As Lady Baltimore cake ascended in popularity in the late 19th century, it was quickly joined by a lesser-known counterpart.
A 1900 cookbook, “Miss Olive Allen’s tested recipes : 200 selected from many hundreds gathered from all over the world,” touted alongside its Lady Baltimore Cake recipe that the cake is “Delicious! Not expensive when egg yolks are used for Lord Baltimore cake.” Later in the book, the recipe for the latter cake was provided. “Economical. Save egg whites for Lady Baltimore cake.” One cake is “delicious,” the other “economical.” Lord Baltimore never stood a chance.
But wait: Allen’s recipe for Lord Baltimore cake used a filling of raisins, figs, and pecans. Those are Lady Baltimore’s ingredients. The Lady Baltimore Cake, on the other hand, contained maraschino cherries, pecans, and chopped pineapple.
Fannie Farmer corrected this switcheroo and perhaps did the most to popularize Lord Baltimore Cake, which she included in several of her early 1900s cookbooks. In addition to a vanilla-flavored “Ice Cream Frosting” made from egg whites and sugar, Farmer’s cake is filled with excitement: candied cherries, Sherry, pecans, almonds, and crushed dry macaroons. (Farmer may have actually been referring to meringues.)
Between the Ice Cream Frosting and the macaroons, an issue arises: the egg math on Lady & Lord Baltimore just doesn’t add up. If you make both cakes, you’re still going to have some egg yolks to spare. (Lucky you – make this egg pasta!)
This is no big loss since the two cakes don’t form any balance to one-another flavor-wise, either.
One occasionally finds Lord Baltimore on his own in a community cookbook, but such appearances are rare.
In 1973, Mrs. Grace E. J. Hanson of Baltimore included recipes for both cakes in her cookbook, “Grace Before Meals… for success in cookery,” a hardcover volume with a mysterious plain blue dust-jacket.
Hanson was born in 1907 in New Orleans. She came to Baltimore to attend the Peabody for violin. Around 1928, she moved to the Charles Village (Abell to be exact) neighborhood of Baltimore with her husband, Charles T. Hanson, a chemist.
They lived at 325 East 29th Street for 49 years. Grace’s Penuche fudge recipe appeared in the 1972 neighborhood cookbook “Once Upon a Thyme in Charles Village” a year before it appeared in her own book.
The introduction to “Grace Before Meals,” is, frankly, a bit of a chore to read. Mrs. Hanson spends most of it writing in a dry over-wrought style about how she didn’t originally plan to write a cookbook and how she methodically tried to make the book the best it can be. “…With what I thought to be the basic requirements, such as the method of writing, the style of presenting, the source of attaining and the proof of a good product, I had the guideline for my work.”
Grace Hanson’s 1977 obituary mentions that she was a talented violinist, and worked at St. John’s-Huntingdon Church in Waverly. She died a few months after her husband, leaving two adult daughters. “Grace Before Meals” appears to be relatively rare but inexpensive online.
There is a part of me that believes that the now unpopular Lady Baltimore cake could be redeemed. Ditch the egg white icing for something flavorful… cream cheese? Fresh figs instead of dried?
Lord Baltimore seems even more primed to join the 21st century. Whether you’re a fan of the neon hues of maraschino cherries or you’re an epicure who prefers the cherries offered by Luxardo, this cake has potential. Lord Baltimore Cake could have a fresh new life post “Lady Baltimore” divorce.
Recipe:
- 1.75 Cups all-purpose, sifted flour
- 2.5 Teaspoons baking powder
- .25 Teaspoons salt
- .5 Cup butter
- 1 Cup sugar
- 1 well beaten egg
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
- .5 Cup milk
Sift, together, flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Cream butter or margarine and add sugar gradually, beating constantly. Add beaten egg and egg yolks; beat well. Stir vanilla extract into milk. Add, alternately, the flour and milk mixtures to the butter or margarine mixture. Pour into three 8 inch greased floured round cake pans of three 7 inch square pans. Bake in preheated oven 350 degrees Farenheit for 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Use Lord Baltimore Frosting and Filling.
Frosting And Filling For Lord Baltimore Cake
- 3 Cups sugar
- 1 Cup water
- .25 Teaspoons cream of tartar
- 3 stiffly beaten egg whites
- .5 Cup toasted coconut
- .5 Cup toasted, chopped, blanched almonds
- .333 Cup candied red cherries, cut in quarters
- .25 Teaspoons orange extract
- 2 Teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon sherry
Boil, together, sugar, water, and cream of tartar to 238 degrees Fahrenheit or until a small amount of syrup forms a soft all when tested in cold water. Pour hot syrup, gradually, over beaten egg whites, beating constantly until of spreading consistency. Divide mixture in half. Add remaining ingredients to one portion and spread between layers of cake. Frost top and sides with remaining portion.
Recipe from “Grace Before Meals,” Grace E. J. Hanson. John D. Lucas Printing Company. Baltimore. 1973.
