We are on the lookout for other instances of this Lightening Cake, where the cake batter and the meringue topping are baked at the same time. Does your family still make something like this?
If I haven't commented before, I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how much I appreciate your channel. Not just for the interesting recipes, but also for you just being you. In this world of vitriol and hate, you are a bright beacon of normalcy and humanity. Thank you for all you do! ❤
You need to collect all the recipes that are older that you really, really like and curate them in a book. That way they have a chance of catching on again. I plan to make this one myself.
Oh gods. That's brilliant. I have like 18 old community cookbooks, because grandpa was a pastor and great grandpa was an Oddfellow. I should start going through and taking the recipes we grew up using and make my own cookbook out of it.
When I find a recipe I like, I summarize it in to short easily reproducible steps and create a unique recipe card. When I print a card for my recipe box, I also print several others to share with friends and family. I find I use my recipe box more than cookbooks bc that's where my favorites are. But, yeah, I'd buy Glen's Cookbook if he did this.
@@loriki8766 I do something similar with full-page sheets and a binder. I condense/simplify recipes where I can by adding in the use of equipment specific to my kitchen (stand mixer, etc.) and re-word to keep the whole thing on one side of the sheet.
I condense frequently used recipes onto sticky notes and put them on the inside of my kitchen cabinet doors. The only drawback is when hubby walks by and closes the door. Lol
The American Woman’s Cookbook, originally published in 1938, has a variant of this cake called Blitz Tort. Its very similar except that you make two layers of the cake/merengue and put an egg custard in in between. It is incredibly good. It was my dad’s favorite cake and the standard for birthdays in our house when i was growing up.
It’s on page 464 of my 1957 edition of the American Woman’s Cookbook. Mom’s edition is an earlier version (from the early ‘40s i think); so it was a standard recipe in that text for a couple of decades.
I was born in 1948. My father had served in the war in the south pacific. He stayed in the army and we were sent to Germany so he could help German farmers get going again. We lived in Wurtzburg until 1953 and when we returned to the United States mom brought a lot of recipes.Blitzkuchen was a family favorite. Mom made it and taught me to make it in two layers . The meringue was spread on the batter and custard was spread between layers. Mom always turned on layer with the top down, spread the custard and turned the other layer meringue side up. Also we put slivered almonds on the meringue before baking. Good memories, thank you.
My wife of Norwegian heritage made a Kvaefjordkake, or Verdens beste, for Thanksgiving that follows the same technique. It was new to me and delicious!!!
Yes Ruthrunyon5515!! My Polish grandmother got this recipe from a friend in the ‘20-30s time frame and that’s how we made it too (slivered almonds but no lemon flavoring). But the layer wasn’t put upside down. The custard went on top of it. I think ours has quite a few whole eggs in the cake batter and it’s the most delightful cake (just the cake part). You don’t have to eat it within 6 hours, though you’ll want to. We refrigerated it due to the custard. Oh, it was my mom’s favorite and then became mine. I served it to some friends from Wisconsin and they gasped when I brought it out and were shocked I had the recipe. They’re of German extraction and remembered it.
Because of "Why isn't this in every cookbook?": Have you considered writing your own book with all the old recipes that are forgotten but still taste amazing? With all the research you do, every recipe can have it's own little story attached to it, etc. I know it is a bit of a meme, that every food youtuber brings out a cookbook eventually, but in your case it is also extremely valuable to collect so many historical pieces in one place. Think about it :D
Yes, I would definitely buy it. One of my favorite modern cookbooks is Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters, highly recommend btw, it's 2 sisters who both collect vintage handwritten recipes & they made a cookbook of them with wonderful pictures & story blurbs, it's great to read & the recipes I've tried are good.
My mother used to make this! We lived in northern North Dakota (Grand Forks AFB), and she got the recipie from a civilian friend in town. We always called it "Paula" cake (name of her friend). Thanks for posting this! After my mother passed II was never able to find a copy of the recipie.
Have a recipe for Blitzkuchen from my great grandmothers 1936 Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook. It has vanilla in it . With a topping sugar, cinnamon and walnuts. And I still make this. I have used pecans . No egg whites on top. I have another Pennsylvania Dutch people’s cookbook that was my grandmothers from 1968 . Pretty much same recipe. But I’ve see notes in a book Maders German Cooking and Baking from 1965 that says suggestions of toppings streusel, nut, marmalade or poppyseed. I have many other kuchen recipes.
