Tasty Tuesday ~ White Pound Cake

From Mrs Wilson's Cook Book

WHITE POUND CAKE

Four ounces of butter,

One and one-half cups of sugar.

Cream until light and frothy, and then add

One cupful of milk,

Three and one-half cupfuls of flour,

Four teaspoonfuls of baking powder,

One teaspoonful of almond extract,

One-half teaspoonful of mace.

Beat for five minutes to blend and then cut and fold in the stiffly beaten whites of five eggs. Bake in prepared pans for one hour in a moderate oven. Use the pans prepared the same as for the fruit cake. Golden cake may be made from this recipe, using the yolks of seven eggs.

To use successfully you must use good shortening, pastry flour, granulated sugar and fresh eggs. Exact care in measuring with the proper methods of compounding and finally careful baking are necessary. Now for another point: do not stir the cake after its final beating.

In filling the cake pan put the mixture well into the corners and leave a slight depression in the centre. This will leave the cake perfectly smooth on top. Now, if the oven is too cool when the cakes go into it the cake will rise over the top of the pans and become coarse-grained. While, on the other hand, if it is too hot it will brown quickly on the top before the cake has had a chance to rise; then when the dough does attempt to rise it will break through and crack the crust. Too much flour will also cause this. Now to break the old hoodoos about cake-baking! You may look at the cake after it is in the oven ten minutes if you will open and shut the oven door gently, and if necessary to remove the cake wait until it has reached its full height and is beginning to brown. Then it may be removed carefully without danger of falling. Sometimes it may be necessary to remove the cakes so that they may brown evenly. Icing the cakes greatly improves their appearance. Should the cake for any reason scorch, don't trim it with a knife. This spoils its appearance; instead use a grater and remove the scorched part.