Sarah Polk’s Hickory Nut Cake
Ingrediënten
Makes: 12 To 16 Servings
- Butter and flour for prepping the pan
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs separated
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup whole milk or half-and-half
- 1 cup chopped hickory nuts see Cake Note
- ½ teaspoon pure almond extract if desired
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract if desired (see Cake Note)
Instructies
- Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Lightly butter and flour a 10" tube pan, and shake out the excess flour.
- Set the pan aside.
- Place the butter in a large mixing bowl, and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy, 1 minute.
- Add the sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, beating on medium until light and creamy, 2 minutes.
- Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating until combined.
- Set aside.
- Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and sift to combine.
- Set aside.
- Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl and, with clean beaters, beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes.
- Set aside.
- Stir the lemon juice into the milk.
- Alternately add the flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture in 3 additions, beating on low speed just to combine.
- Beat in the hickory nuts and extracts, if desired, on low speed until combined.
- By hand, fold the beaten egg whites into the batter, just until combined.
- Turn the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and place the pan in the oven.
- Bake the cake until it is golden brown and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, 55 to 60 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven, and place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes.
- Run a knife around the edges of the pan, give the pan a gentle shake, then invert the cake onto the rack to cool, right side up, for 30 minutes.
- Slice and serve.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Cake Note:
Although vanilla extract was available after 1847, it still might have been a rare ingredient for the home baker. And almond extract would have been extravagant. Therefore, this cake would have been baked without them in the mid- to late 1800s. Extracts are a nice addition today, however, as just a little almond extract brings out the nuttiness in the hickory nuts. Do not use more than ½ teaspoon or it will overpower the delicacy of the rare hickory nuts, which can be purchased online or at farmers’ markets.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
