White Trillium Cake Recipe

Directions:

1. White Trillium Cake
2. Serves/Yields: 8 to 10
3. Prep. Time:
4. Cook Time: 30-35 minutes
5. Category: White Cakes, North American, Southern U.S.
6. Difficulty: Moderate
7. Introduction
8. This cake was known in Louisville as Jenny Benedict's Souffle' Cake. Jenny Benedict was famous for the sandwiches, cakes, and ice creams that she served at her restaurant and in catering debutante parties and weddings in the early days of the twentieth century. We are told that Miss Benedict was very partial to flavoring her cakes with rum.
9. Ingredients
10. Cake:
11. 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
12. 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
13. 1/2 tsp. salt
14. 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces
15. 2 cups sugar
16. 1 Tbsp. milk
17. 1 cup water*
18. 1 tsp. vanilla extract
19. 6 large egg whites (approx. 6 oz.)
20. Butter Frosting (recipe follows)
21. *The water in the cake may surprise you, but water makes a lighter
22. White cake than milk.
23. Butter Frosting
24. 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces
25. 2 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
26. 1 - 2 1/2 Tbsp. heavy or whipping cream, warmed
27. 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, cognac vanilla or rum
28. Directions
29. Cake:
30. 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
31. 2. Combine the sifted flour with the baking powder and salt, and sift
32. Again. Set aside.
33. 3. Cream the butter and sugar thoroughly with an electric mixer. Add
34. The milk and beat hard. (The mixture will become smoother.)
35. 4. Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar in batches, alternating
36. With the water, beating it in by hand with a rubber spatula or whisk.
37. Add the vanilla and mix well.
38. 5. Beat the egg whites until they hold a stiff peak but are not dry and
39. Grainy. Gently fold them into the batter.
40. 6. Spoon the batter into 2 greased and lightly floured or wax-paper-lined
41. 9-inch cake pans. Place the pans on the middle shelf of the oven
42. And bake until the layers spring back at once when lightly touched,
43. 30 to 35 minutes.
44. 7. Remove the pans from the oven and allow them to rest a few
45. Minutes. Then turn them out onto cake racks and let them cool
46. Completely.
47. Butter Frosting:
48. Cream the butter and sugar together in a processor or with an electric mixer. Add the cream gradually, stirring until the frosting has a good spreading consistency. Stir in your choice of flavoring.