Journey Cake

Last weekend we went for a hike in Evergreen and while we were driving around afterward we found an art picnic. At the art picnic we found a free museam! I LOVE history, so I was pretty excited. We got a guided tour of a house built in the 1890's. One of the first woman doctors in Colorado lived there. They gave us a recipe for journey cake....

Journey cake was a treat that could be made by a pioneer woman as she traveled across the prarie in a covered wagon. It was made of ingrediants that kept well and baked over the evening campfire on a flat wood shingle called a "journey board". Many simple cornmeal mixtures were used and have become known as "johnny cake". The most popular cake contained no cornmeal at all. It also did not contain milk or eggs because they were hard to transport and were in short supply. Cider and vinegar was used for the liquid.

Recipe

Combine:

1-1/2 c. sugar

3/4 c. lard, butter or margarine
1-3/4 c. apple cider

4-1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. cloves

If batter is very stiff, add more cider or if it is very thin add more flour.

Pour into greased 9X13 pan and bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

Hard Sauce:

Combine 1/2 c. butter and 1 c. brown sugar. Cream together, beat until light in color. Sprinkle with nutmeg.