George Washington’s Birthday Cake
No Comments | Written on February 22, 2010 at 5:00 am , by Kristina Vanni
Although we celebrated President’s Day last week, today would have been the 278th birthday of our first president, George Washington. We know “The Father of Our Country” was a great leader, but did you know he knew how to party?
The President and First Lady’s dinners were frequent, large, and elaborate with Washington’s birthday one of the biggest social events of the season. Accounts of dinner parties at the Washington’s were left by a few of their many visitors:
“The meal was was bountiful. Besides with leg of pork on the platter at the head of the table where Martha sat, and the roast goose in front of Lear at the foot, there were two kinds of beef as well as mutton chops. With the dessert of tarts and cheese, large wine glasses were brought for the port and Madeira.”
Gingerbread is one of our oldest known recipes. The Romans were making it 2,000 years ago. This is Martha Washington’s old recipe and it is quite rich and cake-like. The recipe calls for brandy but fruit juices or coffee can be substituted. It really needs no icing or sauce, but it can be served with a vanilla sauce, or even a hot rum sauce. Here, I just gave it a light dusting of powdered sugar and garnished with an orange slice.
Martha Washington’s Spiced “Gyngerbrede”
2 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground mace
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup shortening
2 Tablespoons grated orange peel
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup strained orange juice
1/4 cup brandy
1 cup molasses
Sift the first 7 ingredients together and set aside. Cream shortening, orange peel, and brown sugar until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until light and fluffy after each addition. Heat orange juice and brandy until warm; add to molasses and mix well. Alternately add dry ingredients and molasses mixture to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Beat only until blended after each addition. Turn batter into a greased 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees, 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooling rack.
Categories:
Better Recipes, Celebrations and Parties, Holidays, Sweet Tooth | Tags: Bread Recipes, Cake Recipes, Christmas Recipes, Dessert Recipes
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