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Extra Nice Walnut Cake
Beat to a cream one-half cup of butter and one cup of sugar. Dissolve one-half cup of cornstarch in one-half cup of milk, and add to butter and sugar, then add one cup of flour with one teaspoon of baking powder and the whites of two eggs beaten stiff. At the last add one cup of chopped walnut meats, and flavor with vanilla.
A small, tender white cake built on the old cornstarch-and-egg-white method. The original assumes you know the pan, the oven and the time, so those are the gaps worth filling.
- No oven given350F is a safe choice for a batter this rich with butter and nuts; anything hotter risks browning the outside before the centre sets.
- Pan and timeThe quantities suit one 8-inch round layer or a small loaf pan. Figure 30 to 35 minutes for the round, 40 to 45 for the loaf, tested with a skewer in the centre.
- Cornstarch is the pointA half cup of cornstarch to a cup of flour, roughly a third of the dry measure, is what makes this "extra nice"; cornstarch dilutes the gluten and gives a fine, short crumb. Dissolving it in the milk first prevents lumps; whisk it in again just before adding, since it settles fast.
- Fold, do not beatThe stiff whites are the only aeration beyond the creamed butter and the baking powder. Fold them in with a spatula in two additions after the flour, and stop while a few streaks remain.
- Baking powder strengthModern double-acting powder can be stronger than some earlier powders. A level teaspoon works here; do not round the spoon up.
- Flour measureOne cup of flour scooped as they did it runs 4.5 to 5 oz. Weigh 4.5 oz for a lighter result; a heavy cup throws off the flour-to-cornstarch balance.
- The walnutsChop them fine rather than coarse -- a cup of nuts in a batter this small will sink and tear the crumb if the pieces are large. Toss them in a spoonful of the measured flour before folding in.
- Vanilla and yieldUse one teaspoon of extract. The cake serves six to eight; a plain boiled or butter frosting suits it.
Cornstarch cakes became common in American cookbooks in the later nineteenth century, as boxed cornstarch spread as a cheap pantry staple and manufacturers promoted it for baking in their own recipe pamphlets. Replacing part of the flour with starch produced the pale, fine-grained cake that the period called "delicate," and the leftover yolks from the two whites could go into custards or a yellow cake. Walnuts, black or English, were among the ordinary American nuts of the day, cracked at home before shelled nut meats were widely sold ready-packed.