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You’re going to love this Lady Baltimore Cake for its soft, delicate layers, jammy fruit-and-nut filling, and fluffy marshmallowy frosting. It looks beautifully impressive, but spoon-made swirls and peaks keep the decorating simple. The whole Thing is light, sweet, and a little mysterious.
Why You’ll Love It
- Beautiful without fancy decorating — use the back of a spoon to make swirls and peaks in the frosting.
- Soft, delicate cake layers — cake flour, buttermilk, and beaten egg whites create a tender crumb with gentle vanilla-almond flavor.
- Perfect for sharing — it serves 12 and makes a lovely dessert for a family dinner or holiday table.
- A standout filling — cooked raisins and dates turn soft and jammy with honey, rum extract, and nuts.
Ingredient Notes
Cake flour matters here. I know, I know—another bag of flour in the pantry. Mine currently has at least four kinds, and I’m not proud of it. But cake flour gives this cake that tender crumb you want. Regular all-purpose flour will make a cake, certainly, but it won’t quite have the same delicate texture.
Use real buttermilk if you can. The little bit of tang balances all that sugar. I have used the lemon juice-and-milk trick in other recipes, but for this one I prefer actual buttermilk. It’s a special cake; let it have its buttermilk.
For the nuts, walnuts or pecans both work. I usually use pecans because I’m Southern enough to have a bag of pecans lurking in the freezer at all times.
The rum extract is not optional if you want the classic flavor, though it’s only a teaspoon and doesn’t make the filling taste boozy. It just adds a little something-something. Almond extract is the same way—tiny amount, big difference. Do not get carefree with almond extract. It will take over a dessert faster than a toddler with a permanent marker.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cake flour, sifted
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 egg whites
- 1/2 cup raisins, chopped
- 1/2 cup pitted dates, diced
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon rum extract
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, plus more for garnish if you feel like it
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 4 egg whites
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease and line two 9-inch cake pans—I use parchment rounds because I have learned the hard way that a beautiful cake layer can cling to a pan with the determination of a tax collector. In a mixing bowl, combine the sifted cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set that aside for a minute.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until it looks pale and fluffy. This takes a few minutes, so don’t rush it. Stir in the 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract and the 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. It should smell wonderful already, like a bakery that somehow has clean floors.
Stir together the buttermilk and 1/2 cup water in a small bowl or measuring cup. Add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately, about one-third at a time, mixing between additions. Start and end with the dry ingredients if you can remember, but don’t panic if life gets in the way. The batter will be fairly thick.
In a clean bowl, beat the 3 egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold them gently into the cake batter just until combined. Don’t beat them in with the mixer; we worked for that air, and we are not throwing it away now. The batter will still look thick, which is exactly right.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and smooth the tops with the back of a spoon. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in their pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto cooling racks and let them cool completely. Completely means completely. Warm cake plus fluffy frosting equals a sad little landslide.
While the cakes cool, make the filling. Combine the chopped raisins, diced dates, 1/2 cup water, and honey in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until bubbling, then cook until the liquid has been absorbed into the fruit. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rum extract and chopped walnuts or pecans. Set it aside to cool. It will look a bit like a sticky jewel-toned relish, which is not a phrase I use lightly.
For the frosting, put the 2 cups sugar, salt, cream of tartar, 4 egg whites, and 1/4 cup water into a clean saucepan. Set the pan over medium-low heat and beat the mixture continuously with an electric mixer for 5 to 7 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the frosting reaches stiff peaks. Yes, you are using the mixer over the stove. Keep the beaters moving and pay attention.
Remove the frosting from the heat once it is thick, glossy, and holding stiff peaks. Fold in the 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Reserve 1/2 cup of frosting and stir it into the cooled fruit-and-nut filling. That little bit of frosting makes the filling lighter and helps it spread without tearing up the cake.
Level the cooled cake layers by trimming away any uneven domes. You can use the two layers as they are, with filling between them, or carefully slice each layer in half horizontally to make four thinner layers. I prefer four layers when I’m trying to impress people, though two layers are less likely to make me mutter under my breath.
