No. 2777 — Quick Dough Leavened with Cream of Tartar
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 2777 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
Beat 3¾ glasses of fine flour with 2 glasses of water and ¼ glass of almond or walnut oil rubbed until pale with 2¼ glasses of sifted sugar. Continue beating until bubbles appear.
Stir in 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar and 1 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate, which the original says replace yeast. Immediately pour the batter into a mould greased with olive oil and sprinkled with breadcrumbs, filling only three quarters of its volume. Put straight into a hot oven.
Flavour the batter with spices as described in recipe No. 2769. Alternatively replace the water with the same amount of almond milk, adding finely shredded candied orange peel. The source also mentions pounded bitter almonds in this version.