How to Make Election Cake (Traditional Recipe)

Election Cake is a yeast-leavened spiced cake made famous in colonial America. Communities would make giant cakes to celebrate elections, but you can make a smaller version for your family. That way, no matter who wins, you still have cake.

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Election cake on a white marble cake stand, cinnamon sticks in foreground

Every November, we make election cake. It's a boozy, spiced sourdough cake studded with dried fruit.

It starts with a mix of flour, buttermilk, and sourdough starter that you allow to rise overnight before you beat the remaining ingredients into the batter. After adding eggs, sugar, molasses, spices, and plenty of booze, you let the cake rise again before baking.

It tastes a bit like a cross between cinnamon-raisin bread and spice cake. The crumb is tender and soft with a delicious touch of tartness thanks to the inclusion of sourdough starter.

The History

In early America, elections were festive community events. Families traveled to town centers to enjoy a holiday with neighbors—dancing, drinking, and mustering for the local militia. During this time, spiced cakes known as "muster cakes" became a tradition.

After the Revolution, while mustering ended, the celebrations continued, and these cakes were renamed "election cakes." Often massive and expensive, they were baked to feed entire voting communities. However, by the mid-19th century, the cakes shifted from symbols of unity to tools for political influence, with slices used to sway votes for certain candidates.

Ingredients + Substitutions

Flour gives the cake its bulk and structure. White whole-wheat pastry flour is a great choice as it adds fiber and a lot of flavor. Another option is all-purpose einkorn flour.

Buttermilk adds moisture. You can also use milk kefir if you do not have buttermilk.

Sourdough starter makes the bread rise. Make sure your starter is active and bubbly. If you don't keep a starter, you can substitute packaged baker's yeast. You can also use wild yeast (yeast water) to make the cake rise.

Sugar and molasses give the cake flavor and add sweetness. I recommend using a minimally processed sugar such as rapadura or sucanat. Coconut sugar and maple sugar are good substitutes.

Brandy and white wine are traditionally used in early American election cake recipes, notably the recipe by Hannah Glass, which calls for a full quart of brandy. They give the cake flavor. If you don't cook with alcohol, you can substitute sweet apple cider for brandy and wine.

Spices include coriander, nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon. They give the cake its flavor and help increase its shelf life. If you don't keep individual spices in your cupboard, you can substitute an equivalent amount of pumpkin pie spice.

Tips for Making Election Cake

Use an active and bubbly sourdough starter. This cake relies on yeast to rise instead of baking powder or baking soda which are common in modern cake recipes. You'll need an active (proofed) starter or baker's yeast to make it work.

Allow plenty of time. Because this is a slow-rise sourdough recipe, you need to plan ahead. That means starting the evening before and finishing the cake in the morning.

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5 from 3 votes

1 cake (12 servings)

Election Cake Recipe

Amelia Simmons’s original recipe for Election Cake, as published in American Cookery (1796), calls for massive quantities of ingredients: dozens of eggs, pounds of sugar and flour, and booze by the bottle. While her recipe fed entire townships, most home cooks need only to feed their family and a few friends. This adaptation of the original recipe shrinks the quantities and makes it easier to bake in a modern kitchen.

Election cakes were originally leavened with fresh yeast from breweries or sourdough starters. If you would like to substitute baker’s yeast for the sourdough starter, swap 1 packet of instant yeast for your sourdough starter and add 2 tablespoons water and 2 tablespoons flour to the batter.

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Rise Time14

Total Time14 50

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Ingredients

The Sponge (Leavening)

2 ¼ cups whole-wheat pastry flour (or substitute all-purpose einkorn flour)
¾ cup buttermilk
¼ cup sourdough starter (active and bubbly)

For Finishing the Cake

4 ounces salted butter
½ cup unrefined cane sugar (such as rapadura or muscovado)
2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
2 tablespoons brandy
1 tablespoon white wine
2 eggs
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground Ceylon cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup dried currants

Equipment

9-inch Bundt Cake

Instructions

Prepare the sponge.

In the basin of a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook, beat the flour, buttermilk, and sourdough starter together until it forms a ball. Oil a large mixing bowl, plop the dough into the bowl, and cover it tightly. Allow the dough to rise for 8 to 12 hours (or 2 to 4 hours if using instant yeast).

Mixing the cake batter.

After the dough has doubled in volume, grease a 9-inch Bundt pan.
In the basin of a stand mixer equipped with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, molasses, brandy, and wine until fluffy, then beat in the eggs.
Remove the ball of dough from the bowl, and tear it into ½-inch pieces. Drop them into the bowl with the butter. Add the salt, cinnamon, coriander, allspice, and nutmeg. Beat them all together, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed until they form a uniform batter. Fold in the currants.

Final rise.

Spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, and cover it tightly. Allow the batter to rise until it reaches ¾ up the sides of the bowl, about 2 hours.

Bake and serve.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Bake the cakes for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack, and allow them to cool completely before unmolding.
Slice and serve. Store any leftovers in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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Recipe Questions

I don't have a Bundt pan. What can I use instead?

Some readers have had luck baking the cake in a springform pan instead of a Bundt pan.

How do I know my starter is ready?

A proofed or active starter should double (or triple) within 6 to 8 hours. You can test your starter by dropping a spoonful into water. If the starter floats, it's ready.

The History

Ingredients + Substitutions

Tips for Making Election Cake