Do you know how to make traditional Election Cake?

While there are many Election Day food deals, a traditional Election Cake might be winner.

After casting your vote, are you going to make a traditional Election Cake? With more people feeling confident with their baking skills, the old school tradition of an Election Cake might be in order for this historic Election Day. Who doesn’t need a sweet treat during these stressful times?

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, Election Day Cakes date back to colonial times. While many people have long grown tired of current campaign ads and bickering, the earlier days were filled with celebrations. Sometimes, these celebrations lasted up to a week.

Looking back at history, the tradition of these cakes stemmed from people traveling from far away to cast their vote. In some ways, the whole event turned into a party. With a slice of cake and some tasty cocktails, people enjoyed the moment.

At first these particular cakes took inspiration from those cocktails. With some alcohol soaked fruit and some warm spices, it was like a big warm hug to celebrate after the voting was cast.

While recipes for this cake have evolved over the years, the original recipe was published in a 1833 edition of The American Frugal Housewife. The 2009 Old Farmer’s Almanac adapted the recipe.

As seen on the Farmer’s Almanac website, the recipe is like a moist spice cake. There are some similarities to a rum raisin cake or even a carrot cake (without the carrot). With the raisins, walnuts, currants and candied citron, some people might even see a fruit cake reference.

While this recipe makes the cake from scratch, you could use a boxed cake mix and create your own semi-homemade version. Adding a few soaked raisins, boosting the spices a little and a few other tweaks are easy enough.

This year, why not make an Election Cake. It is basically a spice cake and truthfully, who wouldn’t want a slice of cake on Election Day. Everyone will be stress eating and a tasty cake would go great with those election themed cocktails.

Do you know of a traditional recipe that needs to be re-discovered?