Ingredients:—Two pounds of flour, twenty-two ounces of butter, half a pint of double cream, six ounces of pounded sugar, two wineglasses of maraschino, one ounce and a half of German-yeast, fifteen eggs, and half an ounce of salt.
Set the sponge with one-fourth part of the flour and the yeast in the usual way, see Brioche, No. 737, and while it is rising, prepare the paste as follows:—place the remainder of the flour on the marble slab; spread it it out in the centre to form the well; place in this the salt and sugar (with a very little water to dissolve the salt), the butter and eggs, and proceed to mix these thoroughly in the same way as brioche; just before adding the sponge, mix in the maraschino and the whipped cream. The paste must be instantly lifted into an appropriate-sized mould previously spread with butter, and deposited in a comparatively cool place to rise, or ferment in the usual manner; as soon as it has nearly reached the surface of the mould, stick a band of paper round the edge, and put it in the oven to bako at a very moderate heat, remembering that an essential characteristic of this kind of cake is a light colour.
It is customary to eat the Compiegne cake hot; and it is served in various ways.
When turned out of the mould, a small piece should be taken out of the centre of the top, and a glass of maraschino poured in through the opening; or the cake may be cut up in horizontal slices, half an inch thick, and previously to putting them together again, some apricot marmalade may be placed between each.
Dried cherries and angelica may be introduced in the composition of these cakes, previously to their being baked.