Put one cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread some of the fruit filling over the top, then add another cake layer. Continue layering cake and filling until the filling is used, ending with a cake layer on top. If you are making a two-layer cake, use the filling between the two layers; if you split them into four, divide it among the three filling layers.
Frost the top and sides generously with the remaining frosting. Use the back of a spoon to make soft peaks and swirls all over it—no need to make it perfect. Sprinkle extra chopped nuts over the top if you want. Slice and serve, preferably after standing back for a second to admire the thing, because you earned that.
Variations
Extra pecans between the layers are perfectly fine, though they do make the slices a little more challenging to cut neatly. A thicker layer of fruit filling also gives the cake a more rustic look.
Walnuts are more traditional in some versions, while pecans give it a softer, buttery flavor. Either one works. Chopped dried cherries can overwhelm the delicate cake and make the filling too sharp, so I wouldn’t add them.
You can also leave off the extra nuts on top and go all-in on the snowy white frosting. It really is lovely that way.
Storage & Reheating
Keep leftover Lady Baltimore Cake covered in the refrigerator. The egg-white frosting holds up best chilled, and the fruit filling stays nice that way too. It will keep for a few days, though by day three the frosting may lose a little of its proud fluffy posture. Still tastes good. Most things do when there’s sugar involved.
Let a slice sit at room temperature for 15 or 20 minutes before eating if you can. Cold cake has its own appeal—especially after a day when the garbage disposal makes a weird noise and nobody else seems concerned.
I wouldn’t try reheating this cake. It is not that kind of dessert. This is a fork-and-plate cake, not a microwave cake. Treat it gently.
Final Notes
There’s something a little old-fashioned about bringing a white layer cake to the table. Not old-fashioned in a bad way—more like finding a handwritten recipe tucked inside a cookbook, with a butter stain in the corner and a note saying, “Good for company.”
Lady Baltimore Cake feels like that to me. Pretty, certainly, but also comforting in an odd way. The pale layers, the little specks of fruit and nuts tucked inside, those soft frosting peaks that never come out exactly alike. It is a cake that asks for a little patience, and I am not generally a woman who enjoys being asked for patience. But every now and then, it’s nice to spend an afternoon doing something with both hands, letting the kitchen get messy, hearing the mixer whirring while the rest of the house carries on around you.
Then you bring it out, and everybody gets quiet for a minute.
Lady Baltimore Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups cake flour sifted
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, softened to room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 egg whites
- 1/2 cup raisins chopped
- 1/2 cup pitted dates diced
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon rum extract
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans plus more for garnish if desired
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 4 egg whites
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F, then grease and line two 9-inch cake pans with parchment rounds.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the sifted cake flour, baking powder, and salt, then set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar until pale and fluffy, then stir in the vanilla extract and almond extract.
- Stir together the buttermilk and 1/2 cup water, then add the buttermilk mixture and flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately, about one-third at a time, mixing between additions until a thick batter forms.
- In a clean bowl, beat the 3 egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the cake batter just until combined.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans, smooth the tops, and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in their pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto cooling racks and let them cool completely.
- Combine the chopped raisins, diced dates, 1/2 cup water, and honey in a small saucepan, heat over medium heat until bubbling, and cook until the liquid has been absorbed into the fruit.
- Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the rum extract and chopped walnuts or pecans, and set the filling aside to cool.
- Put the 2 cups sugar, salt, cream of tartar, 4 egg whites, and 1/4 cup water into a clean saucepan set over medium-low heat, then beat continuously with an electric mixer for 5 to 7 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the frosting reaches stiff peaks.
- Remove the frosting from the heat once it is thick, glossy, and holding stiff peaks, then fold in the 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of frosting and stir it into the cooled fruit-and-nut filling to make it lighter and easier to spread.
- Level the cooled cake layers by trimming away any uneven domes, then use the two layers as they are or carefully slice each layer in half horizontally to make four thinner layers.
- Place one cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand, spread fruit filling over the top, and continue layering cake and filling until the filling is used, ending with a cake layer on top.
- Frost the top and sides generously with the remaining frosting, use the back of a spoon to make soft peaks and swirls, sprinkle with extra chopped nuts if desired, then slice and serve.