Raisin cake facts for kids
Raisin cake in Miltenberg, Germany
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| Type | Cake |
|---|---|
| Course | Dessert |
| Serving temperature | Cold or warmed |
| Main ingredients | Raisin and cake batter |
| Similar dishes | Fruitcake |
Raisin cake is a yummy type of cake that has raisins as its main ingredient. Sometimes, other tasty things like chocolate or rum are added too. People have been making raisin cakes for a very long time! They date back to at least the time of King David, around 1010–970 BCE. There's also a special kind called boiled raisin cake, which is made by boiling some ingredients first, then baking them. This method has been around since the American Civil War (1861–1865).
Contents
What is Raisin Cake?
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Raisin cake is usually made with regular cake ingredients, but with raisins as the star! You can use whole raisins or chop them up. Sometimes, people add other flavors like rum or chocolate. Adding rum can make the raisins plump and juicy because they soak up the moisture. You can even let the raisins sit in rum before you start baking. Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and pumpkin spice are also often used to give the cake a warm, inviting flavor.
The Long History of Raisin Cakes
Raisin cakes have a really old history! The Bible, in the second Book of Samuel, mentions that King David gave out cakes made of "a mass of dried grapes" around 1010–970 BCE. This sounds a lot like an early raisin cake!
In the early 1900s in the United States, some recipes for raisin cake used lard instead of butter. Lard is a type of fat that was often used in baking back then.
Boiled Raisin Cake: A Special Kind
Boiled raisin cake is a unique version of raisin cake. For this cake, some of the ingredients are boiled together first. After boiling, the mixture is put into cake pans and then baked. Sometimes, this type of cake is made without common cake ingredients like butter, eggs, or milk. This can make the cake very moist.
This kind of cake became popular during the American Civil War (1861–1865). People in frontier areas, where supplies might have been limited, made it using a Dutch oven. Simple versions from that time often used only raisins, sugar, and a type of fat like vegetable shortening or lard. Boiled raisin cake has even been called a "war cake" because it was often made during times when food was scarce.
Images for kids
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Raisin cheesecake
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A small raisin cake