We have a popular cake here in Estonia, which has apparently come from Finland, that is definitely a variation of this lightening cake. Cake is named “Brita cake”. I made it recently, the process is exactly as you have described - the batter is made without egg whites, egg whites are whipped into merengue, almonds sprinkled on top and the whole thing is baked together. The difference is that it then is layered with whipped cream and cream cheese and fresh fruits are added. So the idea of the cake is still very much alive here, albeit slightly changed with addition of fruits and filling. I wouldn’t be surprised if the origin is either the Blitzkuchen or, more likely, the lightning cake.
Hi, Glen. I'm from Des Moines, and as you went through the recipe I was having a deja vu experience. The ingredients seemed awfully familiar to me. It turns out my mother (who grew up in Iowa) used to make a cake that had essentially the same recipe without the lemon flavoring. Instead it was made into two 9" circles, and between the layers was filled with whipped cream, crushed pineapple and chopped fresh strawberries. It's delicious and still in my recipe box. By the way, reading the page from the Des Moines Register I spotted a notice for a concert by Bernardo De Pace, a mandolin virtuoso of the time. I play some of his music on the mandolin. I never knew he was in Des Moines. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I went through my moms old cookbooks and found a recipe called "Spice cake with baked-on topping". Instructions were to "beat until just stiff--1 egg white and gradually beat in 1 cu p of brown sugar" Drop resulting meringue by spoonfuls on top of cake batter and spread evenly. Maple Milling Company 1947
I am amazed at the time Glen puts into the research of each and every recipe he does. Like some have said he is easy going and always happy, especially when he is surprised when a recipe turns out better than he thought is would. You can tell when that happens because he has this happy dance he does.
I absolutely believe the mistake theory -- my favourite rhubarb pie started out as a rhubarb meringue, but my mother mixed the whites in by mistake once, and that crispy, sweet topping is just perfect. I've come late to this channel, but as a Canadian over a certain age I love the work that you're doing.
Wow, Glen - this truly is a wonderful cake!! I used the zest of 1 lemon and replaced about a tablespoon of the water with lemon juice. I used powdered buttermilk in place of the milk. I also put the cinnamon sugar in a layer on top of the batter, under the merengue (the merengue still fell, but we love it like this!) My (Russian) wife LOVES it!! What didn’t come through in the video is how moist the cake stays because it is sealed up by the egg whites. And I never would have thought that cinnamon and lemon would go together, but they do. Truly delicious!!!
I FINALLY have something to add to the conversation. From watching your videos I’m aware of your preference for older, obscure and community cookbooks, but maybe take a look at this anyways. In the mid 1950s my mom received a copy of Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook Revised and Enlarged. It was a wedding gift. When I was a child I would look at the color photos for all the cakes, pies and cookies and then search through the book to find the recipes. Most of the photos were black and white in the book and those didn’t interest me. I found all the recipes except one. There was a photo on the back cover of the book in the upper left corner of a layer cake without frosting with a filling between the layers. It had some kind of nut topping. I looked through all the cake recipes and nothing matched. Mind you the photos were those weirdly over saturated ones with colors not seen in real life. At some point I found it under Desserts, though I wasn’t totally positive initially because, again, those bizarre color photographs. It is described as: Blitz Torte (Lightning Cake) Beautiful...the meringue top encrusted with sugar and toasted almonds. My mom has since passed and I now own her book, stained, torn and tattered pages, held together with awful yellow duct tape. I adore that book and the great memories. You can easily find the book for sale, it s the one with a lattice pie, ears of corn, a baked whole chicken and cherry wink cookies on the cover. Yes, I have made the Blitz Torte and it’s delicious. No lemon in it as other have mentioned in their memories of a similar cake. If you haven’t seen this cookbook it really is worth a look, so much information from basic techniques to fabulous recipes and information about them.
