Cake layers coconut, bourbon, history

Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Barbara Sue Turner shares this vegetarian recipe for turnip greens soup.

Greens, White Beans

and Barley Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil 3 carrots, diced 1 ½ cups chopped onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 ½ cups sliced mushrooms 6 cups vegetable broth 2 cups cooked pearled barley 1 (15-ounce) can Great

Northern beans, rinsed 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 1 teaspoon dried thyme 7 cups chopped, stemmed

turnip greens 1 tablespoon white wine

vinegar Hot pepper sauce, to taste Red bell pepper strips,

optional

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add carrots, onion and garlic; cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until carrots are tender.

Add broth, barley, beans, bay leaves, sugar and thyme. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 5 minutes. Add greens and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves. Stir in vinegar. Season to taste with hot pepper sauce. Garnish with red pepper strips, if desired.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

This recipe for Lane Cake is in response to a request from Shelby Ray.

It is from the Southern Living Community Cookbook by Sheri Castle. The cake, a Southern staple comprising layers of white cake with a nut-raisin-coconut and bourbon filling, first appeared in print in 1898 in Emma Rylander Lane’s cookbook Some Good Things to Eat.

Lane Cake

For the cake: 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup whole milk 8 egg whites For the filling: 12 egg yolks

1 ½ cups granulated sugar ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted

1 ½ cups finely chopped pecans

1 ½ cups finely chopped raisins

1 ½ cups sweetened flaked coconut ½ cup bourbon 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) round cake pans. Line the pans with parchment rounds; grease and flour paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Slowly beat in sugar; beat at high speed 5 to 7 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture in thirds, alternately with half of the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat at low only until blended after each addition.

Beat egg whites in a third bowl on high speed until stiff peaks form. Stir one-third of the egg whites into the batter. Gently fold in remaining egg whites with a rubber spatula. Spoon batter into prepared cake pans. Smooth tops with spatula.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

To prepare the filling, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a large, heavy saucepan until well blended. Whisk in the melted butter, and cook over medium to medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes or until mixture thickly coats the back of a spoon. Do not let mixture simmer or boil.

Stir in pecans, raisins and coconut; cook 1 minute. Stir in bourbon; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let stand 5 minutes. Spread a scant dollop of filling between each layer; use remainder on top and sides of cake. Cool completely.

Makes 12 servings.