Today was the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday!
I thought this would be a good day to post some pictures of Abe Lincoln’s Kentucky home. Poppy and I went to see Abe’s birthplace last fall. The grounds and surroundings are beautiful and we could imagine Abe running in those woods as a child.

There is a small log cabin, kept in a building for preservation, that was once believed to be the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln.

The staff explained that the log cabin is no longer thought of as Abe’s birthplace but is, rather, a log cabin from this area in Kentucky and from the 1800 era.


Hey Poppy….who is that with you on the porch?

Well….Southern gals find a recipe for every topic of conversation! So…to honor that tradition, and satisfy my curiosity, I looked up Abe’s favorite cake recipe…of course!
This is a deliciously moist, tender cake and has a delicate almond flavor…not overpowering.

Mrs. Lincoln’s White Almond Cake
Here is a little bit of history ….an excerpt from LINCOLN HOME, National Historic Site
http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/liho/printVersion.html
Food and Entertaining Mary loved entertaining.
Mary’s main homemaking interest appeared to be cooking, especially making sweets. The cookbooks she purchased after getting married are in the Presidential library in Springfield. Her white almond cake was one of Mr. Lincoln’s favorite desserts. She had brought the recipe from her favorite bakery in Lexington, Kentucky. Mary baked the white cake for Abraham Lincoln when they were courting, as a Springfield housewife, and when she was First Lady. Today, there are many versions of it, including the one listed below.
The Lincolns purchased macaroon pyramids (macaroon cookies stacked in a pyramid and covered with caramelized sugar drizzle) from local confectioners when they had a big party. Mary often served strawberries and cream, probably with cookies. Oral tradition had it that the neighborhood children were guaranteed a cookie or donut from Mrs. Lincoln when they played with the Lincoln boys. With Mary’s copious amounts of sugar purchased, there were plenty of cookies. During the course of one week in 1849, Mary purchased 13 pounds of sugar!
Abe’s favorite cake…
Mary Todd Lincoln’s White Cake
(Recipe from Lincoln’s Table by Donna D. McCreary was adapted by Janice Cooke Newman)
1 cup blanched almonds, chopped in a food processor until they
resemble a coarse flour
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
6 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
confectionary sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan.
- Cream butter and sugar. Sift flour and baking powder 3 times. Add to creamed butter and sugar, alternating with milk. Stir in almonds and beat well.
- Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter. Stir in vanilla extract.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Turn out on a wire rack and cool. When cool, sift confectionary sugar over top
A basic white frosting sprinkled with almonds was also popular.
I made this cake with a few changes….I used toasted, slivered honey almonds, added 1 teaspoon cardamom (goes well with almond), buttermilk , instead of milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. I frosted the cake with an almond cream cheese frosting.

We stopped in at the gift shop and visitor’s center and I purchased this very cute country style sampler.

Only after bringing it home did I see that on the tag it read…Made in China!
I’m sure we could find some Kentucky folk to make these! It just doesn’t seem to fit into the whole ‘Idyllic Frontier’ theme…does it? Oh well…such is life on the new Frontier!
Until we meet again….
Happy trails on your Frontier…wherever that may be….Kentucky, China…wherever!
Wishing you a day that is blessed simply….
and simply blessed!
Vee
What a wonderful day out! Thanks for the tour! Lovely pics too! that cake looks amazing & very special indeed! 🙂 Yummm!
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Hi Sophie….I’ve been gone for a few weeks. Thank you for your kind comment….glad you liked the tour. 🙂
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The cake looks fabulous!
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Thank you! My cake is now the featured photo at Food.com where there is another version of the recipe. 🙂 I added my review and changes on the site also. Here is the link if you’d like to check out their recipe for the cake or any others…
http://www.food.com/recipe/abraham-lincolns-favorite-cake-151017
Thank you for visiting here at ‘The Range’ ~ Vee
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A great history lesson, beautiful pictures and a delicious looking (historical 🙂 ) cake recipe,thank you for sharing!
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Thank you Daniela! I appreciate your visit and comment! Blessings to you!
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Yes, we Southern gals can always come up with a good recipe, and I do like the way you combined the history with this one.
It looks delicious! Blessings to you ~ Marsha
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Indeed…which makes the South my kind of place! Thank you for your kind compliment Marsha.
Blessings to you as well!
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Everything is beautiful. I wish I had a slice of that delicious cake!!
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Thank you…and I wish you did too…there is still a whole bunch of it! We love it but….there are only two of us in this house. That is the trouble with being an empty nester! I will probably freeze some of it if hubby doesn’t take some with him to work tomorrow! 🙂 His co-workers do quite like my love of baking! Thanks for the visit…I’ll be over soon to see what you’re cooking up! 🙂 Blessings!
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The history lesson coupled with Abe’s cake recipe is a wonderful combination. I have not had the fortune of visiting his birthplace yet so it was nice to learn and see about it as well. Thanks!
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Thank you for your comment and for stopping by for a visit into some Kentucky history. Glad you liked the post! 🙂
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Beautiful post!
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Thank you! I’m glad that you enjoyed it. 🙂 Blessings!
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Reblogged this on mykentuckyliving and commented:
You have some great recipes.
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Thank you! I love finding great recipes to make my own and share! And…nice to see appreciation for the Kentucky photos. Be blessed!
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