"Horribly reminiscent of a Paul Hollywood challenge": Archivists reveal recipe by Rebecca Dixon, the Mary Berry of the 19th century

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Object of the Week: Britain’s love for baking spans centuries. Records at the University of Leicester’s Special Collections contain tips and tricks for the perfect cake across more than 200 years

The ‘Shrowsbury Cake’ and icing recipes by Rebecca Dixon - the Mary Berry of the 19th century - reveal the intriguing approaches to baking without any assistance from modern appliances.

“The recipe feels horribly reminiscent of one of Paul Hollywood’s technical challenges with its minimalist approach and seeming lack of crucial detail like oven temperature, thickness of the paste, or how long to bake for,” says Caroline Sampson, the Archivist at the University of Leicester Special Collections.

These beautifully-written recipes offer an opportunity to travel back in time and gain a glimpse into methods of historical baking, which required a lot more hard work and elbow grease.

It would be a considerably longer episode of the Great British Bake Off if each contestant spent a gruelling two hours beating their icing.

Here are the recipes:

Shrowsbury Cake

"Take ¼ of Butter washd in Rose Water 3oz of Sugar 1 Yolk of an Egg beat with one spoonful of cream, put it in a bowl & work to a stiff paste with flour, rowl it out then cut them with Glass bake them on Tin Sheets."

To Ice a Cake

"Take Three Pounds of Tribble Loaf Sugar, and the Whites of Ten Eggs, with Two or Three Spoonfuls of Orange Flour Water, Beat it Two Hours, when your Cake is Bak’d Take it out of the Oven and Scrape it Smooth on the Top, then Spread the Iceing all over the Top with a Knif and sett your Cake into the Oven Aga[in] and let it Stand a little While."

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Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/art560562-great-british-bake-off-icing-shrowsbury