First Lady Martha Washington’s Fruit Cake, 1700’s recipe
“This recipe according to the best of authority is a correct copy from Martha Washington’s old original
receipt book.”
1 1/2 pounds sugar
1/2 pound butter
6 egg yolks, well beaten
1 pint of sour cream
1 teaspoonful soda
1 3/4 pounds sifted flour
6 egg whites, stiffly beaten
1 pound raisins, stoned and chopped
1 pound currants, well cleaned
1/2 pound citon, thin sliced
juice of 1 lemon
grated yellow rind of 2 lemons
1 nutmeg, grated
a sprinkling of mace
“Beat to a cream a pound and a half of sugar an a half pound butter. Add gradually the well beaten yolks of six eggs and a pint of cream, sour cream, in which a teaspoonful soda has been dissolved. Alternating with the addition of the sour cream, add a pound and three-quarters of sifted flour. Fold in the stiffly beaten whites of the six eggs and lastly one pound each stoned and chopped raisins and well cleaned currants and a half pound, thin sliced citron, over which mixture has been sprinkled the
juice of one lemon and yellow rind of two, one grated nutmeg and a sprinkling of mace. Turn into a paper lined pan and bake slowly two and a half hours, covering with buttered paper while baking.”
Source: Younstown Ohio Vindicator newspaper, Friday, Dec 18, 1908