All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [78]
Miss Maudie is a female role model for the motherless Scout. In a world dominated by men, she does as she pleases, wearing men’s overalls while gardening, but transforming into a “lady” every day after her five o’clock bath. Though she’s a lady, Miss Maudie does not suffer fools.
When she’s angry, she’s very angry. When she’s friendly, she bakes. In fact, we’re told early in the book that Miss Maudie bakes the best cakes in the neighborhood.
One of her specialties is a Lane Cake. She bakes one for Mr. Avery when he helps save her furniture from a house fire, and she bakes one for Aunty Alexandra when she moves to Maycomb to look after Scout and her brother Jem.
I’ve always wondered what was in a Lane Cake, other than sugar and enough shinny that one slice can make a grade-schooler tight. So I looked it up. A lane cake is a white or yellow cake layered with a combination of chopped nuts, dried fruit, coconut soused in apple cider (for the foot-washing Baptists and the Mormons) or shinny such as bourbon (for dirty-footed Baptists, the Jack Mormons, and the rest of us). It’s believed to have originated in Clayton, Alabama, with one Emma Rylander Lane. She won a prize for it at the state fair. The recipe was first printed in 1898, but it has been modified many times since.
This recipe is adapted from Diana’s Desserts, a Web site for home bakers run by Diana Baker Woodall, who lives in Sonoma County, California. It’s definitely worth checking out.
Since I’m not a foot-washing Baptist or a Mormon, my Lane Cake is full of shinny. It doesn’t make my co-workers tight, but my boss, Christopher Turpin, was overheard saying, with his mouth full, “OH MY GOD! You can REALLY taste the bourbon in this one!” Chris really likes booze in his cakes.
This is a cake that needs to mature for 1 or 2 days, by the way. Lets the crumb absorb more of the hooch.
TO MAKE THE CAKE
1. Center a rack and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare the pans.
2. With a mixer on medium speed, cream the butter, then gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, dry whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
4. Add about 1 cup of the flour mixture and ⅓ cup of the milk alternately, beating well after each addition. Repeat until all of the flour mixture and milk are blended into the batter. It will be thick, almost doughy.
5. Set aside the batter. With the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl on high speed until stiff, but not dry.
6. Fold a fourth of the egg whites into the batter. This will take about 10 full rotations of the bowl. Fold in the remaining egg whites until fully incorporated, about 20 full rotations of the bowl.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cake layers test done.
8. Cool the layers in the pans for 10 minutes, then unmold onto cake racks to finish cooling.
TO MAKE THE FILLING AND FROSTING
9. Set aside 6 nice-looking pecan halves. Put the remaining pecans into the food processor and pulse to coarsely chop. Remove and set aside.
10. Put the coconut and raisins in the food processor and pulse to coarsely chop. Transfer to a medium bowl.
11. Add the quartered cherries to the chopped coconut and raisins. Then add all but ½ cup of the chopped pecans. Stir in the mace and salt. Set aside.
12. In the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stir together the egg yolks, sugar, orange zest, and orange extract until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Do not allow the water in the bottom of the double boiler to boil, or the eggs might scramble.
13. Remove from the heat and stir in the dried fruit and nut mixture. Stir in the bourbon. Allow to cool thoroughly before filling and frosting the cake.
TO CONSTRUCT THE CAKE
14. When the cake layers and filling are completely cooled, divide and separate