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- Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes
- From: arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva)
- Subject: COLLECTION: Black Cakes
- Message-ID: <T6YS48J@taronga.com>
- Organization: Taronga Park BBS
- Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1993 01:51:59 GMT
-
- Black Cake
-
- 1 pound raisins, minced
- 1 pound pitted prunes, minced
- 1 pound dried currants, minced
- 1 pound glaceed cherries, minced
- 6 ounces glaceed lemon peel, minced
- 6 ounces glaceed orange peel, minced
- 1 bottle (750 ml) Manischewitz Concord Grape wine
- 1 bottle (750 ml) dark rum
- 2 pounds dark brown sugar
- 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons double acting baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter, softened
- 10 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups almond paste, if desired
-
- 7 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
- 6 large egg whites at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
-
- silver dragees for decorating the cake
-
- In a large bowl, combine well the raisins, the prunes, the currants,
- the cherries, the peels, the wine, and the rum and let the fruit
- macerate, covered, at room temperature for at least 2 weeks.
-
- In a heavy skillet combine 1 pound of the brown sugar and 1 cup water,
- bring the mixture to a boil over moderate heat, stirring and washing
- down any sugar crystals clinging to the side wtih a brush dipped in
- cold water until the sugar is dissolved, and boil the syrup, swirling
- the skillet occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until it is reduced
- to 1 3/4 cups. Let the burnt sugar syrup cool and reserve it.
-
- Into a bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the nutmeg,
- and the cinnamon. In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream
- together the remaining 1 pound brown sugar and the butter until the
- mixture is light and fluffy and beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating
- well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, the flour mixture, and
- 1 1/3 cups of the reserved burnt sugar syrup, reserving the remaining
- syrup for another use. In another large bowl combine well the flour
- mixture and the fruit mixture and divide the batter between 2 buttered
- and floured 10-inch springform pans. Bake the cakes in the middle of
- a preheated 350F oven for 1 hour and 50 minutes to 2 hours, or until
- the cakes are set and a tester inserted in the centers come out with
- some crumbs adhereing to it. (The centers of the cake will be quite
- moist). Let the cakes cool in the pans on a rack, remove the sides
- and the bottoms of the pans and wrap the cakes in foil or wax paper.
- Let the cakes stand at room temperature for 1 week.
-
- Roll out half the almond paste between sheets of plastic wrap to form
- a 10-inch round and remove the top sheet of plastic wrap. Fit the
- almond paste layer over one cake, trimming the edge if necessary, and
- remove the other sheet of plastic wrap. Roll out and fit the remaining
- almond paste onto the remaining cake in the same manner.
-
- Make the icing: In a bowl with an electric mixer beat 4 cups of the
- confectioners' sugar, the egg whites, and the lemon juice for 4 to 6
- minutes, or until the mixture holds soft peaks. Beat in the remaining
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar and beat the icing until it holds stiff
- peaks.
-
- Transfer 2 cups of the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative
- tip, spread the remaining icing on the tops and sides of the cakes
- with a long metal spatula, and pipe the icing in the pastry bag
- decoratively onto the cakes. Arrange the dragees on the cakes. Makes
- 2 black cakes.
-
-
- Black Cake
-
- 1 pound each: dark raisins, currants, pitted prunes and glace cherries
- 1/2 pound mixed peel
- 1 quart white rum
- 1 pound dark brown sugar
- 1 pound butter
- 1 pound eggs (one dozen)
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 pound flour (about 4 cups all-purpose)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 ounces burt sugar, or substitute 6 ounces of gravy coloring
- 1 quart tawny port
-
- Place raisins, currants, prunes, cherries and peel in a large plastic
- or glass bowl. Add 1 cup rum. Put through a meat grinder, using a
- medium blade. Mix with remaining rum so that the ground fruit forms a
- smooth paste. Cover tightly. Let stand at least two weeks.
-
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cream dark brown sugar and butter. In a
- separate bowl combine eggs, cinnamon and nutmeg and whip until foamy.
- Combine egg mixture with butter-sugar mixture. Add ground fruits. Mix
- well.
-
- In a separate bowl, mix flour with baking powder. Stir flour mixture
- into fruit mixture. Add burnt sugar or graving coloring. Batter should
- be dark brown.
-
- Grease and lightly flour 2 10-inch springform pans. Fill with mixture
- and bake 2 hours or until a tester comes out clean.
-
- Take pans out of the oven. Let cool 1 hour, then remove cakes from pans
- and cool completely. Pour one cup port over the top of each. Let it
- absorb. After 10 minutes, pour on remaining port.
-
- Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Let cakes age at least a week. Do not
- refrigerate. Makes 2 cakes.
-
-
-