18th Century Pound Cake Recipe
I am at it again. My daughter requested a cake to celebrate her last day of 1st grade and of course, I had to oblige. After I dropped her off at the schools front door, I quickly ran home and grabbed my The Williamsburg Art of Cookery cookbook filled with vintage recipes. There are a lot of pound cake recipes in this book. And of course, the majority of them are called…
This 18th century pound cake is a very simple and straight forward dessert recipe. It is butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. I did notice some differences though. One difference is the addition of mace. My seasonings cupboard didn’t have mace so I found that you can substitute it with half the amount of allspice. So in this recipe that is what I did.
You will also notice there is a lack of vanilla and baking powder. This 18th century pound cake doesn’t rise like a typical modern day pound cake. It is very dense and oh so delicious.
Pound Cake
Beat one Cup of Butter to a Cream, slowly beat in one and one third Cups of Sugar. Add one Teaspoon of Mace and beat in five whole Eggs adding them one at a Time. Sift in two Cups of Flour, turn at once into a greased and floured Pan or Mould and bake slowly for one Hour.
(from Williamsburg Art of Cookery, a recipe from Wicomico Church circa 1754)
Cost to make this recipe.
I calculated this recipe costing me about $4.37 for one bread pan loaf size pound cake. Or about $0.55 per serving slice if you cut about eight slices from one loaf. There aren’t many ingredients in this recipe or any that I can possibly reduce the cost of this recipe. We raise our own eggs which can reduce the price slightly.
Similar recipes to try
Recipe adapted
This recipe is adapted from The Williamsburg Art of Cookery. All images and text are all my own and original to Vintage Mountain Homestead.
18th Century Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter, softened…[$2.00]
- 1⅓ cups white granulated sugar, …[$0.39]
- 1 tsp. ground mace, (or 1/2 tsp. allspice)…[$0.37]
- 5 eggs, …[$1.15]
- 2 cups all purpose flour, …[$0.46]
Instructions
- Grease a loaf pan. To keep true to the times, spread shortening inside pan and sprinkle all purpose flour on all edges and bottom. Preheat oven at 350 °F.
- Beat two sticks butter (or 1 cup) until it reaches a creamy mixture. Then add in white sugar.
- Add in mace and five eggs one at a time while continue to beat cake batter.
- Add two cups of sifted flour and beat until everything is incorporated. Pour into baking loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
18th Century Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter, softened…[$2.00]
- 1⅓ cups white granulated sugar, …[$0.39]
- 1 tsp. ground mace, (or 1/2 tsp. allspice)…[$0.37]
- 5 eggs, …[$1.15]
- 2 cups all purpose flour, …[$0.46]
Instructions
- Grease a loaf pan. To keep true to the times, spread shortening inside pan and sprinkle all purpose flour on all edges and bottom.
Preheat oven at 350 °F. - Beat two sticks butter (or 1 cup) until it reaches a creamy mixture. Then add in white sugar.
- Add in mace and five eggs one at a time while continue to beat cake batter.
- Add two cups of sifted flour and beat until everything is incorporated. Pour into baking loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.