Old community and church cookbooks almost never contain pictures of foods made using the recipes (or pages printed in color), so when I was looking through a 1926 cookbook from Cherokee, Iowa I was surprised to see a beautiful color drawing of an Orange Layer Cake.
The picture was on a page containing an advertisement for Swans Down Cake Flour. The cookbook also contained the recipe for the cake. Apparently, Swans Down was an advertising sponsor for the cookbook. And, the company must have paid a lot, because this was the only color page in the book. Here’s the picture and the original recipe:
The cake looked delicious, and each time I flipped through the cookbook, it seemed to almost automatically open to the page with the Swans Down advertisement. After about the tenth time I looked at the picture, I decided to make the recipe. Could I replicate this beautiful cake?
The cake pictured in the old cookbook was a 3-layer cake; but, the recipe was for a 2-layer cake. The directions say, “Bake in 2 layers or double recipe for 3 large layers.” I decided to double the recipe so that my cake would look like the image in the cookbook.
The cake I made looked beautiful and I was pleased with how it turned out, but it was a huge cake, so when I updated the recipe, I did what the old cookbook author did. I provided directions for a two-layer cake with a note that it can be doubled to make a three-layer cake.
The cake in the old drawing has an orangish tint, and the filling is a bright orange. The actual filling I made was not very orange, and had more of a beige hue. Similarly, the cake was yellow, rather than orange. I considered using food coloring to make the filling and the cake orange, but decided against it. Even without the artificial dyes in food coloring, the cake looked lovely.
The old recipe called for a teaspoon of “flavoring.” I used orange extract.
I did not use a double boiler when making the Orange Filling. I just stirred it constantly, and it worked fine. I did not have any issues with the bottom of the filling burning.
The cake recipe says to ice the cake with boiled icing, but did not include a recipe for it, so I found a Boiled Frosting recipe in another 1926 cookbook:
I decided to go with the option that called for using two egg whites.
The Boiled Frosting, which is sometimes called Seven Minute Frosting, had a glossy finish and was light and airy. It brought back memories of the tasty frosting on cakes that great aunts made for family reunions years ago.
The bottom line is that this is a very tasty, beautiful cake. The cake layers had lovely texture, the Orange Filling had a bright and sunny citrus taste, and the Boiled Frosting was delectable. It takes time to make and assemble this cake, but it was well worth the effort.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Orange Layer Cake with Boiled Frosting
Note: This recipe makes a 2-layer, 9- inch cake. Double the recipe to make a 3-layer, 9-inch cake.
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon orange extract
Orange Filling (see recipe below)
Boiled Frosting (see recipe below)
2 small mandarin (or other small) oranges, if desired for garnish
Step 1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease and flour two 9-inch baking pans.
Step 2. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Step 3. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and milk; beat to combine. Add flour and baking powder; beat until smooth. Fold in the beaten egg whites.
Step 4. Evenly divide the batter across the prepared pans.
Step 5. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Step 6. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes, then remove from pans and let completely cool.
Step 7. To assemble cake: If the cake layers are uneven, they may be trimmed to make the tops flat. Spread the Orange Filling between the cake layers. Ice cake with the Boiled Frosting.
Step 8. If desired, garnish cake with thinly cut half slices of oranges which has been peeled. To make the slices, cut the peeled oranges cross-sectionally into thin slices using a sharp knife. Then cut each slice in half. Arrange around the edge of the cake. (I removed the orange garnish before storing left-over cake.)
Orange Filling
1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cake flour
1 orange rind, grated
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons water
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
Step 1. Put the sugar and flour in a saucepan; stir to mix. Add orange rind, orange juice, lemon juice, water, and egg. Stir to combine. Add the butter.
Step 2. Heat, using medium heat, until the filling thickens (about 10 minutes), while stirring constantly.
Step 3. Remove from heat, and allow the filling to cool to room temperature.
Boiled Frosting
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
Step 1. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan, then heat using medium heat. Do not stir while cooking. If a bit of the sugar mixture coats the sides of the pan above the cooking syrup, gently use a dampened paper towel or brush to remove any sugar crystals. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the syrup reaches 235° F. (thread stage).
