This cake is more Southern than Dixie cups. Famous throughout the South, it is said to have originated as a centerpiece for afternoon teas in the late 1800s. It is still the perfect accompaniment for teas, luncheons and bridal showers.
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk
6 egg whites
Lady Baltimore Filling and Frosting (recipe follows)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Beat together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until pale and creamy. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the almond extract to the milk. Add a little of the dry ingredients to the butter- sugar mixture and mix in. Then stir in a little of the milk. Alternately add the remaining dry ingredients in small amounts until both are completely incorporated.
Beat until a smooth batter is formed, but do not overbeat. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold the egg whites into the batter, a third at a time. Pour into the cake pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely.
Prepare the filling and frosting while the cake layers are cooling, then fill and frost. Serves 10 to 12
Lady Baltimore Filling and Frosting
4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup chopped raisins
3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans
8 dried figs, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Cognac
Combine the egg whites, sugar, salt, cream of tartar and 2/3 cup water in the top pan of a double boiler. Beat with an electric beater over simmering water until soft peaks form, about 7 minutes. Remove from the water and beat in the vanilla. Continue beating until the frosting is stiff. Put aside half of the frosting. Beat the raisins, nuts, figs and cognac into the remaining half of the frosting. Use this mixture as a filling between the 2 layers of the cake. Ice the entire cake with the reserved frosting.
