Rosin taken when melting it. It is soluble in alcohol, ether, benzene and chloroform. Rosin consists mainly of abietic acid, and combines with caustic alkalis to form salts (rosinates or pinates) that are known as rosin soaps. In addition to its extensive use in soap making, rosin is largely employed in making varnishes (including fine violin varnishes), sealing wax and various adhesives. It is also used for preparing shoemakers' wax, for pitching lager beer casks, and numerous other purposes such as providing backing surfaces to tin ware, copper ware, or even silver and gold vessels when embossing or engraving them (its
Genoa cake Genoa cake Genoa cake (also simply Genoa) is a fruit cake consisting of sultanas, currants or raisins, glacé cherries, almonds, and candied orange peel or essence, cooked in a batter of flour, eggs, butter and sugar. Although the name "Genoa cake" is mainly used in the UK, where recipes for it have been around since the 19th century, it is a variant of the Pandolce cake which originated in 16th century Genoa as a Christmas cake. Unlike Genoa cake, traditional Pandolce includes pine nuts as a major ingredient and uses yeast as its raising agent, which requires several hours to