Martha Washington's Great Cake

Debber's Note:

Just the other day--while laying on the couch being sick--I watched Martha Stewart's TV program. Caroline Kennedy is writing a book featuring recipes from our country's past. Martha brought out her old catering service HUGE Hobart mixer, and it was fun (being sick & all "fun" is relative!) to watch her put this together---WOW! Today I was paging through a "Christmas traditions" book my SIL gave me a few years ago and wow--here's the recipe Martha S. & Caroline Kennedy were re-creating on the TV program. The book says, "From an old manuscript dated 'Mount Vernon, 1781" made by Martha Custis Washington for her grandmama." I'm purely guessing on the serving amounts.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 40

Yield: 1.0 huge cake

• 40 eggs , separated
• 4 lbs butter , softened
• 4 lbs sugar
• 5 lbs flour
• 5 lbs fruit (pears & apples)
• ½ ounce mace
• 1 nutmeg
• 1 cup wine
• french brandy

Directions:

1. WRITTEN AS PER MARTHA WASHINGTON'S DIRECTIONS.
2. Take forty eggs and divide the whites from the yolks, and beat them (whites) to a froth.
3. Then work the butter to a cream, and put the whites of the eggs to it, a cup at a time, until well-worked.
4. Then add sugar (finely powdered) to it in the same manner (one cup at a time).
5. Then put the egg yolks and flour and fruit to it.
6. Add to it mace, nutmeg, wine and brandy.
7. Two hours will bake it. (350 degrees).
8. In the TV program: Martha Stewart baked this in a 16x16x3-inch square pan (it was HUGE!). I suppose you could divide the batter between two 13x9 pans, too.
9. She frosted it with a meringue (whipped egg white & sugar) that was lightly baked to give it a crunch -- and claimed that it would keep for weeks if the cake wasn't cut.
10. She's got a smaller version on her website.