From “Party Like a Puritan!” to the more recent #MakeAmericaBakeAgain, politics and pastry may be a perfect pairing!

Election Cake

Election Cake of Days Gone By

Three cups milk, two cups sugar, one cup yeast; stir to a batter and let stand over night; in the morning add two cups sugar, two cups butter, three eggs, half a nutmeg, one tablespoonful cinnamon, one pound raisins, a gill of brandy.

Brown sugar is much better than white for this kind of cake, and it is improved by dissolving a half-teaspoonful of soda in a tablespoonful of milk in the morning. It should stand in the greased pans and rise some time until quite light before baking.

HUGO ZIEMANN, Steward to the White House, and MRS. F.L. GILLETTE
The Original White House Cookbook: Contains Cooking, Toilet and Household Recipes, Menus, Dinner-giving, Table Etiquette, Care of the Sick, Health Suggestions, Facts Worth Knowing, etc.

 

With four cups of sugar and a gill (four ounces) of brandy, this recipe for Election Cake (or Election Day Cake) is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes described as a cross between a bread and a cake or a variation of a traditional English fruitcake or spice cake, the American version of this recipe was less about dessert and much more about sustenance.

Party Like a Puritan!

American colonists would often have to travel great distances to cast their votes in local and colonial elections, which took place any time between January and June in New England, where the tradition of these edibles originated. Cakes (some weighing in at a whopping 12 pounds) were baked by women in the towns where folks cast their ballots, providing a hefty snack for patriotic pilgrims trekking to these polling places.

In Puritan New England—where most religious holiday celebrations (including Christmas and Easter) were banned—Election Day was also one of the few and, therefore, most important dates on the calendar to … ummm … Party Like a Puritan!

Going Big and Going West!

The first published recipe of Election Day Cake appearing in the 1796 book, American Cookery, by Amelia Simmons called for 30 quarts of flour, 10 pounds of butter, 14 pounds of sugar, 12 pounds of raisins, three dozen eggs, a pint of wine and a quart of brandy, plus spices.

Records detail such cakes being baked to celebrate Election Day as early as 1771 in Connecticut. Hence, over time, they also came to be called Hartford Election Cakes or Hartford Cakes.

As the colonies became a country, the tradition of baking these formidable edibles followed the expanding boundaries of the United States. By the time Hugo Ziemann penned his recipe in 1887, the cakes were considerably smaller, but the tradition of baking Election Cakes had spread throughout the Midwest and West.

Heading Out of Style

By the early twentieth century, those holidays banned by the Puritans came to be celebrated, joining a growing number of national and religious festivals and commemorations reflecting the traditions of various waves of immigrants and spurred on by the commercialization of as many dates on the calendar as possible.

Despite the blur of holidays diminishing its stature as a celebration along with travel to polling sites being “slightly” less of an issue today, modern variations on the original recipes survive and appear in print and online around Election Day.

Though Ziemann’s recipe (as is usually the case in older cookbooks before ovens featured thermostats) does not provide actual baking instructions or directions for icing (which do appear elsewhere in The Original White House Cookbook), Election Cakes are often glazed with a simple mixture of warmed cream, sugar, and vanilla extract.

 

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

WINSTON S. CHURCHILL
Former British Prime Minister, statesman, soldier and writer
1874—1965
Churchill By Himself

 

Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too!

Elections conjure up many images. Cake isn’t the first one that comes to mind. Though, as noted elsewhere, cake and history have overlapped before.

Yet Election Cakes were very much a part of the American political landscape for centuries. Moreover, the past decade has seen a resurgence in combining cakes and casting ballots.

Historically, this tradition arguably exemplified the maxim, with politicians wanting to have their cake and eat it, too. Given the times these tasty treats were just one way to bring voters to the polls. Therefore, they were also known as “muster cakes” in colonial times since they were meant to get out (muster) the vote. However, the electorate was plausibly hungrier for the festivities than passionate about the candidates.

Also featured in those early campaigns, “election buns” were doled out along party lines. Cookies, usually of gingerbread, (often called “training cakes,” since election day was also called “Training Day”) were served, too.

As times changed, so did the recipes and the names for this election-time treat. Through the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth, Election Cakes came to resemble a sponge or bundt cake. They were also downsized and served in homes (rather than polling places) as a typical mealtime dessert. Consequently, they became known as a Great Cake, a Loaf Cake, and a Pretty Cake in recipes of the times.

 

I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.

WILL ROGERS
Cherokee-born American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator
1879—1935
Saturday Review

 

Election Cake Comeback!

Certainly, anyone who’s been following me and/or my scribbles over the years recognizes that I am both foodie and nerd. Apparently the two aren’t mutually exclusive. This article itself attests to that.

And I am not alone.

Much has been written about how a few artisanal bakers seized upon a political catchphrase of the 2016 presidential election. With the hashtag #MakeAmericaCakeAgain, interest in resurrecting Election Cake recipes caught social media and news media attention. But the originators’ motives were initially much less political and much more about historical and culinary fun.

However, other bakers scattered about the country had been creating election sweets of a different kind even before 2016. Their intentions were less historical and more commercial and somewhat political—albeit in an entertaining way. Cookie polls featured competing political candidates in advance of elections on the bakeries’ treats. How many people purchased pastries of one party or person over the other has arguably been as accurate as any scientific poll. Undecideds, one can only assume, simply took Paula Deen’s advice and bought one of each.

No surprise then that the bakers in question made some dough in the process.

 

He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
Irish playwright, critic, polemicist, and political activist
1856—1950
Major Barbara

 

Why Election Cakes Today?

Historically, Election Cakes served both a political and a very practical purpose. Giving voters an incentive to trek across great distances to cast ballots was arguably as important as who they chose.

But the contemporary interest in Election Cake lore and recipes (along with some related modern-day sweets) reflects something else. Could it be a nod to nostalgia? Perhaps people just want another reason to party. From “Party Like a Puritan!” to the more recent #MakeAmericaCakeAgain, politics and pastry may be a perfect pairing! Whatever the case, it could be one of the few areas of true political, social and culinary bipartisanship.

And let’s hope that’s so! Otherwise, the words of one of America’s other colonial legends may come back to haunt us:

 

A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
American polymath, writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, forger, political philosopher, intellectuals, a Founder of the United States, and the first U.S. Postmaster General
1705—1790
The Public Advertiser

 

This article features excerpted content from Ian Makay’s Food for Thought: The Pleasures of the Table: Primi Piatti.

 

                             

How About YOU!

Do you have a favorite cake or bread recipe associated with Election Day or any holiday? Given the culinary origins of the original Hartford Cakes, fruitcakes are far game. Is there an election tradition that’s been passed down in your family? Or is there a new one you’ve created or become part of?

We wanna know! Join the conversation below and tell the world your thoughts!

Too shy? Post a Comment on the Contact Page! We’ll keep it all between us. And make sure to mention the post’s title (Election Cake) in your comment.

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