Election Party Menu

I think that we all can agree on one thing this election season: it’s going to be a great relief to have it over. It seems that each election year gets more and more vitriolic and divisive. So, whoever your candidates of choice are, or whether they win or lose, it’s worth a celebration to have it done!


I scoured my recipe collection for customary foods and parties for election night, but they were really scarce. The one thing that did turn up in old, old cookbooks was election cake. I actually found three different recipes for election cake, all slightly different but similar enough to believe they were cousins. One recipe is from the White House Cookbook, first published in 1887 and written by Mrs. F. L. Gillette. The original recipes were gleaned from Hugo Ziemann “who was at one time caterer for that Prince Napoleon who was killed while fighting the Zulus in Africa. He was then steward of the famous Hotel Splendide in Paris. Later he conducted the celebrated Brunswick Café in New York and still later he gave to the Hotel Richelieu, in Chicago, a cuisine which won the applause of even the gourmets of foreign lands. It was here that he laid the famous “spread” to which the chiefs of the warring factions of the Republican Convention sat down in June, 1888, and from which they arose with asperities softened, differences harmonized and victory organized.”

If you are truly curious and a foodie, you might enjoy trying this recipe:

White House Election Cake

Three cups milk, two cups sugar, one cup yeast; stir to a batter and let stand over night; in the morning add two cups sugar, two cups butter, three eggs, half a nutmeg, one tablespoonful cinnamon, one pound raisins, a gill of brandy.

Brown sugar is much better than white for this kind of cake, and it is improved by dissolving a half-teaspoonful of soda in a tablespoonful of milk in the morning. It should stand in the greased pans and rise some time until quite light before baking.

The second one is from a slightly newer book, the 1924 edition of the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer.

Election Cake

½ cup butter
1 cup bread dough
1 egg
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup sour milk
Two-thirds cup raisins, seeded and cut in pieces
8 finely chopped figs
1 and one-fourth cups flour
½ tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
One-fourth tsp. clove
One-fourth tsp. mace
One-fourth tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt

Work butter into dough, using the hand. Add egg well beaten, sugar, milk, fruit dredged with two tablespoons flour, and flour mixed and sifted with remaining ingredients. Put into a well-buttered bread pan, cover, and let rise one and one-quarter hours. Bake one hour in a slow oven. Cover with Boiled Milk Frosting.

Lastly, a recipe from The Presidents’ Cookbook by Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks, published in 1968.

Hartford Election Cake

Originally known simply as Election Cake when first mentioned in an 1800 cook book, this delicious fruity cake was eventually called Hartford Election Cake. It had little connection with Connecticut, but was enjoyed throughout the States. It reached its greatest popularity during the 1830s, when Jackson and Van Buren were the Presidents.

Butter
Sugar
Whole nutmeg, grated
Baking soda
Milk
Cream of tartar
Flour
Currants
Large raisins
Pecans
Eggs
Sherry

Cream ½ pound butter with 2 cups sugar. Add 1 grated nutmeg. Put 1 teaspoon baking soda into 1 cup milk and stir until dissolved. Stir 2 teaspoons cream of tartar into 1 cup flour. Coat ½ pound currants with 1 cup flour. Coat1 pound seeded raisins with 1 cup flour. Use 1 cup flour to cover the 1 pound pecans. Add the milk and soda to the creamed mixture, beating well. Beat 6 egg yolks and add them. Slowly add the floured currants, raisins, and nuts. Add one-third tumbler (i.e., one-third cup) sherry (or whiskey), then add flour-and-cream-of-tartar mix. At the last add 6 well-beaten egg whites, folding them in carefully. Grease a large, deep cake pan and line it with waxed paper. Turn batter into the pan. Bake in a slow (275 deg.) oven 1 ½ hours, or until baked thoroughly. If it begins to brown too quickly, put a heavy piece of brown paper over the top while baking.

Having a party on election night poses some problems, most urgent among them the problem of time. Elections are, of course, held on Tuesday, which means that most people aren’t home all day to cook and clean for company. Still, it is a perfect opportunity to invite your friends (who voted as you did, hopefully) to watch the returns. Therefore, I devised a menu that is truly warming and easy and should bring harmony to all concerned:

Black Olive Dip
Guacamole
Fresh Tortilla Chips
Slow-cooker Chili
Skillet Cornbread
Grape clusters
Election Cake
(Choose one of the recipes above, or make a spice cake with raisins and a butter-cream frosting)

Black Olive Dip

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
2 cups drained canned chopped black olives
1 ½ cups finely chopped green onions (about 1 small bunch)
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
One-fourth cup fresh lime juice
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
One-fourth tsp. (or more) hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
Salt and pepper
Fresh tortilla chips or purchased chips

Well, hopefully, the outcome will please you and all your guests will be in harmony. If not, at least they will go home with happy stomachs. I wish I had the menu and recipes for Hugo Ziemann’s “spread.”