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| My great-grandmother and her family |
FROSTING
A CAKE
Next
month, I will need to plan a family birthday dinner. We might have
cake or, if the birthday girl wishes, a pie. This got me to thinking
of something I saw in a cookbook a few months back—something about
making frosting for a cake. I looked it up and want to share it with
you. This is from THE YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS FRIEND, published in 1861.
Maybe my great-great grandmother made something for my
great-grandmother who was one year old when the book came out.
Frosting.
A
pound of the best of fine white sugar, the whites of three fresh
eggs, a teaspoonful of nice starch, pounded, and sifted through a
piece of muslin or a very fine sieve, the juice of half a lemon, and
a few drops of the essence.
Beat
the whites to a stiff froth, then add them to the sugar, and stir it
steadily until it will stay where you put it. It will take nearly two
hours, perhaps more. Dredge a little flour over the cake, and brush
it off with a feather. This is to prevent the frosting from being
discolored by the butter contained in the cake. Lay it on smoothly
with a knife, when the cake is nearly cool, and return the cake to
the oven twelve or fif teen minutes. The oven should be very
moderate.
You
know, I really admire the women of the 19th
Century, but I am so happy to live in the 21st
Century. When I want to frost a cake, I just open one of those white
plastic containers with the puffy little doughboy on the front and
spread on the sweet goodness (and if any is left—well, to the cook
to goes the extra)
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