Did anyone else catch this in the Chicago-Sun Times?
As most of you know I am a big history and food history especially. I have done the last meal on the Titanic before, as well as lunch on the Lusitania, JFK's breakfast before the shooting and am actively researching Abe Lincoln's last meal. That is what makes this recipe that was loved by the former President and credited to Mary Todd Lincoln!
Love Lincoln? Try his favorite dessert
January 22, 2009
BY DONNA VICKROY Staff Writer
Last week, SouthtownStar Food had some fun with presidential food preferences. Who knew Herbert Hoover and Lyndon Johnson both loved sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top? And who didn't know Ronald Reagan was passionate about jelly beans?
Reader Francine Anderson, of Homer Glen, sent us a recipe for one of Abraham Lincoln's favorite desserts. The recipe is printed by Eastern National Park and Monument Association.
Because I love a challenge, I took this recipe home and made Mary Todd Lincoln's cake. Even with today's modern technology, the process was slow going. In all, it took about four hours to cream the butter, whip the egg whites, chop the almonds and get it all mixed and baked. I used a mixer and a mini chopper - things the Lincolns didn't have access to.
But wow, what a cake. It was denser than modern box cake mixes. The vanilla flavor really came through and the almonds added a bit of crunch. The icing was so light is almost melted off the cake.
Everyone at my Sunday dinner table loved the dessert. Even a non-cake-eating guest couldn't resist, having not one but two slices.
MARY TODD LINCOLN CAKE
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 c. cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 1/3 cups milk
1 cup finely chopped almonds
6 egg whites - stiffly beaten
Cream sugar, butter and vanilla. Sift together cake flour and baking powder three times.
Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Stir in almonds. Gently fold in the egg whites.
Pour into two greased and floured 9 x 11/2-inch round baking pans.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
WHITE FROSTING
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
dash salt
2 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
Bring to boiling, sugar, water, cream of tartar and salt.
Boil until sugar dissolves. Put egg whites in mixing bowl.
Start beater and while egg whites are beating, very slowly add hot syrup.
Beat until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.
Beat in vanilla for one more minute.
Added note on the recipe card: The marriage of Mary Todd to Abraham Lincoln is best expressed by the words Lincoln had engraved inside Mary's wedding band, "Love is Eternal." Mary expressed her feelings in less dramatic, but lasting and tasteful terms. She baked him her favorite white cake. This is her recipe.
As most of you know I am a big history and food history especially. I have done the last meal on the Titanic before, as well as lunch on the Lusitania, JFK's breakfast before the shooting and am actively researching Abe Lincoln's last meal. That is what makes this recipe that was loved by the former President and credited to Mary Todd Lincoln!
Love Lincoln? Try his favorite dessert
January 22, 2009
BY DONNA VICKROY Staff Writer
Last week, SouthtownStar Food had some fun with presidential food preferences. Who knew Herbert Hoover and Lyndon Johnson both loved sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top? And who didn't know Ronald Reagan was passionate about jelly beans?
Reader Francine Anderson, of Homer Glen, sent us a recipe for one of Abraham Lincoln's favorite desserts. The recipe is printed by Eastern National Park and Monument Association.
Because I love a challenge, I took this recipe home and made Mary Todd Lincoln's cake. Even with today's modern technology, the process was slow going. In all, it took about four hours to cream the butter, whip the egg whites, chop the almonds and get it all mixed and baked. I used a mixer and a mini chopper - things the Lincolns didn't have access to.
But wow, what a cake. It was denser than modern box cake mixes. The vanilla flavor really came through and the almonds added a bit of crunch. The icing was so light is almost melted off the cake.
Everyone at my Sunday dinner table loved the dessert. Even a non-cake-eating guest couldn't resist, having not one but two slices.
MARY TODD LINCOLN CAKE
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 c. cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 1/3 cups milk
1 cup finely chopped almonds
6 egg whites - stiffly beaten
Cream sugar, butter and vanilla. Sift together cake flour and baking powder three times.
Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Stir in almonds. Gently fold in the egg whites.
Pour into two greased and floured 9 x 11/2-inch round baking pans.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
WHITE FROSTING
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
dash salt
2 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
Bring to boiling, sugar, water, cream of tartar and salt.
Boil until sugar dissolves. Put egg whites in mixing bowl.
Start beater and while egg whites are beating, very slowly add hot syrup.
Beat until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.
Beat in vanilla for one more minute.
Added note on the recipe card: The marriage of Mary Todd to Abraham Lincoln is best expressed by the words Lincoln had engraved inside Mary's wedding band, "Love is Eternal." Mary expressed her feelings in less dramatic, but lasting and tasteful terms. She baked him her favorite white cake. This is her recipe.
"Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected, by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table."-Charles Pierre Monselet, French author(1825-1888)