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.
