How To Make A Plumb Cake

This recipe hails from around 1700, a time when plum cakes—what we might now call fruitcakes—were treasured festive or celebratory treats. 'Plumb' referred not just to plums but to any dried fruit, especially currants or raisins. The recipe comes from a handwritten English household collection, reflecting the luxurious ingredients available to well-to-do families. The scale is enormous—enough for a large gathering or even a country house party—and would have been seen as a display of both wealth and generosity. Sack, an early form of fortified wine akin to modern sherry, was common in English baking. The use of wooden hoops as bake-forms and communal ovens speaks to pre-industrial domestic life, where kitchens bustled at the heart of the home.

The original cook would have used a large wooden bowl for mixing the dough, with hands or a wooden spoon as the primary tools. Butter was rubbed into flour, requiring strength and patience. Wooden ‘hoops’—circular forms or frames—lined with parchment or buttered cloth served as cake tins before metal bakeware was common. Cakes were often baked by placing them close to, or inside, a large open hearth or bread oven, sometimes with embers banked around the form for gentle, even baking. A grater for nutmeg, a large spoon for stirring, and a warm spot by the fire for proofing the dough rounded out the essential equipment.