Plain does not mean careless. This cake asks for creaming, alternating additions, and folding egg whites: three distinct techniques within a modest ingredient list.
Ingredients from the selected recipe
- 4 tablespoons shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, separated
- ½ cup milk
- 1½ cups flour
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Method
- Cream the shortening, add sugar, and beat until light and creamy.
- Add beaten egg yolks.
- Sift flour and baking powder together, then add alternately with the milk.
- Add salt and vanilla. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.
- Bake as a loaf at 350°F, or in layers at 375°F, until the cake shrinks from the pan.
Modern reading and kitchen notes
The edition provides temperatures but no pan dimensions, yield, or elapsed baking time. The shrinking-from-the-pan cue is not the only check you should use for a fully baked cake. Do not taste raw batter. This is the authorized base used by the separate orange-cake sample.
Before you begin
Read the complete method and prepare suitable equipment before mixing. Keep any adaptation separate from the source instructions. Missing yields, pan sizes, or times are not silently filled with invented values. Use current food-safety guidance rather than assuming every historical kitchen habit is appropriate today.
Source and safety references
The edition names Nell B. Nichols’s The Farm Cook and Rule Book (1923). Its source and restoration notes are included in the complete book. This preview does not provide the paid PDF or any additional book recipes.
FDA: Handling Flour Safely · FoodSafety.gov: Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures · USDA: Leftovers and Food Safety