Clove Cake (1877)

This Clove Cake recipe from 1877 is one that I consider a “must-try”. Of all the recipes I’ve made during this project, this not-too-sweet, perfectly spiced cake is a favorite!

Dear friends ~

With so very many recipes in these old cook books, just waiting to be tried, I tend to make most of the recipes you see featured here just once or twice. The next time I want to make something similar, I try a different recipe, from a different cook book.

Sometimes though, I make a recipe that stops me in my tracks, and I know it’s about to become a new family favorite–one I’ll make again and again. 

This clove cake recipe is one of those. It’s not just memorably tasty (which it is!), it’s simple and easy. This is the recipe you reach for when you’ve got company arriving in two hours, want something delicious and homemade that you can whip up at the last minute, but also still have to vacuum and clean the bathroom before they arrive.

A neat thing about this particular recipe, is that it was specially marked by some previous owner of this dear old 1877 volume. Somebody made this recipe for people she loved, marked up the amount of cloves to make it better suit their taste (a good move!), and made it again. Judging from the splatters on this particular page, I’m betting this may have been one of her go-to family favorites. 

I wish I knew her name, or a little something about her. There’s no inscription on the flyleaf. Whoever she was, I hope her family shared many happy moments over slices of this delicious cake, and I’ll think of her whenever I make it for mine…with one teaspoon of cloves, not three.

~ Anna

CLOVE CAKE

Two eggs, one and one-half cups of sugar, one cup of butter, once cup of chopped raisins, one-half cup of sweet milk, two cups of flour, one tablespoon teaspoon of cloves, one-half teaspoon of soda.

The Home Cook Book, 1877

Here’s a photo of the recipe as it appears in the cookbook:

A FEW COOKING NOTES: 

First off, I just want to make sure you notice that lovely historic cooking note that was made right in this old volume. Was she right about the change in spice? Absolutely. 

I made this using her measurement of 1 teaspoon instead of 1 tablespoon, and everyone who tasted the finished cake agreed that the level of spice was perfect. Three times that amount of cloves would have been way too much.

What kind of pan to use?

I really need to expand my collection of antique baking tins. Square, round, and loaf pans were all common to use for a cake like this. 

The pan I used was a long 12″x4″ loaf pan, and it came out beautifully. An 8″ square pan would work well too, or a round pan with center hole if you have one. 

If you don’t mind a bit of a baking anachronism, this would also be lovely made in a bundt pan…a form that wouldn’t be introduced to most American kitchens until the 1950’s.

Chopping those raisins

Don’t skip it. Chopping raisins isn’t common in modern cookery, but those little bits of raisin well dispersed throughout the cake are really just perfect. I aimed for chopping them into halves. 

This particular cook book doesn’t specify flouring the raisins, but many cook books of the era instruct people to toss their raisins with some of the flour, before putting into the batter, so they’ll stay well dispersed rather than sinking toward the bottom of the cake. 

I always do this now, because it really does make a difference. When making this cake, I reserved ¼ cup of the flour, added it to a bowl with the chopped raisins, and tossed them well until they were coated, before adding it all to the cake batter.

Should you grease the pan?

Absolutely! In the 1800’s, it wasn’t common to include instructions on greasing pans, or even baking temperature, along with every single recipe, the way these things are noted in modern cook books. 

You’ll want to grease the pan well (butter or lard would be the right choice, if you want to be authentic.) Then dredge the well-greased pan lightly with flour.

Oven Temperature

In the cake making notes from this cook book, it specifies that “the oven should be pretty hot for small cakes, and moderate for larger”. Small cakes would be smaller than this one–more like little tea cakes. This recipe also wasn’t what I’d call large though, like some of the cakes that are made for feeding a crowd. 

I went with 350°F for making this, and it’s what I use again. I felt the cake cooked nicely through, without being dry on the outside before the inside was well baked. The crumb was nicely tender, and delicate without being dry.

How long to bake this?

In my 12″x4″ loaf pan, at 350°F, this cake took exactly 1 hour to bake perfectly. The top and edges were golden brown, and the center was well set. 

If you use a differently shaped pan, your cake may take a bit more or less time than mine. Check for golden edges and a center that’s fully set. The correct 1800’s way to check for doneness is by inserting a broom straw into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done, if bits of batter adhere to it, the cake needs a little more time. Feel free to use a toothpick, if you don’t keep clean broom straws handy!

What about icing?

Here’s the general icing recipe from this cookbook:

This is the icing I’ll use next time. Because I really did have company on the way as I was making this, I opted for a quick powdered sugar and water icing, from another cook book of the era. It was delicious and worked well, but this recipe above, with egg whites, would have probably been a more common choice for this cake, if the baker had time.

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I shared the remnants of this cake at my daughter’s soccer game the next night, and everyone loved it. One dad mentioned that he doesn’t usually enjoy cake because it’s always so sweet, but this was just right. 

It’s definitely a keeper of a recipe, and if you try it, I’d love to hear your thoughts as well!

As always, feel free to send me an email anytime, with recipe requests! ‘Til next time, ~ Anna

This post was originally published in the 1800’s Housewife newsletter. Not on the mailing list? You can join here to receive full recipes with cooking notes straight to your inbox!

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