Lane Cake, an Epic Fail

I am not sure how I feel about today. I spent hours and I do mean a long time making a cake that I will dub and EPIC FAIL! Oh my goodness! This cake is so foul I do not know how anyone can eat it. There must have been a typo or something with the writing of this recipe and if there was not one, I do not know how anyone can eat it. I spit it out so fast and even the hubs couldn't get his bite down. Yuck!

A couple of days ago I received a cookbook that I ordered over a week ago. It is called United Cakes of America, and it was written by, Warren Brown. I am still excited I got this book. I can't wait to try other recipes and hopefully they will taste better than this one. I plan on making all of the cakes of all fifty states. I am sure some will be hits and some will be misses. Hopefully more good than bad. This cake was BAD. I did however love his version of the Seven Minute Frosting. It is delicious. The cake.....not so much.

I started with Alabama. I am sure you probably guessed it as well. The cake of Alabama in this book is know as the Lane Cake.

It was invented in the late 1800's by a woman named, Emma Rylander Lane of Clayton, Alabama. She won first prize for her cake. The people at the fair must have been booze hounds. There is another cake listed for Alabama in Mr. Warren's book, the Silver Cake. It is type of bundt cake. I do not have a bundt pan and the other cake is supposedly famous and a symbol of "genuine hospitality" so I decided to make it. If someone gave this to me, I would think they did not like me. There is way too much whisky in this recipe. It calls for 1 whole cup of whisky. My hubby, who is a whisky drinker, said it was too strong. Like I mentioned earlier, I spit it out. I think maybe 1/4 c of booze would have been plenty.

I may try this cake again with either less whisky or no whisky. I don't know because it has a few things I am not crazy about. Coconut and raisins are among them. I also think it was really dense. The author warns the baker that it is best to use a scale to weigh your flour. I do not have one, I better purchase one before I make the next cake. I think by scooping out the flour and leveling it may have packed more in the measuring cup than needed. This probably made the cake dense and I think the batter was too thick. When I went to pour it into 3 cake pans, the batter did not make it to the middle of the pans like the recipe said it would. It did not rise when it baked either. This still may be do to the amount of flour or I may have over beaten the egg whites. I don't know. I have learned a couple of things with making this cake. Weigh flour, do not over beat whites, and if you think there is too much alcohol written in the recipe, do not add it all.

I am not going to include the recipe of this cake in this blog today. If you would like it, e-mail me and I will give it to you. I will however include the recipe for the seven minute frosting as I found that to be delicious. I definitely will make it again. But not for kids because it also includes alcohol.

Seven Minute Frosting
adapted from Warren Brown

Ingredients
1 1/4 c superfine granulated sugar
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp amaretto
1 tsp rum

Directions
Bring water to simmer in a large pan that you can set a mixing bowl over it. Combine the sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in mixing bowl over water. Beat with handheld mixer beginning on low and increasing to high. It should form stiff peaks around seven minutes. Add vanilla, rum, and amaretto. Use it immediately.

I really liked this frosting and will use it again. I still don't know if I want to give the cake another try. I am a little sad my cake was not delicious but then again they can't all be hits. I hope your day is going better than mine:)