THE ORIGINAL ‘RECEIPT’

CIDER CAKE. – Flour 6 cups; sugar 3 cups; butter 1 cup; 4 eggs; cider 1 cup;  saleratus 1 teaspoon; 1 grated nutmeg.

Beat the eggs, sugar and butter together, and stir in the flour and nutmeg; dissolve the saleratus in the cider, and stir into the mass, and bake immediately, in a quick oven.

~ Chase, A. W.  Dr. Chase’s Recipes.  London, Ont: E.A. Taylor, 1868.

THE UPDATED RECIPE

• ½ c. butter
• 1 ½ c. brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 ¼ c. sifted all-purpose flour
• ½ nutmeg, grated (or 1 tsp. ground nutmeg)
• 1 ½ tsp. cream of tartar
• ½ c. apple cider
• 1 tsp. baking soda.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease two 7 ½ by 3 1/2 -inch loaf pans with butter.  (or grease one 6-cavity baby bundt cake pan – I used this one).

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon.

Beat each egg lightly with a fork, and then add it to the creamed mixture;  beat to combine thoroughly, after each addition.

Sift together the flour, grated nutmeg, and cream of tartar.

Add these dry ingredients to the batter mixture, and beat together thoroughly.

Add the baking soda to the cider, and quickly pour the frothy mixture into the batter; beat together until the batter is light and smooth.

Pour an equal portion of batter into each of the buttered loaf pans (or if you are using the baby bundt cake pan, divide the mixture amongst the 6 cavities and fill ¾ of the way to the top).

Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for approximately 40 minutes if using the loaf pans (and approximately 30 minutes if using the baby bundt pan). Bake until lightly browned, and a cake tester, when inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, and cool on a rack; Cider Cake may be served either warm or at room temperature.  

Yield: 8 – 10 servings if made in loaf pans (4 – 5 slices per loaf), or 6 larger servings if made in the 6-cavity baby bundt pan.

Preserved fruit or maple syrup make ideal accompaniments to this delicately flavoured cake.  A warm caramel sauce would also be an excellent topping, as would a dusting of icing sugar.

A note from Patricia: I bought my baby bundt cake pans about a year ago, and am always looking for ways to use them. Things are just better when they are made in the form of a baby bundt, so I thought I would try out this cider cake recipe in bundt form, instead of baking them in the loaf pans as the recipe directed. This cake is fantastic – it’s moist and full of spice and feels like a warm hug. I used 1:1 gluten free flour and it turned out beautifully. I made sure to grease the tins with butter, and then sprinkled flour over the butter to more easily remove the little bundt cakes from the tin once cooked. To finish these off, I dusted them with sifted icing sugar, and they looked quite pretty but I’ll be sure to drizzle some maple syrup later on when I’m having another. (To be honest, I attempted to make a caramel sauce on the stovetop to pour over these, and it was a fail…. it turned into hard caramel candy… oops. See the photo below.)