Washington Pie - Civil War

By MJH

Two layers of fluffy butter cake with a layer of jam in-between and coated with powdered sugar. The second type of Washington Pie was a square cake composed of broken cake pieces within a bottom and top pie crust. It probably was named for Washington, DC where it was sold in many bakeries prior to the Civil War, and when sold "... in Baltimore... there was nothing of Washington about it except the name."

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Raspberry or apricot jam
• Powdered sugar

Details

Adapted from acakebakesinbrooklyn.com

Preparation

Step 1

First cream butter until light.
Then beat in sugar gradually. Add eggs, well beaten.
Combine sifted cake flour with baking powder and salt, and sift again. Combine vanilla and milk.
Add dry ingredients and milk to first mixture alternately.
Turn into two 8-inch greased layer-cake tins and bake in moderately hot oven (375 degrees F.) about twenty-five minutes.
When cold put together with jam and dust with powdered sugar.

And notice this smart trick: Lay your wire cake-cooling rack lightly on the top before giving the heavy sifting of powdered sugar. When you lift the rack off, the cake surface is marked into powdered sugar squares, with the golden crust of cake showing between.