There
is nothing sour in the Vinegar Cake recipe which Pat’s friend Sheila wrote out
for me. It’s actually a WW2 recipe where a dash of vinegar replaces the egg.
I
made her original recipe using double quantities to make a cake to take to my
talk about WW2 rationing and how it affected baking. Sheila was a school girl
at the time but remembers the recipe from her School Cookery in 1942. Dried
fruit went on the rationing list in January 1942 so making a small cake like
this would be quite precious. The vinegar replaces eggs which were also rationed
and in short supply unless you kept hens!
Vinegar Cake
8oz/225g flour
4oz/110g butter (or margarine)
3oz/75g mixed fruit
3oz sugar
2 tsps bicarbonate of soda
4 tsps vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
½ pint/275ml milk
Pre
heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Rub the butter into the flour. Add the fruit,
sugar and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well. Add the vinegar and enough milk to
make a stiff dropping consistency. Place in a greased/lined cake tin. (I used a
2lbs/1kg loaf tin but you could use a 7inch/20cms round or square cake tin). Bake
in a moderate oven for 30 minutes.
Meryl says : It’s a
very simple cake which works well and useful as a light fruit cake if you need
an egg free diet. Don’t let the Vinegar in the name of the cake put you off!
