Lady Baltimore Cake!

I made a Lady Baltimore-esque cake today in honor of my upcoming visit to Maryland. And because I had the ingredients and some time on my hands. :)

This is not a traditional Lady Baltimore, which has a custard-type filling in between the layers. I personally do not like the filling, mostly because it has almonds in it and I don't like nuts in my cake. This version is also much less time intensive, but still very delicious. The best part is the icing, which is the prettiest frosting ever. It is white, whipped, and just airy and beautiful. It tastes a little like marshmallows. Which is fine by me.

Step One: Make a white cake. I used a box mix but added almond extract. You can make it by scratch. I promise I do make cakes from scratch sometimes!

Step Two: While the cakes are baking, start making the frosting. My recipe is from the Buttercup Bakeshop Cookbook for Lady Baltimore frosting. I call it "Whipped Swiss Meringue" frosting.

• Put three egg white and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla in a bowl. Set aside.
• In a saucepan, heat up 1/2 cup of water, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and a little under 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar.
• Let it boil - a full-on boil! Don't rush it. :)
• As the mixture is starting to boil, begin to whip your egg whites and vanilla with a whisk attachment. Let it get nice and frothy.
• Once the sugar-water mixture is boiling and the egg whites are frothy, slowly pour in the sugar-water.
• Keep whisking! After about 5 minutes, your mixture will look like pillow-y white clouds. Let the frosting get a little stiff and thick. It should hold peaks firmly.

Step Three: Grind up some oatmeal cookies in a food processor or blender until they are fine crumbs.

Step Four: Assemble your cake. Level off one cake. Add a layer of frosting and cookie crumbs. Top with the second cake. Heap on an enormous amount of frosting and cover the tops and sides. It shouldn't be smooth, but rather it should have peaks. Top with cookie crumbs and a maraschino cherry. (Tip: Dry off your cherry before putting it on the cake, or the red juice will run all over the place and ruin your pretty cake. Like it did to mine before. Sigh.)

Step Five: Gaze upon your cake in awe. It is gorgeous!

What else did I do today? I went to the dentist and I need to get a retainer. Mike thought this was rather funny. He said he could picture me wearing my retainer, watching BSG, and working on my laptop. He claims that my evolution into geek-dom is almost complete. :(

I also did laundry. And London found a new bed.

Pictures and details on our weekend trip to Yosemite coming soon! :)