Munchie Monday: Jelly Cake

Yet another delicious dessert recipe from the 19th century Macculloch-Miller handwritten cookbook, this time for Jelly Cake. But the question remains how big would a jelly cake be? Thankfully, the Henry Ford Museum shares a published jelly cake recipe from the 1836 edition of The New England Cook Book. Both the Macculloch-Miller recipe and the 1836 recipe mention baking the cake batter in multiple pans. The 1836 recipe includes the direction to “pile them together on a plate, with jelly spread on each one and jelly on top”. But what size cake pans were used, a full size round cake pan or mini tart pans? Fortunately, a Sears catalogue from 1897 lists a jelly cake pan, with the smallest being 9 x ½ inches, so a multi-layered jelly cake may have made quite an addition to the dessert table. Try the adapted recipe below to make small tart-size jelly cakes and enjoy!

Original Recipe—Jelly Cake
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
Piece of butter size of an egg
4 eggs
Three quarters of a teaspoonful of soda
1 teaspoonful cream of tartar
The soda dissolved in a tablespoonful of milk.
The cream of tartar mixed dry in the flour, which is added last. Bake in five tin plates. Spread with jelly when cool & set long before eating.

Adapted Recipe—Jelly Cake
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
¼ cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time and leaving time for each to combine. Mix ¾ teaspoon of baking soda with 1 tablespoon of milk and add to batter. Sift 1 cup of flour and 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar. Add to the batter until well combined. Grease 8 x 12 baking pan and pour batter into pan. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool on cooling rack.
To prepare jelly cakes, remove cake from pan and use a 3” biscuit cutter to cut small round cakes. Cut in half to make a top and bottom, spread jelly on the lower cake, cover with upper cake and spread another layer of jelly. Top with powdered sugar.
**In place of a rectangular baking pan, use eight to twelve 4” mini tart pans. Grease pans and pour batter into pans until half full. Adjust baking time and remove from oven when an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cut in half to make a top and bottom, spread jelly on the lower cake, cover with upper cake and spread another layer of jelly. Top with powdered sugar and serve.

Compare Louisa Macculloch’s Jelly Cake recipe with the 1836 Jelly Cake recipe shared by the Henry Ford Museum, https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/recipes-and-cookbooks/recipe/jelly-cake/?msclkid=b8a60bc6b1da11eca6178a84bcf949d9