July 19: Lane Cake

The Lane Cake is a classic, southern cake.  I decided to make a Lane Cake back in January when I undertook this Cake on Saturday resolution.  I had never made one before and like the Caramel Cake, it seems like a good regional specialty to know.

A couple of weeks ago, Keith sent me a link to a PBS.org article about American Cakes Through History, written by Tori Avey.  In it she writes about her research into the Lane Cake.  She included a quote from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in which Scout commented "Miss Maudie Atkinson baked a Lane cake so loaded with shinny it made me tight."  The "shinny" refers to alcohol.   Since Ms. Lee's new book Go Set A Watchman was released this week, what better time to try a Lane Cake?

Ms. Avey's article traces the history of the cake created by Alabama-native, Emma Rylander Lane. Ms. Lane had named it "Prize Cake" since it won first prize at a county fair in Columbus, Georgia.
When I originally picked the Lane Cake, I had chosen Nathalie Dupree's recipe from her book, New Southern Cooking.  However, after reading Ms. Avey's article, I decided that there was a much better choice of recipe.  Dupree's recipe did not call for any alcohol at all, instead using orange or white grape juice in the filling.  A later Dupree cookbook, Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking gave the option of using bourbon or orange juice.  There were several changes between the two versions of the Dupree recipes. I chose to stick more closely to the source material...

Ms. Avey references the 1921 Atlanta Woman's Club Cookbook version as it cites Mrs. Lane as the source of its recipe.  Since that cookbook is a prized part of my collection, I made my "prize" cake from Mrs. Lane's recipe.  It is even labeled as the "original" recipe.  Ms. Avey also refers to Mrs. Dull's Southern Cooking:  in the 1928 edition of the book there is no Lane Cake, but it is in the 1941 edition.  I have a reprint of the 1928 edition and I have Mama Judy's 1941 edition.

The recipes from 1941 Dull and AWC cookbook call for wine in the filling.  Mrs. Lane's recipe in the AWC specified using English walnuts, not pecans.  Mrs. Dull's lists pecans.  Since almost all later versions use bourbon and we like the bourbon/pecan combination, I decided to use bourbon.  The AWC version does not mention icing at all.  The 1941 Dull says "cover the cake with white icing."  No recipe for this icing was specified, but I chose a Seven Minute Icing since that was Mama Judy's go-to icing.  I used the recipe from Mrs. Dull since that was the one and only cookbook Judy ever owned.

Seven Minutes later...

Layers with filling

 Ms. Avey gave the option of baking the cake in three or four layers.  Mrs. Dull specifies three.  Mrs. Lane does not specify a number.  I chose to make three and included filling on the top layer as in Ms. Avey's article.  I made the cake and filling, and assembled the cake on Thursday because Ms. Avey recommended letting the flavors mingle for a few days before icing the cake.


Overall, I would say that this cake is a rich, boozy success.  The same could be said of some people I've known, but that is another story entirely.

This cake has a great visual impact and is much better than any fruitcake I have ever tasted so I can see why it is a favorite holiday cake in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.  I will certainly bake this cake again.  Several recipes for Lane cake require adding coconut or chopped dried cherries to the filling.  Keith thinks that anything more than pecans, bourbon and raisins would be excessive - but he votes for more filling and more layers. I concur that coconut and cherries are unnecessary.  In the future I will make it in four layers, while keeping the extra filling on the top.  This will require multiplying the filling recipe.  Perhaps I will give it a try using wine instead of bourbon.  More Lane Cake loaded with shinny in our future...

Next Saturday: Mocha Loaf Cake