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Being from New England, I love everything maple! When I was a kid, my parents would take me and my sisters out for ice cream, and I always got a cone with maple walnut ice cream. Nothing but genuine maple syrup will do on pancakes and waffles, and I love maple-flavored bacon. I even got a bottle of Crown Royal Maple Flavored Whiskey for Christmas!

When it comes to pastry, I’m not big on cookies and bars, but I do like pies (my mom makes a killer apple pie, and I posted the recipe in a previous blog. My weakness, however, is layer cake. I love a good old-fashioned made-from-scratch layer cake with gobs of buttercream frosting.

In the warm weather I spend weekends riding my bike, but in the winter when I’m stuck inside I turn to baking to keep busy. Lately, I’ve had a hankering for retro cakes, like those big, luscious confections you see June Cleaver and Donna Stone frosting on Leave It To Beaver and The Donna Reed Show. So I did some research on the internet and dug out my vintage cake cook books in search of something maple.

These These vintage cook books from the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s have served me well.

I found several cakes made with maple syrup, but most of them are baked in a tube pan and almost all the reviewers said they’re dense cakes. I wanted a lighter layer cake version, so I kept at it but didn’t find anything that appealed to me, so I adapted an old black walnut cake recipe and made up my own frosting.

Admittedly, this took most of an afternoon to create, but it was worth every fork full. This recipe makes a very big cake, so after a few days I cut it into individual slices, wrapped each one in plastic wrap, put them in freezer bags, and froze them. Now when I want a piece of cake, I just pull a slice out of the freezer, unwrap it, and let it thaw on my covered cake stand.

Maple Walnut Layer Cake with Maple Frosting

Cake Ingredients

3 ½ cups sifted cake flour

5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 ¼ cups shortening

1 tsp maple flavor

1 tsp vanilla

1 ¾ cups sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 ½ cups milk

1 ¼ cups chopped walnuts, plus more for decorating

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9" cake pans. (I also trace the bottom of the pans on waxed paper and place the cut-outs on the bottom of the pans.)

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

1. In a large bowl, cream shortening and add flavorings. Gradually add 1 ½ cups of the sugar and cream the mixture until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and beat.

1. Add the flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Beat after each addition until smooth.

1. Beat egg whites until frothy. Add remaining ¼ cup sugar and beat until egg whites hold stiff peaks. Lightly fold egg whites and almonds into batter. Pour into cake pans.

1. Bake for 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks.

Frosting Ingredients

This is one of those mix-and-taste recipes. I started off with the below ingredients, but added additional sugar, maple syrup, and flavoring to taste, and heavy cream to make a spreadable consistency.

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 Tbsp pure maple syrup

3-5 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp maple flavor

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 Tbsps heavy cream

Directions

1. In a stand mixer on medium-high speed, cream together the butter and maple syrup until well blended. Reduce speed and add one cup of the confectioner’s sugar. Gradually increase speed and mix until well blended. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl (you’ll have to do this often) and add maple flavor and vanilla, then continue mixing on high.

1. Add remaining sugar by the cupful, reducing speed to avoid sugar flying all over the kitchen, then mixing on high. As the frosting gets thicker add the cream alternately with the sugar. At this point you’ll need to check the taste and consistency and adjust accordingly. The trick is to make sure the butter doesn’t overpower the maple flavor and that you have enough frosting to finish the cake.

When I was ready to frost the cake, I found the consistency of the frosting different from a traditional buttercream, and this I attributed to the maple syrup. I kept a tall glass of room- temperature water near me and I continually dipped the frosting knife into it which helped smooth the frosting on the top and sides of the cake.

Assemble the Cake

1. When the layers have cooled, transfer one to a large round cake plate, top side down. Add about a cup of frosting in the center and spread it toward the edges, continuing down the side in a thin layer to set the crumbs, leaving most of the frosting on top so you have a goodly amount between layers. Transfer to the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to set the frosting (this will keep the top layer from sliding when you add it).

1. Place the second layer on top of the first, top side up. Add about two cups of frosting to the center and spread it toward the edge and down the side all the way around in thin layer to set the crumbs, being sure to fill in the gaps between layers. Refrigerate about 15 minutes, then completely cover the top and side with remaining frosting.

This plaid dinnerware is a Vernon Kilns pattern called Homespun, manufactured in the ’40s and ’50s. It was often seen on the table of George and Gracie’s neighbors on The Burns & Allen Show.

I finished the top with swirls of frosting, then sprinkled it with chopped walnuts.

Happy eating!

Troy

QVC editor