Plumb Cake #2: The Secret 1700s Yeast from Beer Foam

From the Nova Scotia Archives to my kitchen — let’s rediscover how early bakers made their cakes rise.

In this second historic plumb cake baking adventure, I recreate another 18th-century recipe for Plumb Cake—this one using barm yeast as a natural leavener! This recipe, found in the Almon Scrapbook housed in the Nova Scotia Archives, likely dates from the late 1700s to early 1800s. Unlike my first Plumb Cake (which relied on no leavening at all), this version calls for barm—the foamy yeast collected from the top of fermenting beer or ale. Before the days of packaged yeast, barm was a baker’s secret ingredient, giving breads and cakes a lightness that was otherwise difficult to achieve. It’s fascinating to see how brewing and baking were once closely connected, with breweries supplying yeast to local kitchens.

This cake is a perfect example of how early Atlantic Canadian cooks blended European traditions with the resources they had on hand.

Join me as I bring this forgotten recipe back to life—one slice of history at a time.

Fun fact: I had several wardrobe changes while filming this video. Why? Because apparently, baking history is a full-contact sport… and my closet was the supporting cast.

00:00 - Start
01:28 - What is Barm Yeast?
01:37 - Making the Cake
02:50 - Discovering my Mistake
16:29 - UNB Recipe Link & Citation
16:48 - My Email

I am honoured to have the opportunity to interpret the original recipe, found in the Almon Scrapbook located in the Nova Scotia Archives. The recipe comes to us from research conducted by the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with support and funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

You can check out the original recipe in the Early Modern Maritime Recipe collection here: https://emmr.lib.unb.ca/recipes/plumb-cake

Citation:

Source: Almon Scrapbook
Institution: Nova Scotia Archives |
Source Origin: Almon Family Fonds |
Reference: MG1 Vol. 14 /
Microfilm Reel 14,894

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Видео Plumb Cake #2: The Secret 1700s Yeast from Beer Foam канала Shana Boudreau