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Scripture Cake

NPR

Published April 16, 2006 at 12:00 AM EDT

From Dorcas Dishes: A Little Book of Country Cooking, 1911... family recipes contributed by the Dorcas Society of Hollis and Buxton, Maine, edited by Kate Douglas Wiggin for a privately printed centennial edition.

(Mrs. J.W. Meserve)

1 cup butter (Judges 5:25)

3 1/2 cups flour (1 Kings 4:22)

2 cups sugar (Jeremiah 6:20)

2 cups raisins (1 Samuel 30:12)

2 cups figs (1 Samuel 30:12)

1 cup water (Genesis 24:17)

1 cup almonds (Genesis 43:11)

1/2 dozen eggs (Isaiah 10:14)

Tablespoon honey (Exodus 16:21)

A pinch of salt (Leviticus 2:13)

Spices to taste (1 Kings 10:10)

1/2 teaspoon soda (Matthew 13:33)

1 teaspoon cream tartar (Matthew 13:33)

Father Solomon's advice for making good boys (Proverbs 23:13)

It's typical of recipes from earlier days that they assumed general knowledge on the part of the reader -- for example, how long to bake a cake. Try baking the scripture cake in a 350-degree oven until a knife or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

(For those among our listeners who don't have a Bible handy, Proverbs 23:13 reads: "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die." Scripture Cake, apparently, was meant to be well beaten.)

The Scriptural References

(Source: King James Bible via BibleGateway.com)

Judges 5:25: "He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish."

1 Kings 4:22: "And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal..."

Jeremiah 6:20: "To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me."

1 Samuel 30:12: "And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights."

Genesis 24:17: "And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher."

Genesis 43:11: "And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:"

Isaiah 10:14: "And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped."

Exodus 16:21: "And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted."

Leviticus 2:13: "And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt."

1 Kings 10:10: "And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon."

Matthew 13:33: "Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."

Proverbs 23:13: "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die."