Lady Baltimore Cake

Happy New Year! 2020 was a year of change and learning but now it on to 2021. Dylan has been bugging me about doing videos so that may happen. No promises. I am hoping to get a lot more baking done and really start to work on my sewing pile. 

In the mean time here is a recipe from last year. I always make a dessert for Thanksgiving. Last year I was planning on making a daffodil cake but upon further reading it sounded too much like an angel food cake. Too light and summery. I need something rich, heavy, and fattening! Another recipe that seemed to pop up in several of my cookbooks is the Lady Baltimore Cake. The recipes varied a little but they all included layers of white cake separated by either a mixture of dried fruits or icing and all of it topped with boiled icing.

I decided to use the recipe from The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, 1924 edition, since it seemed the easiest and the best sounding filling. My family is very picky when it comes to fruit in cake. I love fruit! I am the only one. This is not fruit cake but close enough that I got looks.

This recipe is simple enough. Lots of egg whites. I'm not certain what I'm going to do with all the yolks.

A stand mixer is a necessity when whipping egg whites!

I had to purchase another cake pan just for this recipe. Yep, that is the reason why I bought it. I went with round pans because I think they have a more traditional look. And I already had 2 pans.

These smell heavenly! There was no time given so I just had to keep watch. Just have to wait until they cool to do anything else. The one really annoying part aspect of baking cakes: the wait.

I could not find figs so I went with dates and extra raisins. 

Yummy fillings! Every Lady Baltimore cake recipe I found had different fillings.

As I was following the recipe, it never occurred to me that I was making boiled icing. If I had known than I probably would have done a bit more online research about it.

Hot sugar syrup and egg whites...interesting. It took a considerable amount of time for the bowl to cool off and start to form the icing. I may have let the egg whites sit a little too long and it may have caused the icing to come together slower.

Eventually the icing started to thicken. It is still a little soft but I think it is thick enough to ice the cake.

Making the filling! It looks like I will have more filling than I need. Tastes good!

Well, the filling seems a little soft...kinda nervous about the rest of the icing. Did not use all of the filling. I may have snacked on the filling.

Looks so pretty! So bright white!

Still feels kinda soft. I do not think this will stay upright and iced over night. It has to last until tomorrow afternoon! I hope.

Well, the icing do not last well overnight, even in the fridge. It is still tasty, just oozy. I'm feel lucky that my cake carrier locks or my fridge would have been filled with oozy icing.

It looks prettier sliced than whole! 

We may have scooped some of the icing back onto the slices of cakes. Some of the filling oozed out as well. I was definitely missing some fruits and nuts!

Pretty slices! 

This was an interesting cake both to make and eat. The cake was quite dense, very similar to other cakes from that time. I have noticed that older cake recipes tend to be dense and not light a fluffy. The icing needed more fruits and nuts. Maybe less icing mixed with the fillings, maybe a different filling. I have many recipes to choose from. I liked the boiled icing! I liked the thickness of it and the slight crunch as you bite into it. I need to do a bit more research on it so that it doesn't flow off the cake. It does not last very long. The sugar starts to crystalize after a couple of days and changes the texture completely. I can see why you never see it anymore but the taste is fantastic. I highly recommend!

My Rating: Not bad. A fun experiment. I might have to try another version. I am definitely making the icing again!

Friends and Family Rating: Good! Why is the icing half missing?