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Lady Baltimore Cake

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By Beverly Bundy

Posted July 23rd, 2007

This article is reprinted with permission from The Century in Food: America's Fads and Favorites, by Beverly Bundy, (2002, )

The Century in Food: America's Fads and Favorites

Servings:	12
Author Notes:	Instead of using whole vanilla beans, strips of orange rind or cinnamon sticks can be added to the jars for a different flavor. This cake was featured in Owen Wister's book "Lady Baltimore," written in 1906. Several stories exist about the origins of the cake, but it is often credited to the managers of the Charleston, South Carolina Lady Baltimore tea Room. Wister is better known at the end of the century as the author of "The Virginian."
Ingredients:	Cake: 1/2 cup butter 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 cup water 3 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 4 stiffly beaten egg whites 1 teaspoon vanilla Filling I: 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/2 cup water 2 stiffly beaten egg whites Filling II: 1/2 cup raisins 5 diced figs 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1/3 cup candied cherries Frosting: 2 cups sugar 1/2 cup water 2 stiffly beaten egg whites 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions:	Prepare cake by creaming butter and sugar, then add water gradually. Mix in flour and baking powder. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites and vanilla. Bake in 3 buttered cake pans in a 375° F oven until layers test done (insert a toothpick in cake, if it comes out clean, it's done). Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before cooling on racks. Prepare first filling by bringing sugar and water to a boil in a double boiler until syrup forms a thread. Beat well and pour slowly over the egg whites. Beat until mixture reaches a spreadable consistency. Spread on tops of 2 cake layers. Prepare second filling by mixing ingredients together and sprinkling over the first layer of filling on the two cakes. To make frosting, bring sugar and water to a boil in a double boiler until syrup forms a thread. Beat well and pour slowly over Beaten egg whites and vanilla. Beat until mixture comes to a spreadable consistency. Spread completely over the top and sides of the layered cake.