My sister recommends this recipe for Mace Cake by Cynthia Knauer, which she found in the April 2005 edition of Gourmet Magazine. I've discussed what some might consider its most unusual ingredient, mace, in a previous post. For those who are interested in knowing more about mace and its long shelf life, here's the link.
http://princessbubba.blogspot.ca/2010/02/nutmeg-and-mace.html
Unfortunately, I began to make this cake before checking to see that I had sufficient granulated sugar (it takes a lot of sugar). I substituted some granulated Demerara sugar for the white sugar I lacked. Unlike the relative laxity of cooking in which a seasoned cook frequently changes ingredients and amounts of ingredients in a recipe, an absolute rule of baking is that you measure properly and use the correct ingredients. In other words, do as I say, not as I do.
Cake Ingredients:
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tablespoon ground mace
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
Topping Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp. ground mace
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 13 x 9 inch baking pan, knocking out any excess flour.
Beat the eggs with 2 cups of sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until they have tripled in volume. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and 1 tablespoon mace in another bowl. Bring the milk and butter to a simmer in a small heavy saucepan, then remove from the heat. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, stirring until just combined. Then stir in the hot milk mixture again until combined. (This is a thin batter.)
Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup of sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp. of mace. Bake until the cake is a pale golden colour and a skewer/toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool the cake in its pan on a rack.
This cake keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days. A butter icing can be used instead of the sugar/mace topping if you like.
