Election Cake - A Lost Tradition We Could Use More Than Ever November 06 2016

This has been quite the election.  Let’s bring back some sweetness and gratitude. America used to celebrate Election Day with a special cake - this year we are too! Get our cupcakes online or starting tomorrow (Monday) in the Broomfield Bakery.

In the early days local governments would commission huge cakes for community festivities. Elections were an event and often a destination for folk who would have to travel to make it to town for voting. Cake also encouraged voting and put women – the bakers and party organizers – square in the middle of an event from which they were otherwise excluded. 

Thanks to another Susannah and the ladies at Owl Bakery for bringing this back to the forefront this year. We’re joining in a new tradition – #MakingAmericaCakeAgain. With women owned businesses leading the charge!

The goal of this collaborative, grassroots project is "to allow us to explore the history of food in our country and political and social landscape, to do something that feels meaningful in a time of high national political tension and global social uncertainty, and at the same time, to have fun and to celebrate our democracy and the power of food (and cake!) to bring people together."

And, for me, celebrating the things for which we can be grateful about this country! 

If you’re feeling helpless, eating cake and making a list of things you can appreciate can do wonders! (Can’t think of anything? Don’t worry, Canada’s got your back).  

Amelia Simmons wrote the first known documented recipe for election cake in her 1796 second edition book American Cookery, though we know versions of this cake called Muster Cakes were made even before Election Days were a thing.

For a base recipe, that’s quite the list of ingredients! It is worth noting this cake was made with sourdough. So cool! A natural leavening that with the advent of baking soda we’ve all but forgotten can be used in pastries.

In the spirit of the original cake, we’re baking up a cupcakes full of plump raisins, tart cherries, and juicy prunes soaked in red wine and baked with tons of spices, though our cupcakes will also be in the spirit of our own BBK dessert tradition – grain, sugar, and dairy free. 
 
The grain free part is, in fact, somewhat traditional.  In cakes of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries that  were not made with sourdough, almond meal was often the ingredient of choice.

Order them with your meals for regular pick up on Wednesday to help celebrate (or soothe!), or stop by our Broomfield bakery on Monday and Tuesday starting at 11am to grab these to celebrate your vote!  

If you’ve already placed an order previous to this email, you can order these separately. Then we’ll automatically group your two orders together.

Read more about the history of Election Cakes and the culinary and nutritional tidbits behind it on one of our favorite blogs here.