This, when properly gummy, is as good for a comedian to throw as a
custard pie. Only it’s too good for that sort of treatment—which sounds
rather like an Irish bull!
The layer cake doesn’t interest me especially. After all, it’s only an
excuse for the frosting. Any sort of layer cake recipe will answer—and,
according to the best cook I know, my grandmother—there are a hundred
such recipes. It’s the filling that I find important. Here is the rule,
and it sounds too simple to be true!
Take one beaten egg, one cup of sugar, the juice and grated rind of
one lemon. Mix them all together, hit or miss, and place them in a
double boiler over a hot fire. Cook until the mixture begins to get
very thick, stirring constantly. Then take from the stove and beat
until the whole assumes a creamy texture. Spread between the layers
of any cake. This recipe makes enough filling for two thin layers, or
one thick one—which I prefer. It can be doubled, tripled, and so on—ad
infinitum—depending entirely upon the number of layers in the cake.
EDITOR’S NOTE:—This is a good, and unusual, recipe for layer
cake. To two eggs, well beaten, add gradually one cup of
granulated sugar. To one cup of unsifted flour add one
teaspoonful cream of tartar and one half teaspoonful of
soda. Sift. Then add one half cup of boiling milk with one
teaspoonful of melted butter in it, and one teaspoonful of
vanilla. The mixture will be almost like batter, and should
be baked in two layers.