1. Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Soften the butter and add the nutmeg and salt. Beat four minutes by electric beater or eight minutes by hand.
2 Gradually blend in the sugar until fluffy, beating two minutes by electric beater or eight minutes by hand.
3. Beat in four of the eggs, one at a time. Total beating time should be one minute by electric beater or two minutes by hand.
4. Stir in all the flour at one time and beat two minutes by electric beater or five minutes by hand.
5. Blend in the remaining egg, fifteen seconds by electric beater or thirty-three strokes by hand. Turn the mixture into a well-greased, lightly floured 9 by 3 1/2 inch tube cake pan.
6. Place in a cold oven and set the control at slow (300° F.). If the cake is mixed by electric beater, bake two hours; if mixed by hand, bake one and one-half hours. (Since the electric beater entraps a little more air into the batter, it produces a cake that is a little thicker and lighter.)
7. Cool the cake in the pan ten minutes. Turn out on a wire rack to finish cooling.