About
Surprisingly, our 16th President had quite the sweet tooth. Among his favorite dishes was a seemingly humble, but truly amazing, almond cake. Abe Lincoln's Almond Cake is basically exactly what he would have loved: a buttery, tender, and sweet cake filled with crunchy nuts. When frosted with boiled icing (another of Honest Abe's honest-to-goodness favorites), Abe Lincoln's Almond Cake is a dessert of presidential quality!
Ingredients
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 cups sugar, divided
- 1 cup butter
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/4 cups blanched almonds, toasted and finely chopped, plus more, to taste, for garnish
- boiled icing or almond cream icing, optional, to taste, for frosting
Directions
Step 1 -Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2 -Place greased wax paper in a 10-inch tube pan.
Step 3 -In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy.
Step 4 -Gradually add 1 cup of the sugar to the egg whites and whisk until stiff peaks form.
Step 5 -Add the butter and the remaining sugar to a large bowl and use an electric hand mixer to cream until light and fluffy.
Step 6 -Sift the flour, the baking powder, and the salt together into a medium bowl.
Step 7 -Mix the vanilla extract, the almond extract, and the buttermilk together in a small bowl.
Step 8 -Add 1 1/4 cups of the nuts to the flour mixture.
Step 9 -Add 1/3 of the buttermilk mixture and 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating, being careful not to overmix. Repeat with the rest of the buttermilk and flour mixtures.
Step 10 -Fold the egg whites into the batter, being careful not to knock the air out.
Step 11 -Pour the batter into the prepared tube pan.
Step 12 -Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.
Step 13 -Allow the cake to cool.
Step 14 -Frost with the icing, garnish with the extra almonds, slice, and serve.
