Recipe Manuscript

To Make A Seed Cake

Name: To Make A Seed Cake
Prep time: PTPT25M
Cook time: PTPT1H
Yield: 16
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 450 grams unsalted butter; 2 tablespoons rose water (optional, for washing butter); 450 grams plain flour; 450 grams caster sugar; 20 grams (2 tablespoons) caraway seeds; 1.5 teaspoons ground mace; 9 large eggs (using half the whites); 50-60 ml sweet sherry (or substitute with Marsala wine or white port); Butter and parchment paper for the tin

1695

From the treasured pages of Cookery and medicinal recipes of the Granville family from Worcestershire and Cadiz

Written by Granville family

Renaissance (1400 - 1700)European Intermediate Dessert Snack

Original Recipe • 1695

Original Manuscript(circa Renaissance, 1400 - 1700)

As inscribed by the original author's hand, transcribed with care by Lost Kitchen Scrolls

To Make A Seed Cake

"Mrs Berkers Recept To make a Seed Cake. Take a pound of Butter, wash it in Rose Water, then work it with your hand till tis as thin as Cream; then take a pound of Flower well Dryd, and a pound of finely beaten and Sifted Sugar, finely beaten two Ounces of Carraway Seeds, three Thimbles full of pounded mace, Mix all the Dry things together and put them by degrees into the Butter, then mix them well together, then beat 9 Eggs, half the Whites, and 3 or four Spoonfull of Sack Put these into the Other Ingredients, beat it all well with your hand, having your Oven ready put ye Cake into the hoop and have a double paper Buttered to put over it if there is Occasion — One hour will bake it."

Note on the Original Text

The recipe is written in a conversational, semi-imperative style, typical of early modern English household manuscripts. Quantities use familiar weights (pounds, ounces) and household utensils (thimbles, spoonfuls) as measures. Spellings like 'Flower' for 'flour,' and 'mace' for the spice reflect period spelling; 'Sack' is a type of imported Spanish wine. Instruction order assumes familiarity with basic techniques—'work it with your hand till tis as thin as Cream'—and oven temperature is unmentioned, as cooks relied on sensory cues and experience. This format, while lacking the precision of modern recipes, shows a reliance on tactile skill, trust in the cook's judgment, and a communal passing of knowledge from cook to reader.

Modern Kitchen Interpretation

Recipe's Origin

Cookery and medicinal recipes of the Granville family from Worcestershire and Cadiz - Click to view recipe in book

Title

Cookery and medicinal recipes of the Granville family from Worcestershire and Cadiz (1695)

You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome

Writer

Granville family

Era

1695

Publisher

Unknown

Background

A delightful journey through the culinary traditions of the Granville family, this historical recipe collection serves up a taste of English kitchens from the 17th and early 18th centuries. Brimming with time-honored techniques and flavors, it invites modern readers to savor the spirited inventiveness of early modern home cooks.

Kindly made available by

Folger Shakespeare Library

Historical Background of the Recipe

Learn about old traditions

This Seed Cake recipe comes from the Granville family collection, copied between approximately 1640 and 1750 in England. Seed cake was a festive, homey treat especially popular in country households, often served at gatherings or with tea. The recipe reflects a time when strong flavors like caraway and mace were prized in cakes, and cakes themselves were in transition from yeast-raised to the more modern, egg-leavened types. Its presence in a prominent family's manuscript highlights both the importance of hospitality and the influence of global trade, with spices and alcohols like mace and sack (a type of fortified wine) featuring as luxurious inclusions.

Culinary Tools when the Recipe was Crafted

Tools and techniques from kitchens of old

Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, cooks would have used a large wooden bowl for mixing and their hands for beating the butter and cake mixture. Eggs would be beaten by hand with a fork or a bunch of small twigs (a primitive whisk). Baking would be done in a brick or clay oven, with temperatures judged by experience rather than thermometer—the 'hour' of baking was closely watched by peeking into the oven. The 'cake hoop' is a bottomless tin ring lined with paper, a forerunner of the cake tin. A mortar and pestle were used to grind spices and sometimes to finely beat sugar, as refined sugar was not as fine as today.

Modern Kitchen Adaptation

Ingredients and techniques for today's cooks

ounces, cups, Fahrenheit

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Servings

We've done our best to adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, but some details may still need refinement. We warmly welcome feedback from fellow cooks and culinary historians — your insights support the entire community!

Ingredients

1 pound (16 ounces) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons rose water (optional, for washing butter)
1 pound (16 ounces) plain flour
1 pound (16 ounces) caster sugar
0.7 ounce (2 tablespoons) caraway seeds
1.5 teaspoons ground mace
9 large eggs (using half the whites)
2–2.1 fl oz (3-4 tablespoons) sweet sherry (or substitute with Marsala wine or white port)
Butter and parchment paper for the tin

Instructions

Start by taking 1 pound (16 ounces) of unsalted butter and softening it, then washing it in a little rose water (about 2 tablespoons).
Cream the butter until very soft and light.
Sift together 1 pound (16 ounces) of plain flour (warmed slightly in a low oven to dry, if desired) and 1 pound (16 ounces) of caster sugar.
Add 2 tablespoons (about 0.7 ounce) of caraway seeds and 1.5 teaspoons of ground mace to the flour and sugar mixture.
Gradually mix the dry ingrediants into the softened butter until combined.
In a seperate bowl, lightly beat 9 eggs, using only half of the whites.
Add 3-4 tablespoons (2–2.1 fl oz) of sweet sherry (or Sack wine, if available) to the eggs.
Combine the egg mixture with the earlier mix and beat everything together until smooth.
Butter a large cake tin or hoop, line it with baking paper, and spoon in the batter.
Cover loosely with another piece of buttered paper if the top seems likely to brown too quickly.
Bake in a preheated oven at 320°F (fan 285°F), for about 1 hour, until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Estimated Calories

370 per serving

Cooking Estimates

You need around 25 minutes to prepare the ingredients and mix the batter. The cake then bakes for about 1 hour. This recipe makes about 16 servings, with each serving containing about 370 calories.

As noted above, we have made our best effort to translate and adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, taking into account ingredients nowadays, cooking techniques, measurements, and so on. However, historical recipes often contain assumptions that require interpretation.

We'd love for anyone to help improve these adaptations. Community contributions are highly welcome. If you have suggestions, corrections, or cooking tips based on your experience with this recipe, please share them below.