This recipe is from the 1951 January edition of The Australian Home Beautiful, which can be found in Sydney Living Museums Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection. Elizabeth McKinnon, Eat Your History intern and Museum Studies Intern, decided to road test the recipe as part of her Museum Studies experience. It wasn’t as smooth as she had hoped.
Although I followed this recipe to the letter, the cake turned out like a fluffy pancake. It was a delicious cake, and I felt that my efforts were rewarded. However, there are a few things you can do to get a better outcome than mine. First, my cake tin is a little too large for the batter. (Hence the pancake look) Next time, I will use a smaller pan or double the mix. The flavor was delicious, and I’ll be making this again. For this cake, I used some of the fabulous kitchen equipment from my grandmother’s 50s, including her scales and rotary beater. I enjoyed using the vintage kitchen equipment and reliving a glamorous time in the 1950s to make this recipe.
Spinning Sugar Cake
Ingredients
Sponge CAKE
- Sugar 170g
- Water 6 tablespoons
- Drop lemon juice
- 100g of self-raising flour
- Sprinkle cinnamon
- Use a pinch of salt
- Three eggs
BUTTERCREAM FILLING
- One heaped teaspoon of cornflour
- 1 cup hot milk
- Butter 1 tablespoon
- 2 Tablespoons of caster sugar
- Drop vanilla (or flavor to taste)
BOILED FROSTING
- 2 Egg Whites (Unbeaten)
- Sugar, 1 1/2 cups
- 1/4 cup water
- Use more lemon juice or less water to enhance the flavor.
- Drop flavored essence to taste
- drop food coloring (if desired)