I watched my mother and grandmother use this book with fine results and I have a copy myself. Everything I baked from Betty Crockers vintage cookbook was delicious and consistently so. Loved the cookies from around the world as well as the cakes and pies. I prefer the old fashioned cakes which are smaller, and the delicious frostings and icings to the modern mile high cakes with fondant. As a child I loved looking at those old cookbooks because I found the photographs beautiful! I cherish my collection of all types of old cookbooks for the content of the recipes and the lush photos too! Keep on baking, Glen and sharing you enthusiasm with all of us!. One note: I am 72 and I never saw a 9" square or round pan in my mother's or grandmother's kitchen in the old days. I think some of the very old recipes probably used smaller pans than 9" as you frequently use. Might make the cakes higher and moister in a smaller pan. Although the baking time might be different. Also I notice you put your pans in the bottom of the oven. I've always put them on the middle rack. Except for angel food cake which I bake on the lower rack. Just wondering...??
My dad's go to cake, is a two layer cake, where each layer is a sponge with merengue on top, (baked as one, as this recipe) and with whipped cream in the middle. I think the recipe calls it a golden cake
That sounds like a Norwegian cake I’ve eaten…. It’s actually called ‘The World’s Best Cake’. (It really is the world’s best!!!) My mother in law made something similar and she called it a Swedish Cake. Mmmmmm so yummmm.
Update after church, IT WAS A HIT, people ate seconds and thirds! I changed the recipe to my liking, used almond flavor instead of lemon, added vanilla flavoring to the meringue and omitted the pecans. SO EASY, from turning the mixer on to taking it out of the oven, 45 mins!
You two are some of my favourite people 💕 I feel like I'm living back in Canada everytime I watch your content; appreciate all the hard work you guys put into this show👏🏽.
We have a Danish version that's quite similar. Some put preserve/jam under the merinque. Some dont cook the meringue. Its called "Grandpa's beard" here
Being from Thunder Bay and watching your show all the way in Australia I can’t say enough how much me and my wife love your show. Sending lots of love to you and Julie 🥰
Your comment about egg white's and sugar had me wondering; have you ever made, or come across, Apple Snow? It's something my mom made and it's basically a meringue with apples in it. She'd pair it with Apple Crisp/Apple Crumble. I haven't had it in years, not since a young child.
Ooooh yes, love Apple Snow. Ate it as a child, made it for my kids when they were growing up. Also Apple Amber, the semi-transparent caramel apple dessert. Lovely pair of apple puddings, cheap to make, lovely to eat in summer, or after a big winter meal.
Thanks for your great series on old recipes, I find them really fascinating. And this one in particular reminded me of a recipe my mother made which was a great favourite in our household for Sunday tea when I was a child (Sunday tea used to be cold roast meat and bubble and squeak followed by something nice sweet). So the cake was called French tea cake, although it does not seem to have anything to do with France. It is what you said was the original lightning cake, before the possible mistake which separated the meringue from the cake mixture. But this recipe is equally odd. You separate two eggs, beat the whites until stiff and then add straight in the remaining standard cake recipes - the yolks, sugar, flour, melted butter, milk and vanilla for flavour. So it is lightning to make but you need a light touch. But the oddness continues - when it's cooked you cool a little, but while still warm you split horizontally and spread the middle with more butter (there is only a tablespoon of butter in the batter). I've never seen another cake recipe where you spread plain butter in the middle. Then you pour more melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Delicious. Just reading my mother's handwritten recipe is making me nostalgic! Sadly I have no idea where she got this recipe from, probably a newspaper or magazine. I'm going to make it for the first time in about 50 years, I'll send a photo and the recipe.
My dad preferred to eat his cake in a similar manner. He would take a slice of fresh cake cut it down the middle and butter it. Stick the two halves back together and eat his cake.
This is the recipe of my childhood neighbour. Loved it! This was shared with my mom in the 60s. Honey Cake 1/2 c white sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 c butter 1 tsp salt 2 egg yolks 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 c flour Mix and put in dish. (press into .8" pan?) 2 egg whites 1 1/c brown sugar walnuts Beat egg whites. Add sugar and nuts. Place one top of other mixture. Bake @ 350 for 25 - 30 minutes. Not exactly the same - no lemon - but similar.
I find it so interesting how times have changed. In several videos you mention recipes that are kind of last minute through together kind of cakes and such for when people "drop by". Maybe it's just us or our circle of friends but I don't know of anyone who just drops by someone's place anymore without it being prearranged. I remember doing it as a kid with my parents but now I wouldn't think of it without at least calling (yes I still call people) someone first.
