Currants should be nicely washed, dried in a cloth, and then set before
the fire. If not quite dry they will make the cake heavy. The cake
will be the lighter if a dust of flour be thrown on the currants and
then shaken.
Eggs should be beaten very long, the whites and the yolks apart, after
which, they must be strained.—Sugar should be rubbed to a powder, on a
clean board, and sifted through a fine hair or lawn sieve. Lemon-peel
should be pared quite thin, and beaten, with a little sugar, in a
marble mortar, to a paste; and then mixed with a little wine or cream,
so as to mix easily with the other ingredients. After all the articles
are put together in the pan, they should be thoroughly beaten for a
long while, as the lightness of the cake greatly depends on their being
well incorporated. Yeast, in either black or white plum cakes, makes
them require less butter and eggs, and yet be equally light and rich.
The dough when made should be set to rise by the fire. If the oven be
not _quick_ the batter will not rise, and the cake will be heavy: if
you think it too quick, put some paper over the cake to prevent its
being burnt.