Munchie Monday: Railroad Cake

The 19^th century Macculloch-Miller handwritten cookbook contains two recipes for Railroad Cake—one called Railroad Sponge Cake and one for Railroad Cake. Today, Railroad Cake might bring to mind images of children’s birthday cakes with Thomas the Tank engine. In the 19^th century, however, railroad cake most likely related to traveling as a passenger on the “new” way to travel –by train.

Railroad Cake dates itself. The existence of the railroad and passenger trains dates to at least 1850 at the national level and even earlier in New Jersey. The Camden & Amboy (C&A) Railroad made early advancements with railroads in the 1830s. By the early 1860s, over 500,000 passengers were traveling by train on the C&A line each year in New Jersey.

When traveling by train was new, train rides were often short. Train companies did not need to make accommodations for passengers to purchase food or drinks. As trips became longer, the options for eating coincided with stops the trains needed to make every hundred miles for wood and water. At these stops passengers were only given twenty minutes to leave the train, find food, eat, and return to the train before the train departed. There were some early attempts at improving “train food” for passengers but it really wasn’t until George Pullman (1831-1897) introduced the Delmonico, in 1868, that a full-service dining car was available.

Recipes for railroad cake vary from pound cake-like texture to soda bread to a jelly roll cake. The two Macculloch-Miller recipes list basic ingredients—flour, sugar, butter, milk, and eggs with cream of tartar and baking soda as leavening agents. No additional flavorings were added. That is not true for all Railroad Cake recipes. Some nineteenth and early twentieth century recipes included lemon, carraway seeds, raisins, nuts, or even orange peel. Railroad cake was made to be portable, to bring on the train while traveling because it was not gooey or too crumbly. The Macculloch-Miller recipe makes a nice yellow cake recipe that can enhanced with icing, a coating of powdered sugar, or fresh fruit.

 

Original Recipe—Railroad Cake

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup milk

½ cup butter

3 eggs

2 teaspoons cream tartar

1 teaspoon soda

 

Adapted Recipe—Railroad Cake

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup milk

½ cup butter, softened

3 eggs

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, blending well between each egg. In another bowl sift flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Add flour mixture and milk, alternating between wet and dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture. After ingredients are combined pour cake batter into a greased 8 x 8 cake pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Check cake at 35 minutes by inserting toothpick into center of cake. When the toothpick comes out clean the cake is done.

 

References:

More information about Train Car Dining from the Strasburg Railroad Museum in Pennsylvania Blog: Train Car Dining History | Strasburg Rail Road

The Colorado Railroad Museum provides additional historic recipes for Railroad Cake Dining on the Rails: Railroad Cake! – Colorado Railroad Museum