And now the cakes for Emma's bridegrooms, as promised. The first goes to M. Weston, the kind-hearted neighbour who marries Emma's governess. After the story about Miss Taylor's bride cake, it's now time for the husband.
The recipe I chose for M. Weston is Ginger-Bread by Hannah Glasse. (The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy dated from 1747 was still popular in Jane Austen's time.) Perhaps it's not the time to post about Christmas food but Jane Austen wrote 4 chapters about the dinner party held at Randalls on 24th December, in which a cake such as this would be a hit. Of course, the gathering took place long after the couple's wedding, and no-one took an interest in bride (or groom's) cake any more. In fact, there was a hint on Emma's potential meeting with Frank Churchill as well as plenty of talk about the 'romance' between Harriet Smith & M. Elton. Still, I am very fond of the gingerbread and strongly recommend it for a holiday.
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| Preparation of theriac - 14th c. |
2. The black remedy
As Emma was created much earlier than Victorian times, in which the tradition of groom's cake reappeared, I didn't feel obliged to make the cake darker. In fact, old-fashioned gingerbread was sometimes light in colour: unless paired with treacle, ginger was not enough to make it brown. The groom's cake for M. Weston contains both. Treacle is the British equivalent for molasses so be free to use them interchangeably. Now, if Emma's anxious father had the chance to eat a slice of this cake, he would at least be glad to know that 1/3 of it was made of theriac. This was the name of a remedy prepared since the Antiquity from a variety of herbs, animal extracts & cetera. Treacle derived its name from 'theriac' and was supposed to be the antidote for poison and the cure for various illnesses.
3. Ginger-Bread by Hannah Glasse
"Take three quarts of fine flour, two ounces of beaten ginger, a quart of an ounce of nutmeg, cloves and mace beat fine, but most of the last; mix all together, three quarters of a pound of fine sugar, two pounds of treakle, set over the fire, but don't let it boil; three quarters of a pound of butter melted in the treakle, and some candied lemon and orange peel cut fine, mix all these together well. An hour will bake it in a quick oven." It seems to me that all we need to make this cake festive would be a reasonable amount of yolks and/or cream for extra volume. Currants & almonds might be welcome (though not essential) but toppings of any kind superfluous and redundant.
GROOM'S CAKE FOR M. WESTON
In the pictured cake, I have replaced granulated with muscovado sugar to avoid the bittersweet effect of using just molasses.
I n g r e d i e n t s
500g plain flour
1tbsp cinnamon, grated
1tbsp ginger, powdered
1tsp nutmeg, grated
250g treacle (or molasses)
250g butter
250g caster sugar
8-10 eggs, separated
1tbsp mixed fruit peel
optional
100g currants, washed & floured
100g almonds, blanched
M e t h o d
1. Preheat the oven at 180C. 2. Sift the flour with the spices. Gently heat the butter and treacle (or molasses) in a saucepan, then leave to cool. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light and fluffy, gradually adding the mixed fruit peel. Beat the egg whites into stiff meringue. 3. Fold the butter & treacle into the mixture of yolks and sugar. Add portions of the flour+spice mixture (through a sieve), alternating with spoonfuls of meringue. Stir in the currants & almonds (if using). 4. Pour into a greased and floured 32cm round baking pan and bake for about an hour or until the cake is done.
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