look at this cake recipe (cross posted from lounge) [View All]

[grasswire]

The DU user youthere posted this black walnut cake recipe (her grandma's) and I think it's really interesting.

It's not exactly the same, as grandma was a "fistful of that" kind of cook...but one of my aunts translated the recipe pretty close. I included her frosting recipe too. Let me know if you decide to try it. It's a lot of work...but really worth it. Also..I've never been able to find square cake pans like my grandma had..I always use round ones and I only make two layers. And my advice would be, do not omit the sifting step, and do not substitute shortening for the drippings. My husband still eats meat, and adores bacon, so I always save the grease.

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped black walnuts meat
¼ cup butter
¼ c. bacon drippings
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract (don’t use imitation…omit if you don’t have the real stuff)
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
3/4 cup buttermilk
½ c. finely chopped nutmeat

Place 1 cup chopped walnuts in boiling water 3 to 5 minutes; drain well and set aside.
Cream butter and drippings; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks and vanilla; beat well.

Combine 2 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, salt, and spices; mix well and sift. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix well after each addition. Dredge black walnuts in remaining 1/4 cup flour; fold into batter. Beat egg whites (at room temperature) until stiff peaks form; fold into batter.

Pour into 3 greased and floured 8-inch square cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove layers from pans, and let cool completely. Spread frosting between layers and and frost whole cake. Sprinkle finely chopped nutmeats over entire cake.

Frosting in a jar:

1 cup milk OR mix half milk and half buttermilk
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Directions
Sift the flour. Pour milk into quart jar with tightly fitting lid and add sifted flour.Shake hard for a minute and a half. Pour into a pan and cook over medium heat stirring constantly, to form a paste that will thicken as it cools. Remove from heat and cover the paste with wax paper so it doesn’t form a skin. Allow to cool completely. Cream the butter and then add the sugar. Mix until it’s completely dissolved. Then slowly add the cooled paste a bit at a time. After all the paste has been mixed in, stir in the vanilla