Whose birthday am I noting today?
June 8, 2019
Today is Frank Lloyd Wright’s 152nd birthday. Every year on his birthday, the folks at Taliesin and Taliesin West bake this cake, his favorite, in his memory. Now you can, too.
Birthday Cake-June 8th-Frank Lloyd Wright
Serving size: Makes 16 servings
Butter and flour 2 bread loaf pans and line the bottoms with waxed paper.
9 eggs (separated)
1 1/3 C sugar
1 1/3 C cake flour (sift four times)
1/4 t cream of tartar
Pinch salt
Have eggs at room temperature. Separate eggs. Beat the egg yolks well. Add sugar gradually and beat until light and foamy. Add cake flour. Set aside.
Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until stiff, but do not over beat. Fold egg whites into the batter by hand. Pour the batter into pans and bake at 300 degrees for 40-60 minutes. When cakes are done, remove from pans and cool completely on racks.
Filling:
20 oz. strawberry jam
8 oz. walnuts (finely ground)
8 walnut halves for garnish
Topping:
1 qt. whipping cream
1/4 C confectioner’s sugar
Beat whipping cream until thick , add sugar and continue to beat until stiff.
Chocolate sauce:
1 t butter
2 oz. baker’s chocolate
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
Frank Lloyd Wright 150th birthday celebration at Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin, Saturday June 3, 2017. / (c) Mark Hertzberg
Mix ingredients and cook until well blended and slightly thickened. Cool.
To assemble cake: Cut the cooled loaves in half lengthwise. On lower layers spread generously with filling: layer of strawberry jam, layer of ground walnuts, and a layer of whipping cream. Cover with the remaining loaf halves. Frost the top and sides of the cakes with whipping cream.
Pour the cooled chocolate sauce over the cake in an open, lacelike pattern, not solidly covering whipped cream. More chocolate than white should be showing, with some dribbling over the sides of the cake. Garnish with edible flowers if desired.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 
oh holy cow, that’s not downstairs now is it?
Just the chocolate chip cookies, sorry.