Historical Food Fortnightly 2016, Challenge No. 15: A Feast for the Senses

The Challenge:
15. Smell, Sight, Sound, Touch (July 15 - July 28) For this challenge, create a feast for the senses. Cook a dish that is a treat for more than just the tastebuds, whether it is scent, texture, visual appeal, or sound.

Intro
Into
Bursting juicy fruit flavor. Sweet vanilla. Spicy nutmeg. Moist cake. Refreshing frozen cream meets a luscious light cake. In the heat wave we've been having, ice cream cake is just the feast our senses demand.

The Recipe:
From: The Lady's Receipt Book by Eliza Leslie, 1847, page. 206
ICE-CREAM CAKES.--Stir together, till very light, a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter. Beat six eggs very light, and stir into them half a pint of rich milk. Add, gradually, the eggs and milk to the butter and sugar, alternately with a half pound of sifted flour. Add a glass of sweet wine, and some grated nutmeg. When all the ingredients are mixed, stir the batter very hard. Then put it into small, deep pans, or cups, that have been well-buttered, filling them about two-thirds with the batter. Set them, immediately, into a brisk oven, and bake them brown. When done, remove them from the cups, and place them, to cool, on an inverted sieve. When quite cold, make a slit or incision in the side of each cake. If very light, and properly baked, they will be hollow in the middle. Fill up this cavity with ice-cream, carefully put in with a spoon, and then close the slit, with your fingers, to prevent the cream running out. Spread them on a large dish. Either send them to table immediately, before the ice-cream melts, or keep them on ice till wanted.

The Date/Year and Region: 
Early to middle 19th century, mid Atlantic United States

How Did You Make It:
1/4 pound sugar (1/2 cup)
1/4 pound butter (1/2 cup)

6 eggs
1/2 pint milk (1 cup)

add eggs/milk to butter/sugar
1/2 pound of flour (2 cups)

glass of sweet wine (assume wine glass= 1/4 cup)
grated nutmeg

brisk oven until brown ( 425* for 20 minutes)
remove and cool

make a slit in the cake

spoon a scoop of ice cream into the slit and pinch closed

Serve immediately.

Time to Complete: 
About 60 minutes

Total Cost: 
Figure $4.00 for the ice cream and the rest were pantry staples.

How Successful Was It: 
It was great, a very tasty treat. The promised hallows weren't so hallow, so it might have been better split like a shortcake.

How Accurate Was It: 
I'd say it comes close to accurate, with modern ice cream.