Velvet Cake

From Good Things to Eat, as Suggested by Rufus: A collection of practical recipes for preparing meats, game, fowl, fish, puddings, pastries, etc. By Rufus Estes

Contributor: Betsaida Reyes

Recipe

One-half cup butter, one and one-half cups sugar, yolks four eggs, one-half cup milk, one and one-half cups flour, one-half cup cornstarch, four level teaspoons baking powder, white four eggs, one-third cup almonds blanched shredded. Cream the butter, add gradually the sugar, then the egg-yolks well beaten. Beat well and add the milk, the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder sifted together, and egg whites beaten stiff. Beat well and turn into buttered shallow pan. Sprinkle with the almonds, then with powdered sugar and bake forty minutes in a moderate oven.

Notes for a Modern Kitchen

• ½ cup of salted butter
• 1 ½ cups of sugar
• 4 eggs, divided
• ½ cup of milk
• 1 3/4 cups of flour
• ¼ cup of cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/3 cup of blanched slivered or sliced almonds
• Powder sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven at 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9-inch cake pan, line it with parchment paper.
2. Sift the dry ingredients together. Set aside. 
3. Using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip egg whites until fluffy and peaks form. Set aside. 
4. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.  Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. 
5. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition to make sure it is fully incorporated. 
6. With the mixer on low speed, add in about a third of the dry ingredients. Then add about half of the milk. Add another third of the dry ingredients, the rest of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. The batter will look thick at this point. 
7. Gently fold in the whipped egg whites, until fully incorporated into the mixture. 
8. Pour mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the slivered almonds evenly on the top and then sprinkle powdered sugar. 
9. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes.

It is best to have all ingredients at room temperature when baking. 

While I did not try it, I think this can be made gluten free, just swap your flour and cornstarch for 2 cups of gluten free flour. 

Background

When Rufus Estes published Good Thing to Eat in 1911, the Chicago Defender described him as one of the best known chefs of Chicago. Estes was born into enslavement in Tennessee in 1857 and his cookbook is one of the first by an African-American author. In the book, he shared dishes he created throughout his years as a chef for the Pullman Palace Car Company and the subsidiary companies of the United States Steel Corporation. In the forward to the book he writes, “one of the pleasure in life to the normal man is good eating, and if it be true that real happiness consists in making others happy, the author can at least feel a sense of gratification in the thought that his attempts to satisfy the cravings of the inner man have not been wholly unappreciated by the many that he has had the pleasure of serving.” Many credit Estes’ recipe for the velvet cake as the origins of the more modern red velvet cake.