This is the awesome Great-Grandmother Pownall recipe– ca. 1849 California Gold Rush. There is a pioneer museum in Columbia, California which features lots of history of this family. Her husband was a judge and I don’t think they ever mined any gold, because they had something more valuable; water rights. So all the miners had to pay them for water to sluice their ore. Her wedding dress and jewelry are on display there.
1/2 pound butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 cups flour, tamped down
1/2 cup milk
2 level teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Ingredients are best at room temperature. Bake in angel tin or 2 loaf tins. 300º - 325º approximately 1 hour.
-my grandmother’s grandmother, Mrs. Pownall