Cake Recipe #8 - Mary Todd Lincoln's Vanilla-Almond Cake

I was chatting with Mrs. Lincoln the other day and she graciously shared this recipe with me (I wish!). Honestly, (as in Abe), I found this recipe in my local newspaper and thought it would be appropriate for today, President's Day. This is a dense, nutty cake with a meringue-style frosting.

Ingredients: Cake: 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, 1 cup butter, softened, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 1/4 cups cake flour, sifted, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/3 cups milk, 1 cup almonds, finely chopped, 6 egg whites, stiffly beaten. White Frosting: 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup water, 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar, dash of salt, 2 egg whites, 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Instructions: Place medium mixing bowl and beaters in freezer for a few minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees; grease and lightly flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Seperate eggs into two small bowls; save egg yolks for another purpose, such as scrambled eggs or an omelet. Remove chilled bowl and beaters from freezer, place egg whites in bowl and beat until stiff peaks form; set aside.

In large bowl, cream together the granulated sugar, butter and vanilla. Sift cake flour and baking powder together into small bowl; add alternately with milk to creamed mixture. Stir in almonds, then gently fold in beaten egg whites.

Divide evenly into prepared pans and bake 28-30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool completely on wire racks.

While cake is baking, clean beaters, then place in freezer with a medium bowl to prepare for the frosting.

For the frosting, combine granulated sugar, water, cream of tartar and a dash of salt in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Turn off heat.

Remove beaters and bowl from freezer; place the egg whites in bowl and begin beating. Very slowly pour the hot sugar syrup over them, beating constantly until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Use the frosting to fill and frost the almond cake, stacking to form two layers. Sprinkle slivered, sliced or chopped almonds around border of top of cake, if desired.

May be made in a 9x13" pan; adjust baking times.

Clipped from "The San Jose Mercury News", Wednesday, February 16, 2011. Reprinted from "Capitol Hill Cooks: Recipes from the White House, Congress and All of the Past Presidents," by Linda Bauer.

"Let's Bake a Cake!"