oz of apple (peeled, cored, and diced)
• 2 oz of sliced almonds

Add ground mace and nutmeg, wine, and brandy. Lightly grease and flour a 10-inch spring-form cake pan. Pour batter into pan and bake about 75 minutes. Allow cake to cool after baking.

Modern Adaptation of an 18th-Century Icing:

Beat 3 egg whites and 2 tbsp powdered sugar. Repeat additions of sugar until you have used 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Add 1 tsp lemon peel grated and 2 tbsp orange-flower water. Beat until the icing is stiff enough to stay parted when a knife cuts through it. Smooth it onto the cake. Let it dry and harden in 200 degree oven for one hour. (Note: icing will be brittle when cut with a knife.)