I just saw the sweetest thing! My brother has this friend, this really cute, way high-energy German (or maybe Austrian, I'm not sure) guy who has a cooking show on our local news. Today he was on and dressed like Abraham Lincoln, minus the whiskers, and presented the following recipe which he said Lincoln's stepmother used to make for him. He was talking about how everybody makes a big deal about Valentine's Day and nobody bothers to mention Good ol' Honest Abe's birthday, so he wanted to amend that. At the end of the segment he put a candle in the cake and wished Lincoln a happy birthday (he turns 195 tomorrow
). My kind of guy!!
Anyway, here's the recipe:
Abe Lincoln`s Almond White Cake Preparation time: 60 minutes
Serving size: 1 triple layer cake
The cake Basic Recipe:
All purpose Flour 3 cups
Baking Powder 2 tsp
Blanched Almonds 1 cup, finely chopped
Soft unsalted Butter 1 cup
Granulated Sugar 2 cups
Vanilla extract 1 tsp
Milk 1 cup, room temperature
Egg whites 6 large, beaten stiff
Salt ¼ tsp
Method:
1. Sift the flour and the baking powder 2- 3 times in a large bowl.
2. Stir in the blanched almonds, and set aside
3. Mix the butter and sugar creamy, starting on low speed and going to high gradually.
4. Add the vanilla extract to the creamy mixture and mix again
5. Add the milk and flour to it alternately, starting with the flour and ending with the flour, until all is used up.
6. Set aside, while you are going to beat the egg whites, adding the salt to it, to a stiff peak.
7. With wooden spoon carefully blend the stiff egg whites into the batter, and fold together.
8. Pour the batter into three round, same sized, smaller, well greased and floured cake pans.
9. Bake in a moderate oven (350°) on rack placed in the middle, for about 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
10. When done take out off the oven and cool for several minutes, before attempting to carefully shake the cakes out of the rounds onto a wire rack to completely cool.
11. Continue to proceed making the icing, called the BOILED ICING.
The Icing
Granulated Sugar 2 cups
Water ½ cup
Egg Whites from 2 large eggs
Cream of tartar 1/8 tsp
Almonds ½ cup, finely chopped
Lemon juice 1 tsp
Method:
1. Heat the water hot in a sauce pan and add the sugar to it at once. Bring the mixture to a boil. Continue to boil until it strings (put back of spoon, which is sitting in cold water into sauce pan and lift before your eyes. When the sugar syrup runs down the back and forms almost a visible string the sugar syrup is ready to be used). DO NOT STIR!
2. Set aside and cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile beat the egg whites to a stiffly peak, slowly pour the sugar water to it very carefully, and blend well on medium speed, going on high for the last few seconds
4. Add the cream of tartar first, followed by the finely chopped almonds and the lemon juice. Blend briefly but thoroughly.
5. When thick and smooth spread the icing between each layer of cake rounds, with Spreading spatula, starting with the first as bottom, spreading the icing on the top, setting the seconds on top of that, spreading again, setting the third on top of the second and icing the entire three layers until covered. You may want to sprinkle the outside with some additional almond splits, for decoration purpose.
Erin