Vinegar Cake

 

VINEGAR CAKE is a recipe in THE CONSTANCE SPRY COOKERY BOOK, by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume (1956 reprinted 1967) and I've wanted to make it for a few weeks. Today was the day. The sky was a weird mustardy thundery spooky kind of colour and the rain was non-stop...vinegar cake it is!

So apparently, vinegar acts as an egg substitute! Not sure how that works, (I always thought egg was used to bind, and I can't see how vinegar can do that?) but in this recipe, you mix the vinegar with slightly warm milk, and baking powder, and it works brilliantly. Kazaaaam!
Oh, have just done a bit of googling and it appears that most people choose cider vinegar or wine vinegar. I've used malt...haven't tasted the cake yet, so hope that's alright...

Half of the delight for me of cooking from old recipe books is the lack of photos and the font.

Ooooooo, just look at that ink still glistening! It's ALMOST, although not quite, as if it's just been typed, and I'm imagining a teeny indentation on the dots where Constance Spry has hit the full stop key on her typewriter with a flourish.

So here's the actual recipe:

In case this isn't readable, and just because I quite like typing, I'll type it out again here:

This is a plainish cake, without eggs, suitable for picnics or packed lunch, eaten with cheese.

How nice. Cake and cheese seem to be out of fashion at the moment. It's mostly cake and coffee, or cream. Cake with cheese sounds ripe for a comeback.

6oz. butter or dripping (I used butter)
1Ib. flour (I used plain)
1/2Ib. sugar (I used caster)
1/2Ib. currants
1/4Ib. raisins (don't think there's any need to stone them anymore is there?)
3 tablespoons vinegar (I used malt but that may be a mistake...)
Just over 1/4 pint of milk
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda (I used baking powder as I'd run out of bicarb)

Rub the fat well into the flour, add the sugar and cleaned fruit. Put the vinegar into a large jug and add the milk, reserving a spoonful or two. (Not sure what this was in reserve for, and in fact I ignored it and used the whole lot). Warm this slightly and mix it with the soda. Add quickly to the jug, being careful to hold it over the bowl as the mixture will froth up. (It's true, like an exciting science experiment!)

Stir it at once into the mixture and turn into a prepared tin (I used a loaf tin lined with baking parchment - double on the base). Bake in a moderate oven for the first 20 minutes and then lower the heat slightly for the next 40-50 minutes. (Okay, my oven door has to be propped closed with a broom, and the temperature has been worn off, so I guessed at the highest temperature for about 25 minutes, as I can't heat the oven first, and then turned it down to around 200c until it smelt really really good, and the tiny kitchen was too hot to bear - around 40 minutes).

It came out looking like this:

And dropped beautifully out of its' tin onto the wire rack like this:

I'm going to cut it open in a minute....but first smells are very encouraging, no malt vinegar wafting through at all. It reminds me of my Grandma's kitchen, and smells light, like a fruit scone, not heavy (although it weighs a brick).

Ahem...I cut it open, and, well actually it's sort of RAW in the middle!!!

And the photo is upside down. Ahhhhh, it's all gone wrong already. The end slices aren't too bad, and it gets worse as you cut through towards the centre. 

BUT, the taste (not the uncooked bits) is really good. Satisfying, fairly sweet, absolutely no taste of vinegar, and, although I was a bit too downhearted to try it with cheese on a picnic, I feel sure that if it was cooked more thoroughly, it would be a splendid addition to any packed lunch or picnic.

So, reading back through the chapter, I think I can see where I've gone wrong (maybe). I was quite dismissive of holding back a couple of spoonfuls of milk, but actually there's full instructions for the technique earlier on in the chapter, under Method 1. The rubbing-in method.

I'm going to type the whole thing out as I'm hoping that by typing, it'll make me actually read it.

Method 1

In this the fat, varying in kind and proportion according to the type of cake in hand, is rubbed in with the fingers; this should be done thoroughly so that it is evenly distributed throughout the flour. When properly done the fat is no longer distinguishable and the flour acquires a rougher, somewhat crumbly appearance. During the process the flour should be raised with the fingers and allowed to drop down into the bowl from time to time: this keeps it cool and aerated. If this process is carried out too heavily or continued for too long the mixture, instead of being light, firm and crumbly, becomes moist. After the incorporation of the fat is completed other dry ingredients are added, sugar and fruit, etc., then the eggs (or vinegar in their place) and finally the milk and the baking soda. After the addition of liquid the mixture is not beaten but merely stirred thoroughly and then turned into a cake tin.

The following summing-up of rules for the above method will serve for reference: 

1. Sift the flour with the spices into a bowl.
2. Rub the fat well into the flour, lifting the flour up all the time, and rubbing and sifting it through the fingers.
3. Mix in the sugar, cleaned fruit, chopped peel, nuts etc.
4. Beat the eggs until frothy, and mix them with a good three-quarters of the milk. If using vinegar in the place of eggs, pour the milk on to the vinegar in a deep bowl or jug.
5. Heat the remaining milk until barely lukewarm, then add the soda.
6. Mix the eggs and milk (or vinegar ad milk) quickly and lightly into the dry ingredients, then lastly add the milk and soda. N.B Sour milk may be used with advantage, and if this is done a smaller amount of soda is required.
7. Stir only enough to mix thoroughly. Do not beat vigorously as this toughens the mixture and makes the cake heavy. The consistency of the mixture should be moist without being too wet; it should just drop from the spoon.
8. Turn immediately into a prepared cake tin, i.e. greased, papered, and floured, and bake in a moderate oven, 350-380F., 40 minutes to 1 1/2 hours according to the size of the cake. Rock-cakes, plain fruit, vinegar, eggless, and dripping cakes are made by this method.

Spry, C & Hume, R., The Constance Spry Cookery Book. 8th Ed. London: DENT

So, this is where I think I went wrong:

1. Overdid the rubbing in of the fat (it did get a bit moist, and I didn't do any of the lifting and aerating).
2. The vinegar/milk/soda. You mix most of the milk with the vinegar and then only warm up a bit of the milk and add soda to that.
3. I definitely beat the mixture, rather then stirring, which made the cake heavy. The consistency was more like dough than of a dropping consistency which probably made it too dense, and then maybe more difficult to cook in the centre?
4. The temperature was too high, so although the outside was cooked, it needed longer in the middle. 

 Sigh, a lot to learn!