PLANE CAKE Take one pound of flower dry, one pound of sugar, one pound of butter beat up by hand.

Mix these with one ounce of caraway seeds then beat well 12 Eggs, both whites and yolks. Pour it in by Degrees with a large glass of brandy. Mix them altogether a quarter of an hour then putt it in 2 small pans. Ad grated Lemmon. NB One hour bakes it. From Margaretta Acworths Georgian Cookery Book edited by Alice and Frank Prochaska

8 oz. (225 g, 1 2/3 cups) flour 1 tablespoon caraway seeds 8 oz. (225 g, just over 1 cup) granulated sugar 8 oz. (225 g, 1 cup) butter 4 small eggs [or 3 large] grated zest of one half a lemon 2 fl oz (60 ml, cup) brandy Sift the flour and add the caraway seeds to it. Cream together the sugar and butter and then stir in the flour, or mix them together in a food processor. Whisk the eggs to a froth, add the grated lemon zest and brandy, and pour this mixture slowly into the other. Mix well until you have a smooth, thick batter. Pour this into a greased 6 inch (15 cm) cake tin and bake at gas mark 5 (375F, 190C) for about 1 hours. [NOTE: If you dislike caraway seeds, this works fine with currants instead. Also, you can try rosewater instead of brandy, or use both. In the eighteenth century this kind of cake was quite common with these kinds of variations. I find this bakes well in a tall 6-inch cake pan, about 3 inches high minimum. It rises in the center and cracks like a pound cake. As for baking temperature and time, I have best luck with 350F for 1 hours. - Katy Hayes]