Emily Dickinson's Black Cake Recipe

Updated for Modern Kitchens

Read the Notes from Experience First!

Notes from Experience:

• Keep the water pan 1 inch full; otherwise, you'll have a black brick.
• I find that parchment paper works better than waxed paper.  This cake is rich;
  you'll think you're tasting heaven (well, of course you are).
• I usually use only half the listed amounts of raisins, currants, and citron and the
  cake still weighs a ton.
• The longer the cake sits (in a cool, dark spot), the better it will taste.
• Emily used to put hers in the cellar for a month, but I think 19th century people
  had a different attitude toward mold than we do...:-)

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1/2 lb. butter
5 eggs
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp clove
1 tsp mace
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg, ground
1/4-1/2 cup brandy
1 lb. raisins
2/3 cup currants
2/3 lb. citron

Directions:

Place a shallow pan of water on the bottom of the oven.  Preheat oven to 225 F. Add sugar gradually to butter;  blend until light and creamy.   Add unbeaten eggs and molasses.  Beat well. Resift flour with soda and spices. If you're using unsalted butter, add 1/2 tsp salt. Beat sifted ingredients into mixture, alternately adding brandy. Stir in raisins, currants, and citron.

Pour batter into two loaf pans lined with waxed paper. Bake at 225F for 3 hours.  Remove pan of water for last 1/2 hour. Let loaves cool before removing from pans. Remove paper and wrap in fresh paper.