Recreated Mary Todd Lincoln's White Cake

Joined
Mar 20, 2010
Location
Ohio
The cake was intended for the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to Lexington in 1825. It was such a triumph, that the Todd ladies requested the recipe and it became a family favorite. Mary Todd served the almond-vanilla cake to Abraham Lincoln, when they were courting in Springfield. Mary continued to make this cake when she became a wife, mother, and, even as First Lady.

(Recipe from Lincoln's Table by Donna D. McCreary was adapted by Janice Cooke Newman)

1 cup blanched almonds, chopped in a food processor until they resemble a coarse flour
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
6 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
confectionary sugar
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan.
  • Cream butter and sugar. Sift flour and baking powder 3 times. Add to creamed butter and sugar, alternating with milk. Stir in almonds and beat well.
  • Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter. Stir in vanilla extract.
  • Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Turn out on a wire rack and cool. When cool, sift confectionary sugar over top
A basic white frosting sprinkled with almonds was also popular.
 
I was surprised to see a period recipe using a bundt pan, so I looked up Bundt pans. They were invented under that name in 1950, although the Jewish community used something called a "Bund" pan starting around 1900. There was a similarly-shaped Kugelhopf pan used in Austria and Germany for centuries before that, but the consensus suggests it would have been made from enameled ceramic and probably not found outside the kitchens of people with a German background. Just out of curiosity, what does the original recipe say this should be baked in?
 
No secret I"m not a cook, its more like burnt offerings , How big of pan do you need for this???? truly I"M clueless Thanks.
Now, here's a great example of honesty! I share your situation as with some recipes I, too am culinarily impaired. Can make chili, home fries and grill stuff but not so much for fancy baking. Wonder if we can make this delicious sounding cake on the grill?
 
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