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In my quest to bring you vintage recipes for modern lives, I find that I often have to do a lot of tweaking of seasonings and flavorings to oomph up recipes from the 1940s (or earlier) and 1950s. This is not one of those recipes. It is absolutely perfect just the way it is, despite it’s not-at-all exciting name.
This recipe is from the Rumford Complete Cookbook (reprint available here), which was first published in 1908. My copy is from 1948. The title in the book is Plain Loaf Cake, but it’s anything but plain. It’s just sweet enough, without being too sweet. It has a fine crumb, and a delicate flavor that lets its simple ingredients shine. You’ll be seeing some flavor variations soon, but trust me–try the original version first.
What You’ll Need:
This is the recipe in the book, and I followed it as written, but I want to give you a few notes. 1. Sift the flour first, then measure. 2. I did not use Rumford baking powder–use whatever brand you like. 3. I used a 9 inch Pyrex loaf pan, and the batter fit perfectly. 4. I found that it needed to bake closer to 55 minutes or an hour, but set your timer at 45 minutes, and see how much longer you need, since ovens vary.
