by Sandra Merville Hart

One of the fun things I get to do as an author of historical novels is search through old recipe books for the time period that I’m writing. I include those dishes in my novels. “Spies of the Civil War” is my current series. Orange cake is one of the desserts in Byway to Danger, Book 3 in my “Spies of the Civil War” series. The hero is a talented baker and our heroine works as his assistant. 😊

A recipe for orange cake in an 1877 cookbook, Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, was provided by Mrs. D. Buxton.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 2 round cake pans or 1 13×9 baking pan. (I used a 13×9 pan.)

Separate 2 eggs and set aside the whites for frosting.

Beat in 2 additional eggs to the egg yolks (4 yolks and 2 whole eggs) and stir in 1 cup water. Set aside the egg mixture for the cake.

Sift together 3 cups all purpose flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder. Set aside.

Combine 2 cups sugar with ½ cup butter until thoroughly mixed. Add egg mixture and stir until blended. Stir in the sifted flour a little at a time.

Add the zest, juice, and pulp of one large orange. (I used about 1/3 of the pulp, which definitely enhances the orange flavor.) Stir together.

Pour the mixture into the prepared 13×9 pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until brown.

Since it’s the middle of a hot summer, I made whipped topping instead of icing. It was a delicious, light topping that the children gobbled up. So did the adults!

This was a delicious summer dessert. The orange flavor was very strong. It’s a refreshing cake, especially with the whipped cream topping. I believe that it was also be good as a lemon cake. (I’d use the zest, juice, and pulp of 2 lemons in place of 1 large orange.)

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 1877.