Todays recipe is for Mrs Beeton’s Luncheon Cake – a light fruit cake that would have been served at luncheon or for afternoon tea.
An Elegant Light Fruit Cake
Todays recipe is for Mrs Beeton’s Luncheon Cake – a light fruit cake that would have been served at luncheon or for afternoon tea.
A luncheon cake is a general term for a soda-raised fruit slab cake. In her original recipe, Mrs Beeton adds caraway seeds, currants and candied peel.
My adapted version uses mixed fruit in place of just currants and uses caster sugar.
A fabulously moist, buttery cake that improves with keeping despite it being a “light fruit cake”.
There are several recipes for Luncheon Cakes online, all of them suggesting that this is a light fruit cake that would be served during the day.
I particularly liked this recipe here, LUNCHEON CAKE, which is very similar to Mrs Beeton’s Luncheon Cake recipe.
That recipe comes from the Tritton family of Barford and was amassed through several generations including the Devas, Sedgwick, Tritton and Verney families, covering a period from around 1820s-2000s.
The recipe differs from Mrs Beeton’s insofar as it uses ground rice, which adds a crumbly texture, as well as ground nutmeg.
Warwickshire County Record Office reference CR4694/63
Mrs Beeton’s Original Recipe
Original Receipt in ‘The Book of Household Management’, 1861, edited by Isabella Beeton
LUNCHEON CAKE
- INGREDIENTS: ½ lb. of butter, 1 lb. of flour,½ oz. of caraway seeds, ¼ lb. of currants, 6 oz. of moist sugar, 1 oz. of candied peel, 3 eggs,½ pint of milk, 1 small teaspoonful of carbonate of soda.
Mode: Rub the butter into the flour until it is quite fine; add the caraway seeds, currants (which should be nicely washed, picked, and dried), sugar, and candied peel cut into thin slices; mix these well together, and moisten with the eggs, which should be well whisked. Boil the milk, and add to it, whilst boiling, the carbonate of soda, which must be well stirred into it, and, with the milk, mix the other ingredients. Butter a tin, pour the cake into it, and bake it in a moderate oven from ¾ to 1 hour.
Time: 1 to 14 hour.
Average cost: 1s. 8d.
Seasonable: at any time.
More Historical Cake Recipes
Pin me for Later
Recipe for Mrs Beeton’s Luncheon Cake
Mrs Beeton’s Luncheon Cake
Todays recipe is for Mrs Beeton’s Luncheon Cake - a light fruit cake that would have been served at luncheon or for afternoon tea.
A luncheon cake is a general term for a soda-raised fruit slab cake. In her original recipe, Mrs Beeton adds caraway seeds, currants and candied peel.
My adapted version uses mixed fruit in place of just currants and uses caster sugar.
A fabulously moist, buttery cake that improves with keeping despite it being a “light fruit cake”.
Ingredients
- 225g butter
- 450g flour
- 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
- 125g mixed fruit
- 25g candied peel
- 150g caster sugar
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 150ml milk, freshly boiled
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F and grease and line a round 8”/20cm cake tin.
2. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add the mixed fruit, peel, and sugar.
4. Mix well and then add the beaten eggs. Mix well again.
5. Add the bicarbonate of soda to the boiled milk and mix well.
6. Pour the milk into the other mixture and mix well until you have a smooth cake batter.
7. Spoon or pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 45 to 60 minutes.
Notes
Original Receipt in 'The Book of Household Management', 1861, edited by Isabella Beeton
LUNCHEON CAKE.1765.
INGREDIENTS :½ lb. of butter, 1 lb. of flour,½ oz. of caraway seeds, ¼ lb. of currants, 6 oz. of moist sugar, 1 oz. of candied peel, 3 eggs,½ pint of milk, 1 small teaspoonful of carbonate of soda.
Mode: Rub the butter into the flour until it is quite fine; add the caraway seeds, currants (which should be nicely washed, picked, and dried), sugar, and candied peel cut into thin slices; mix these well together, and moisten with the eggs, which should be well whisked.
Boil the milk, and add to it, whilst boiling, the carbonate of soda, which must be well stirred into it, and, with the milk, mix the other ingredients.
Butter a tin, pour the cake into it, and bake it in a moderate oven from ¾ to 1 hour.Time: 1 to 14 hour.
Average cost: 1s. 8d.
Seasonable: at any time.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 351Total Fat 17gSaturated Fat 10gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 88mgSodium 145mgCarbohydrates 44gFiber 1gSugar 14gProtein 6g
sherry says
that’s an interesting method for making a cake – rubbing the butter into the flour. sounds like scones or pastry doesn’t it? 🙂
Karen Burns-Booth says
It’s the standard old fashioned method for a rich fruit cake, but yes, fairly unsual today!
Anne Ashmore says
I would not say its Not rich fruit cake it more like a large scone with caraway seeds in ,the cake taste nice but dry!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Not sure how your cake was dry, as there’s 225g of butter in the recipe along with 3 eggs and milk!
When I made it, it was definitely what I’d call a light fruit cake as my photos will show.
Karen
Karen Burns-Booth says
Typical fat content for scones is as follows – this vintage cake recipe has way more fat in it per ratio of flour:
INGREDIENTS
225g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
50g butter
25g caster sugar
75g dried fruit
1 egg beaten with 150mls (1/4 pint) milk or buttermilk (keep a little back to glaze the tops of the scones)