I grew up in the 60s in an Italian family..oh yes, we dropped by or was visited often and you had to have a coffee cake available ( usually a bakery bought). Just in case...and we couldn't eat it , it was for company 🤣
In the UK in the 50's-60's we always visited without notice because no one we knew had a phone. It was just the way it always was but I don't remember consuming cakes or pastries....just a cup of tea - unless we took them. Just tea was perfectly acceptable.
you can tell glen likes something when he leans real far forward and begs you to make it and tell all your friends. hahahahah must be pretty special. i wish we could've seen how tall the dome on top was before it deflated. i wonder if there's a way to keep that from happening?
My grandmother used to make something similar, except she put a layer of raspberry jam between the cake and meringue, and put coconut in the meringue instead of nuts.
I'm ecstatic that you're going to do the Neiman-Marcus cookie recipe! I've still got it from when it floated around The Net (back then it was the ARPAnet, later Usenet) in the 1980s. The folks I know who've made it say it's a really good cookie recipe, but I've never tried making it, as some of the ingredient proportions are so esoteric and the yield is way more cookies than I could eat in a year.
I remember in high school making the smallest amount I could reduce it to and still taking dozens of cookies to school! One weird friend didn't like them, another two needed extra insulin 😳
I have it too!! I had commented on the $100 cake episode, telling about the $250 Neumann Marcus cookie recipe & story, and I just about crowed when Glenn mention it today! I wasn’t terribly impressed with the NM cookie. For me, it was a bit dry and crumbly, but better the next day after it was in a sealed plastic container overnight..
Martha Stewart's "one bowl chocolate cake" (or "one bowl chocolate cupcakes") is super fast to make as you dump the dry ingredients in the bowl and whisk and then add the wet and whisk. It is delicous and very moist. It's been my go-to cake for 10+ years. It has the oil like the wacky cake but no vinegar and it has buttermilk (I keep powdered buttermilk on hand at all times since it's stores indefinitely in the refrigerator). Avoiding butter and the need to cream it with the sugar and then alternate dry ingredients with a liquid gives you a whisk-and-bake cake.
@@anderander5662 My mother found the recipe for Wacky Cake back in the mid 60's in a midwest magazine called "Grit" She got a "frosting" recipe from her mom's neighbor that paired very well with this cake. It was a cooked frosting that used corn starch in it so it was more pudding like. The cake was moist and this frosting made it even moreso. It was delicious and I still make it after so many years. If you're interested in getting that frosting for the cake, let me know and I'll give it to you.
I'm so excited about that series about recipes that a company charged people lots of money for!. Are you still making "grandma said do/n't do this" series? I love that you are a historian.
I’m from deep rural Louisiana and there was a lady when I was young who used to make this every 5th Sunday for Dinner on the Grounds (after lunch we’d all stay and eat together.) I never knew what it was called but it was this cake! Thank you for bringing back a childhood memory
I'm curious about lightning vs lightening as the recipe name, obviously blitz is German for lightning, but as you described the egg whites folded in version it seems as though the intent is to lighten the cake. But then also the quick assembly and need to eat quickly makes me think more lightning than lightening. Thanks for the content, definitely trying this one out!
Yup. Seems like people have been misspelling that word for at least 100 years now! It's interesting to see the two newspaper recipes: one gets it right and one gets it wrong.
It's in the Betty Crocker Cookbook Blitz Torte (Lightening Torte) in the dessert section of the first edition 1950 cookbook. It's made with the meringue baked on top of the cake. The cake is in other versions of Betty Crocker cookbooks too I think. I've made it in a round pan and it is pale in color. Looks pretty with slivered almonds.
I'm german. Never heard of it. But I've just asked my neighbours about it. Maybe we can come up with more. Thanks for sharing. It's fascitating! My christmas gift will be a copper bowl for the eggwhites.
Just have to say, this really is fascinating, and I'm really enjoying all the comments about the variants people remember from 'way back, or are still making and enjoying. I've really come to love these Sunday old cookbook recipes!
I'll have to make this with lemon and cardamom instead of cinnamon. The cake base seems so simple for such a complex cake and yet doesn't waste ingredients.
