Hotwater cake and chocolate filling 1903

So back to my Good Housekeeping cook book from 1903.
There were two recipes that were one after another so I assumed that they were to be served together.
So first we have the Hotwater cake.
I was curious about this recipe because hot water? What could hot water possibly do to a cake that milk or regular water couldn't do?
Well I couldn't find that answer....I actually googled it a couple times.  The only thing I could come up with is that maybe back in the day they thought hot water would make the cake more moist?? Who knows.
All I know is that this cake is AWESOME. And is being added to my go-to recipe for a vanilla cake.
It had a dense/airy feel to it.  Was not too sweet and was moist.

So onto the cake!

Hot water Cake

by mystery woman from 1903-

1 cup butter (at room temp.)

1/2 cup Hot water

1/2 cup cold milk

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

**I added a tsp of vanilla extract**

I had to kinda figure out the instructions by myself, so here is what I did

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl mix Sugar and butter together  till creamed. Add hot water and mix then cold milk then mix. Stir in Vanilla.  In a medium bowl sift flour and baking powder together.

Add flour in one cup measurements rotating with one egg at a time till flour and eggs are gone...get it?

one cup flour

one egg

one cup flour

one egg etc.

Mix till everything is combined but do not over beat.

I baked mine in 2- 8 inch cake pans.....but tell you what.....the best part of this cake?? the top.....so these would be amazing as cupcakes! Because when you do it as a cake you have to cut off the top and you don't get that yummy crust that was on top.

So back to the instructions.

I baked my 8 inch cakes for about 40 minutes altogether? may have been more.  Set your timer at 30 minutes and check it every 5 after that till a tooth pick comes out clean.  Cool before assembling cake.

This chocolate filling was very rich.  I HAD to try this recipe....never have I ever seen a filling recipe call for flour and boiling water.  This to me was more like a chocolate ganache recipe then way it turned out.  Not sure if I will do this one again since I have a better chocolate ganache recipe....this was really good, but a lot of work.

Chocolate Filling

by Mystery woman from 1903

In a medium saucepan:

2 Heaping Tbsp flour

2 Heaping Tbsp cocoa

1/2 cup sugar

a little salt (I did 1/4 tsp)

Small piece of butter (I did one Tbsp.)

A little cold water (I did 2 Tbsp enough to moisten the dry ingredients)

Add one cup boiling water and whisk until no clumps.

Stir constantly over a double boiler  until thickened.  This took about 15 to 20 minutes of stirring....ugh....but I do have to say it was worth it, it was so neat to see it go from total liquid to frosting consistency within a minute.

Let  filling cool before using....and try not to taste it nonstop while it is sitting there staring at you.

Once both cake and filling are cooled...it is time to assemble.  Assemble how you want...I cut the tops off of mine to make a flat top.  Then cut both 8 inch cake in half to make 4 layers. I filled all 3 layers with the filling and topped the cake with a light weight frosting on top since the cake is a dense cake...I couldn't see putting a heavy frosting on it.

Hope someone else tries this also so I can see how it turned out for them!

The final product

**I also had to get my beautiful cake plate in there too**

Yummy!

The boys approve!