"Cake"- New England Cake for the New Year's Eve
This cake is very modest as all the puritan style cakes of our family. What was special about this cake in our family- sifting the flour for three times without anything mixing into it. At the fourth time the flour was sifted with the baking powder. The cake usually comes out quite grainy.
For this cake you will need
11/2 cup of fresh sweet unsalted butter
11/ 2 cups of white granulated sugar
1 cup of cold fresh water
2 rounded teaspoons of baking powder - we use Calumet, but Glabber Girl baking powder works fine as well
4 eggs
1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
11/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 even cups of the finest white wheat pastry flour
1 pinch of kosher salt or up to taste
Chill down the eggs in the fridge and beat the whites of four eggs with a pinch of salt and half of the sugar . Add into the eggs your spices- 1/4 teaspoon of the almond extract, plus 11/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Take 3 even cups of the finest white wheat pastry flour sifted 3 times. The fourth time you sift the flour with the baking powder and the rest of your sugar. Add the melted butter into the flour and pour the water into the flour. Rub the dough well and add the beaten whites of the egg slowly. Bake the cake in the medium hot oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.