Grandma Winifred Mehan's Spice Cake

 

This simple and tasty vintage recipe is from my 

English Grandma Winnie.

Cake Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sour milk** (or 1/2 cup milk with 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar added. Let sit 5 minutes  or longer.)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease and lightly flour a square baking pan. Cream the butter and brown sugar. Beat in 2 eggs and egg yolk. Sift together remaining ingredients. Add to creamed mixture. Stir in sour milk. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until a pick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Prepare topping.

Topping Ingredients: 

1 egg white

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Method:

Beat egg whites until stiff. Beat in brown sugar and stir in nuts. When cake comes out of the oven, spread the topping evenly on top. Broil for 1 minute or less. Serve warm or chilled. Serves 6.

**It was common for Grandma's generation to make use of everything, even sour milk. No worries, if your milk goes sour, you can make cake!

Notes: This simple cake is similar to gingerbread. My husband liked this cake served chilled, even though he doesn't normally like cloves or meringue. (The original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon cloves, which surprisingly is not overwhelming. If desired, reduce to 1/2 teaspoon.)

 

Watch carefully so that 
the topping doesn't burn.