The cookbook "The Italian Country Table" by Lynne Rossetto Kasper has a recipe for "Apple Cake with Crackly Meringue" that has a meringue baked on top of the cake. If you don't have the book, it can be found online at various places. She also labels it Torta di Mele. It has been a favorite in my household for many years, and I just made one for Thanksgiving.
IDK Glen, when you stare into the camera and say 'Make this cake!'...That's it for me! I'm making it! Thanks again for all the research you do to unearth these lost treasures!
Wehave a very similar cake that pops up in Sweden, except we do it thinner, divide it up in two halfs cover them with whipped cream and fresh berries, and then stack the two halfs into a layered cake. Delicious! Names wary a bit, but same principle with the meringue baked on top.
Hey Glen, I love this, and I'm going to try it. Time for a German lesson though. In kuchen, the ch is pronounced closer to a hard K (koo ken) though not exactly. There's a name for it, voiceless uvular fricative. I think any german speaking north american will pass by the kooken pronounciation, but they will all chuckle or snicker under their breath at kooch-en.😀
I'm from the northeast US and I thought it was kootchen like Glen.The internet tells me kootchen is the "American" pronunciation. And then there is the site where Europeans pronounce it about ten different ways. It sort of averages out to Koo-hen. or Kooken. I still haven't quite mastered Gyro the way the Greeks say it, but I've tried. So thanks. That was a nice trip down language lane.🙂
@@kitefan1 I am first generation canadian born into a german family. The ch is pronounced like you are hawking up a loogie. The recording on google translate is about as close as you'll get without calling someone from germany. Gyro is close enough to be pronounced Year-oh. You'll not be laughed at for sure.
My Grandmother used to make something very similar to this that she called Company Cookies. I remember the cake batter being much stiffer, and without lemon extract(probably vanilla). The egg whites were only lightly beaten with BROWN sugar. The meringue would sink into the cake while it baked. The result was chewy and carmely. Thanks for your version. It has put me on track to try to reproduce what my grandmother made.
I make very similar olive oil cake, where I sub the butter for the oil, and part of the milk for lemon juice. Meringue like that is very common over here for different cakes, particularly szarlotka apple cake and plum tarte pie.
@@densealloy i'm curious, too. i assumed 'over here' meant Europe, particularly Poland. the szarlotka apple cake mentioned is a traditional Polish cake.
I learned to make a pineapple blitz torte when my kids were growing up, so it would have appeared in a magazine in UK between 1979 and 1985 (at a guess). It was similar in that the cake mixture had just the egg yolks and the whites were used to make meringue. It was different in that it was baked in round sandwich tins, no nuts were involved, and the 2 layers were sandwiched, cake in the middle, meringue top and bottom, whipped cream and chopped pineapple making the filling.
Egg whites and sugar... :) :) My mother used to bake a pavlova probably at least once a month when I was a kid, and the beaters and bowl were hot property!
I found a version of this recipe in a Central Lab (Fort Dodge Iowa) employee cook book from 1978 called a Lemon-Poppyseed Coffee Cake. The only change was removing the nuts and replacing them with 1 tablespoon of poppyseeds. It surprised me because I didn't know people were cooking with poppyseeds in 78, especially in the Midwest. There were a couple of other coffee cakes that had the meringue on top, but they also had whole eggs in the batter while only the Lemon-Poppyseed used the yolks only in the batter.
😂😂😂 My grandmother regularly made yeast coffee cake rolled with a sweet poppyseed filling. My mom was born in 1921: so poppyseeds were indeed being used in the midwest even before 1978. Your comment made me chuckle.
I just found an almost identical cake in The American-International Encyclopedic Cookbook (copyright 1972) called Almond Meringue Cake. Calls to split batter & meringue between 2 layers. Then one is placed meringue down, cover with lemon filling then put second layer on meringue up.
I have my great grandmother's cake recipe that puts meringue on after the cake is baked. Then back into oven long enough to brown the meringue under the broiler or just the oven.
The settlement cookbook has a close variation on this, referenced in three different places in the book as that's the layout of the settlement cookbook. But two 8 inch round layers with vanilla custard in between and shivered almonds instead of cinnamon. My family made it for decades. I still make it from time to time. My family didn't know the source was the settlement cookbook. I discovered that on my own after anyone in the family who would have been interested had passed away. We called it the blintz torte.
