A Holiday Cake With a Spirited Family History

“This is a holiday cake that my mother made back in Arkansas,” Louise Baker writes. “When the trip was made to buy the Port, which was not a staple in our house, the family knew that the Ellen Nut Cake was to be anticipated. No one knows where the recipe name came from.”

ELLEN NUT CAKE

3/4 cup butter

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

4 egg yolks, beaten

3 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup milk

4 egg whites

Ellen Nut Filling

Powdered sugar

White Mountain Frosting

Walnut halves, optional

Cream butter and granulated sugar until light. Add beaten egg yolks and beat until smooth.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add vanilla to milk. Alternately add milk mixture and dry ingredients to butter mixture, beating to blend.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into batter. Turn into 3 (9-inch) round baking pans and bake at 375 degrees 25 to 35 minutes or until cake tests done.

Spread each layer with Ellen Nut Filling, then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Frost with White Mountain Frosting. Garnish with walnut halves. Makes about 12 servings.

Ellen Nut Filling

1 cup currants

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

2/3 cup whipping cream, whipped

1/3 cup Port or grape juice

Grind together currants and raisins. Add walnuts, whipped cream and Port.

White Mountain Frosting

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

2 teaspoons vinegar

2 egg whites

Dash salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Boil sugar, water and vinegar to 238 degrees. Meanwhile, beat egg whites with salt until soft peaks form. Add sugar mixture and vanilla, beating until stiff but not dry.

--LOUISE BAKER

Akron, Ohio

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