No banana pudding for Alabama. No peach or pecan pie. According to Slate Magazine’s, The United Sweets of America, the signature dessert of Alabama is the Lane Cake. What? You’ve never heard of an Alabama Lane Cake? Well, bless your heart! … neither had I until I learned it features prominently in the southern classic, “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Miss Maudie Atkinson, Scout Finch’s next door neighbor, is famous for her Lane Cakes in the fictitious town of Maycomb, Alabama.
The indulgent cake, popular around Christmastime, is made of four layers of white sponge cake sandwiched between a rich filling of egg yolks, butter, sugar, raisins, coconut and bourbon. It is typically iced with old-fashioned, boiled white frosting, which is apparently a lost art form. The attraction to Miss Maudie’s Lane Cakes may have been the 1-3 cups of bourbon used in the filling, as suggested by the original recipe. According to Scout, “Miss Maudie Atkinson baked a Lane cake so loaded with shinny it made me tight.”
The cake owes its origin to Emma Rylander Lane and was featured in her self-published cookbook, “Some Good Things to Eat,” in 1898. It is oftentimes referred to as “prize cake” after the recipe became famous for winning the top prize at a Columbus, GA county fair. The original recipe, courtesy of PBS through their American Masters documentary Harper Lee: Hey Boo, is shared below.
Recipes vary from state-to-state and kitchen-to-kitchen and a large part of baking a Lane Cake is being creative and making it your own. Coconut and pecans were added, improving on the original, when these foods became more readily available in supermarkets. The two photos below, courtesy of Forbes and the Food Channel, show two variations of the cake.
Recently the cake has sparked news as Alabama State Senator Bill Beasley is sponsoring a bill to make the Lane Cake Alabama’s official dessert. Senator Beasley’s wife is the granddaughter of Lucy Parish, a friend of Ms. Lane. “The recipe was created in Alabama,” he said. “It is a rare recipe. I think it would be a distinction for the state of Alabama to honor Mrs. Lane and Mrs. Parish to name the Lane Cake the official dessert.” If you’re itching to make a Lane Cake and looking for a more modern recipe, try this one from Booze Cakes: Confections Spiked With Spirits, Wine, and Beer
Lane Cake
White Cake
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 10 egg whites (reserve yolks for the filling)
Fruit-and-Coconut Filling
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 10 egg yolks
- 1/3 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups pecan, toasted, then chopped
- 1 cups golden raisins, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups assorted dried fruits, chopped
- 1/2 cup candied cherries
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted
- 1 cup bourbon
- 1/3 cup orange juice
Bourbon Buttercream
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 1/4 cup half-and-half
1. Pre-heat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour three 8-inch cake pans.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar 3 to 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla and bourbon. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture in three alternating additions; start and stop with the flour to prevent curdling.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gently fold egg whites into the batter. Pour batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the cakes are golden and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove and cool on wire racks.
4. For the filling: Melt butter in a deep pot over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar and egg yolks. Return to medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until fillings begins to thicken and a candy thermometer reads 180°F. Remove from heat and stir in the pecans, raisins, dates, candied cherries, coconut, bourbon, and orange juice. Allow filling to cool.
5. For the buttercream: In a mixing bowl, beat butter and salt until creamy. Add confectioners’ sugar and bourbon in alternating additions. Slowly add half and half and continue beating until fluffy. Refrigerate until ready to use.
6. Cut each of the layer cakes in half lengthwise. Place one layer on a cake plate and spread one of the fillings almost to the outer rim with a spatula. Place the next layer on top and add the next filling. Continue until the final layer is added.
7. With a clean spatula, spread the bourbon buttercream on the sides and top of the cake. This cake benefits from sitting a few hours so all the flavors can meld.
Enjoy!