Image: Alex Bray...
Original Receipt adapted from 'Court Favorites' by Elizabeth Craig (1953)1/2 lb Butter or margarine -softened
1 ts Ground caraway seeds
2 oz Chopped mixed peel
1 lb Plain flour
1/2 ts Ground allspice
4 oz Dark brown or Barbados sugar
1/4 ts Bicarbonate of soda
1 oz Ground ginger
1 lb Black treacle
1/2 lb Blanched, chopped almonds
3 Eggs
Preheat the oven to 350F. Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like coarse meal. Stir in the sugar, ginger, almonds, spices, the peel and the bicarbonate of soda until well blended. Beat the eggs with the treacle and stir into the dry ingredients. Pour into 2 buttered and floured loaf tins and bake in the oven for approximately 35-40 minutes or until the cakes are risen and just shrinking from the sides of the pan. Turn out onto racks and cool.