We love cake and we love recipes inspired by history. So naturally, we asked author Liza Gershman if we could share her recipe for Southern Layer Cake from Georgia with Real Food Traveler readers. It comes from her new book, County Fair: Nostalgic Blue Ribbon Recipes from America’s Small Towns. 

Save this recipe for Southern Layer Cake, from County Fair: Nostalgic Blue Ribbon Recipes from America’s Small Towns, to Pinterest so you can make it whenever you want. Photos courtesy Liza Gershman. Graphic by Real Food Traveler.

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Southern Layer Cake / Prize Cake

Inspired by Emma Lane, Blue Ribbon Prize winner from the Columbus County Fair, Georgia, published in the County Fair cookbook by Liza Gershman, shared here with permission.

Note from Liza Gershman: When Emma Lane first baked her cake and entered it into the 1898 county fair, she could not possibly have imagined the impact one kitchen-sink recipe would have on a Southern culture. Popularized and served ubiquitously at social gatherings around the South, this cake originally published in Emma Lane’s book, Some Good Things to Eat (1898), won First Prize at the county fair and took the South by storm. A long-standing tradition ever since, the ‘Prize Cake,’ which become ‘Lane Cake’ and then ‘Southern Layer Cake’ is the most traditional fair recipe. Filling varies from region to region and state to state, and substituting some of your locally grown ingredients is the perfect way to make this a family favorite in your home. Some home bakers add in chopped apples and cinnamon, while others prefer raisins and apple brandy. (Our version is amended from Emma’s original to include a cake filling of fruit and whiskey, with dried peaches and orange juice for color.)

Ingredients:
CAKE
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1⁄2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 TBS vanilla extract
2 3⁄4 cups cake flour
2 3⁄4 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk, room temperature

SEVEN MINUTE FROSTING
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 TBS corn syrup
1/4 cup water
6 egg whites

FILLING
1 c. bourbon (whiskey) or brandy (or other alcohol of choice) or grape juice
1/2 cup orange juice
8 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup dried peaches, finely chopped
1 cup pecans, finely chopped

Directions:
CAKE
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the sides and bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans, and cut to fit parchment paper to fit into the bottom of the pans. Dust the pans with flour, and tap out any excess. Set aside. In a large bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add vanilla and beat to combine.

In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add it to butter mixture, followed by milk. Beat on medium-low speed until combined, being careful not to overmix. Divide the batter evenly between prepared pans.

Bake for 20–30 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake, check halfway through and adjust timing if necessary. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, remove cakes and allow to finish cooling on a wire rack.

SEVEN MINUTE FROSTING
Combine ingredients in a bowl over a water bath on the stove. Cook to 160°F while whisking constantly, do not overcook. Put on a mixer with a whisk attachment and whisk until cooled and a medium to firm peak, frosting consistency.

THE FILLING and ASSEMBLING THE CAKE
The night before: for the filling, soak peaches in 1/2 cup orange juice and 1 cup bourbon. Make the vanilla cake into four layers. In a bowl, beat egg yolks well. Add vanilla, liquid from soaked peaches (set peaches aside), sugar, and butter to egg yolks and continue to mix well. Put in a 2-quart saucepan and cook over medium heat: stirring constantly until thick (this might take as long as 15-20 minutes to get thick). When thickened, remove from heat and cool in refrigerator. Stir chopped peaches and pecans into cooled mixture. Cool slightly. Spread generously between each cake layer and frost with Seven-Minute Frosting.

County Fair: Nostalgic Blue Ribbon Recipes from America’s Small Towns is available on Amazon through this affiliate link.

Hungry for more? Get one family’s secrets for making moonshine in Georgia.

Get this and many other delicious recipes from Liza Gershman’s new book County Fair: Blue Ribbon Recipes from America’s Small Towns.

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