Step 2. In the meantime, put the egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat until stiff peaks form.
Step 3. Slowly pour the hot syrup over the beaten egg whites, while continuously beating. Beat until the mixture is glossy and shiny, and has a nice consistency for icing a cake (about 7 minutes).
This looks lovely for a celebration. I’ll keep the recipe aside for a suitable occasion. Thanks!
It would be perfect for a celebration or event.
That is beautiful! And obviously, a labor of love. Glad you were able to replicate it.
I had a lot of fun trying to replicate the old recipe and picture – though wouldn’t want to make recipes that are this complex every week. 🙂
The filling and icing caught my eye. I had never heard of boiled icing, and I thought the filling would be the same as the icing. The recipe is really interesting.
I think that it was more common a hundred years ago for cakes to have a filling that was different from the icing. Some old cookbooks have separate subsections in the cake chapter for cake fillings (which often are either fruit-based or contain lots of chopped nuts) and icing.
What a beautiful cake! The orange segments add a beautiful pop of color. I am guessing if you wanted even more orange flavor, you could replace the vanilla in the icing with orange extract in a smaller amount? Maybe 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 orange extract?
My mother would sometimes chocolate cake with sea foam frosting (a type of boiled icing) for my birthday. Other times, she would make German chocolate cake.
Yes, it should work fine to use orange extract instead of some or all of the vanilla.
Mmm. . . a chocolate cake with sea foam frosting sounds delightful. I have’ had sea foam frosting in years.
I haven’t either. Your mention of boiled icing brought back memories since sea foam frosting is a type of boiled frosting.
If a new name was invented for boiled icing, it might make a comeback. Boiled icing doesn’t sound very attractive. Marketing is everything! 😁
🙂 I think you’re right. My brain’s whirling already trying to think of a clever modern-sounding name for Boiled Frosting.
Sugar Spun Frosting?
I like it.
Doesn’t it sound fancy? A lot more fancy bthan boiled icing. 😁 I am sure there are other fun names we could come up with.
It does sound fancy. “Boiled Frosting” is descriptive, but very prosaic.
I think 7 minute frosting is pretty current in modern terms… Or to really push it call it a “low Sugar magic dressing
I think that you’re right that this frosting is often called 7 Minute Frosting today rather than Boiled Frosting. Your second suggestion to call it Low Sugar Magic Dressing made me notice something that I’d never realized before. The Boiled Frosting recipe (which makes enough frosting to ice a 2-layer cake) calls for less sugar than the amount of sugar needed to make a similar volume of Buttercream Frosting. This really surprised me since Boiled Frosting seems quite sweet. As you noted – It is a magic frosting!
I love this Sheryl! This is a cake my mom would have made, she adored making the seven-minute frosting. I think she just loved playing with it!
It’s wonderful to hear that you enjoyed this post. I can see why your mother enjoyed making seven-minute frosting. There’s an element of play in making a cake like this.
Beautiful cake! Great combination of icing and oranges.
Thank you – I was pleased with how it turned out.
This is the most beautiful cake! It is a joy to look at, and I love the picture that was in the cookbook. I am most impressed with your results…and now I wish I had a piece of cake!
The cake turned out really well. Wish I could send you a slice virtually.
I wish you could, too. 🙂
Your cake looks delicious! On the seven minute frosting , you can use white corn syrup if you don’t want to boil your sugar.
Good suggestion
Thanks for the memories of the boiled frosting! This cake is sunshine baked into every slice – yum!
Nice to hear that this post brought back some warm memories. You described the cake well. It has a lovely sunshiny, citrus flavor.
Gorgeous cake!
Thank you! I was happy with how the cake turned out.
Thank you very much for sharing this lovely recipe. I think I’m going to make this one!
I think that you’ll like this cake. It’s a fun cake to make.
this looks so pretty! I love citrus in a cake.
sherry
It’s tasty.
Oh, yummy. I should always eat before I read your posts. This was looks amazing!
It’s delicious. I was happy with how it turned out.