GENUINE SPONGE CAKE--RECIPE

3 c. flour
3 c. sugar
10 eggs

3 cups of flour, 3 cups of sugar, and ten eggs.

Transactions of the Wisconsin State Agriculture Society--1860

Comment: Yes, that's the entire recipe, as published in the booklet which was commonly issued after state fairs in those days. (Most of the pamphlet was taken up with lists of the winners in the various categories of livestock competitions, vegetable competitions, flower arrangements and the like, with prominent note of the names of various elected officials and similar exalted citizens who presented the awards. ) Exactly what to do with these ingredients to produce a prize-winning sponge cake was left to the experience of the cook, a tradition we have little choice but to continue.

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