Delightful Indulgence ~ Lady Baltimore Cake

Recently happened upon this lovely cake recipe… it seems like the perfect light as air dessert for a mid-summer evening and wonderfully paired with a cup of tea.

Lady Baltimore Cake
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
grated zest of one lemon
3 cups cake flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
6 egg whites
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line three 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper and generously grease.  Cream butter, sugar and lemon zest together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.  Combine milk, water and vanilla. Add small amounts of flour mixture to creamed butter mixture, alternately with milk mixture, beating until smooth after each addition.
Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into batter. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The cakes shouldn’t get very brown on top. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then transfer cakes to wire wracks to cool completely.
For the Orange Marmalade Filling:

3/4 (18-ounce) jar orange marmalade
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Grand Marnier (or any orange flavored liqueur), optional
Heat the marmalade, orange juice and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat just before it reaches boiling point. Remove from heat and stir in the Grand Marnier. Strain and allow to cool to room temperature.
For the Frosting:

3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
sweetened, flaked coconut, for garnish
Using a mixer, beat egg whites until stiff.  Boil sugar, water and cream of tartar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture reaches 238 degrees on a candy thermometer, or until a small amount of syrup will form a soft ball when dropped into very cold water (this is what’s known as “soft ball stage”)With the mixer on, slowly pour the hot syrup over the egg whites and continue to beat until the mixture is of spreading consistency (this could take up to 10 minutes; don’t be alarmed if your mixture is runny, just keep beating and eventually it will thicken up.). Add vanilla.
To Assemble:
Spread half of the orange marmalade filling in the center of the bottom cake layer, leaving an inch border around the outside
(when you add the frosting, the marmalade will spread). Gently spread some of the frosting over the marmalade and place second cake layer on top. Repeat with the other half of the marmalade filling and more frosting, then place the third cake layer on top. Frost the whole cake with the frosting (be generous, the recipe makes a TON of frosting!) and sprinkle generously with coconut. Refrigerate until 30 minutes to one hour before serving.
The beautiful china has me swooning too!
xoxo, B
recipe via

You Might Also Like

4 Comments

  • Reply myletterstoemily July 26, 2012 at 9:42 am

    your cake and china are gorgeous! i love
    white cake and look forward to trying
    your recipe. thank you!

  • Reply Pamela Bates July 26, 2012 at 11:12 am

    well, i don't know who lady baltimore was/is, but i love her already. that looks heavenly B. heavenly.

  • Reply Loree July 26, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    Oh my goodness. This is the second dessert recipe today that I want to try.

  • Reply High Heeled Life July 26, 2012 at 6:17 pm

    Dearest Brenda this is absolutely divine! and definitely something I would indulge in as my weekly treat (I'm working on creating/maintaining a new healthy eating life-style). And it would certainly go well with some tea. Thanks for sharing..

    Now I'm off to catch up on posts I have missed on your blog. It's been a summer of full rehab – so getting to computer is sometimes challenging. I missed your awesome inspirations. Hugs, and wishing you a fabulous week-end Blessings, C. (HHL)

  • Leave a Reply

    Back to top