Lady Baltimore was a novel written by Owen Wister in 1906. He chose Charleston as the setting of the novel, and one of the former of the Charleston bells, Mrs. Alicia Rhett Mayberry, as the central character of the story. Mrs. Mayberry created a cake called "Lady Baltimore." When the novel was published, the cake became a famous American dessert. It is a basic silver cake made with egg whites instead of whole eggs and solid shortening instead of butter to keep a pure white crumb. (Using butter will work too, but will not yield as white a crumb.) The filling is made with fruits and nuts, which are mixed into part of the icing; the cake is then frosted with the remaining icing.
• 6 egg whites;
• 13⁄4 cups sugar;
• 1 cup vegetable shortening or butter, at room temperature;
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt;
• 3 cups sifted cake flour;
• 4 teaspoons baking powder;
• 1 cup milk;
• 1 teaspoon –vanilla;
• Lady Baltimore Filling
  ;
• Seven-Minute Icing
  ;

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter three 9-inch-round cake pans.
• Beat egg whites until stiff. Beat in 1 cup of the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, and set aside. Cream the shortening or butter and beat in the remaining sugar. Combine the dry ingredients, and add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Fold in the egg whites, and add the vanilla. Divide batter among the cake pans and spread evenly. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oven, cool 10 minutes, and remove cakes from pans. Fill with the Lady Baltimore Filling and frost with Seven-Minute Icing.

MAKES ONE 3-LAYER CAKE

CAKE LAYERS

• ½ pound plus 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 ¼ cups sugar
• 5 cups cake flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups milk
• 1 tablespoon white rum
• 10 egg whites

FILLING

• 2/3 cup chopped dates
  
  

  Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter three 9-inch round cake pans.

  Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

  Sift together the dry ingredients and gradually incorporate them.

  Slowly add the milk and rum.

  In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with a dash of salt until stiff and glossy.

  Fold the whites into the batter.

  Divide the batter evenly among the cake pans.

  Bake for 25 minutes, or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan.

  Unmold the cake layers and let cool completely on awire rack

  In a small bowl, soak the dates and raisins in the ¼ cup rum for several hours; reserve.

  In a heavy saucepan, bring the sugar, corn syrup, and 1 ½ cups water to a boil and cook until it reaches a temperature of 232°, or until the syrup threads 8 inches off the edge of the spoon without dripping.

  In a bowl, beat the egg whites with a dash of salt until stiff and glossy. Gradually beat the hot syrup.

  Drain the dates and raisins, reserving the rum.

  Combine the fruits and chopped nuts with one-third of the frosting to making the filling.

  Combine 1 cup of Simple Syrup with 1/3 cup white rum and reserved rum.

  Trim the tops and bottoms of the cakes.

  Brush the bottom layer with some of the rum syrup.

  Spread half of the filling over the bottom layer.

  Place the second layer on top of the first. Brush it with syrup and spread with the remaining filling.

  Set the top layer in place and brush with a little of the syrup. Frost the sides and top of the cake, using small circular motions to create swirling peaks.