Celebration Cakes

Edith Stevenson's Dark Fruit Cake. 
In her recipe she uses a lovely old scots word “switch” meaning to beat the eggs.  If they didn’t have a wire balloon whisk, or a rotary egg beater, the cook would use a bunch of birch or willow twigs, stripped of bark and bound into a switch.  Also, if you are unfortunate enough to be close to the back end of a cow and it “switches” its tail, (that looks remarkably switch-like),you could get your clothes nicely patterned! Edith undoubtedly possessed an egg beater, but the term persisted.




Ingredients
1/2 lb butter
1/2 sugar
6 eggs
1 lb flour
1 1/2 lb currants (or mixed fruit)
1/4 lb mixed peel
1 teaspoon baking powder (small)
1 dessertspoon of treacle (more if liked)

Method
Cream butter and sugar thoroughly.  Switch and add eggs with a little flour, then add all the fruit and peel mixed with the remainder of the flour and baking powder and lastly the warmed treacle with a little milk (2 tablespoonfuls.)  If baking in a deep tin bake about 4 hours.  Put into a moderate oven and after 1 1/2 hours allow oven to fall back a little.  Keep cake well protected with paper.  Ice with marzipan and royal icing.

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