Cocoa Meringue Cake from a reprint of the Hershey's 1934 Cookbook is one of my very favorite company desserts! It consists of two chocolate cake/pecan-meringue layers with some very yummy cocoa cream filling in the middle. I've never seen a similar recipe but will try your lemon version. Thanks for your show!
A wet version of this appears in some south african cookbooks as a dessert called leapyear dessert (skrikkeljaar poeding). Now from the comments I can finally see that it came from a Scandinavian version called old man's beard. Its the cake with jam on top and then the meringue. I think your cinnamon nut version sounds heaven.
I found three recipes in two old german cookbooks I have. One of them is a Kiehnle cookbook from 1932 I am not totally positive on the date. This is my translation. There are two recipes in this book. Recipe: Blitzkuchen I ingredients: Sugar the weight of 9 eggs, flour the weight of 6 eggs, butter weight of 3-4 eggs, 9 eggs and one lemon. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.Then add the yolks,sugar and the juice and zest of the lemon and stir for half an hour. When this mixture is thick then add the flour and lastly the butter that has been melted and cooled. This then is put into a 28-30cm cake pan. Bake for one hour in a moderately hot oven. In the front of the cook book it tell me an egg weighs 50g. So that would be small eggs. The Blitzkuchen II recipe calls for 8 eggs, 200 grams sugar, 100g butter, 200g flour and the juice and zest of one small lemon. The eggs, sugar and lemon need to be beaten with heat for half an hour then beaten until they. have cooled off.Then the flour is added a tablespoon at a time and lastly the warm butter is added. This goes into a 28cm cake pan and baked for an hour at moderate heat. The other cookbook I have is from the 1970's that one calls for 200g Margarine, 150g sugar, 1 pinch of salt, one package of Vanilla sugar, 4 eggs, a few drops of bitter almond flavor, 250g of flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 50g of butter and 50g of sugar. Cream butter then add sugar, salt, vanilla sugar bitter almond flavor. Mix the flour with the baking powder and stir into the dough. Grease a baking pan and distribute the dough evenly on the pan. Distribute the butter on the dough and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 to 20 min. at 200 degrees C.
We've made kuchen all my life but as a bread or as a thin coffee cake with apples on top. But never with meringue on top. I've never heard of Blitz kuchen but since my childhood dog was named Blitz - I can't wait to try this. But I want to first try the 1916 recipe you showed. Love your show!
I think others have already commented on this also being used for making Blitz Torte. My mom used to make this for her favorite minister (never for us kids!) and it's two layers of this cake sandwiched with rich custard. Mom's version (and the one I use) is from the 1950 Betty Crocker Cookbook.
Somewhat differently made, but this was one of the favorite cakes of my grandma. By her recipe, the meringue had to be much stiffer and there is were nuts or cinnamon added to it. That version also had a layer of apricot jam in between layers. The egg yolk layer would be put in the oven for 10-15 minutes, then taken out, jam applied and meringue on top of it, peaks made with a tablespoon, on top. The cake is then baked until the meringue peaks turn golden and is left in a half-opened oven to slowly (very slowly) cool off, so the peaks wouldn't fall. It is usually a very tall and airy meringue. The oldest recipe I can find is from the booklet called (in translation) "Swabian Household Recipes", no author stated. Recipe itself is called the "Swabian Baiser-Kuchen" and the booklet a 1930's reprint of some recipe book from 1880's-90's, but the parts of the pages are missing and it is impossible to tell which recipe book, except that the title ended with "...mittel. It is stated in the recipe that strawberries, raspberries or sliced apples can be placed onto the "yellow layer", then meringue on top of that and that the cake needs to be baked "very carefully, in the mild oven" which really tells little to the today's bakers. My grandma had the recipe written down in several notebooks. This is in Europe, btw. Not of much help when it comes to America.
My mother makes something like this but with heavier spices (nutmeg cinnamon allspice kümmel) whenever she gets unexpected guests, meringue folded in, but honey syrup (2:1) and cinnamon brushed on top. We are from Austria
My grandmother was Dutch/Australian, and whilst she made quite a few Bombe Alaskas when I was a kid, I never saw her do a meringue-topped cake unless there was icecream inside. This one has me intrigued - think I'll have to give it a try!
Just baked the cake! First the no-churn icecream, and now this. Hoping it lasts longer than the 6 hours! It's midnight here. I don't mind it, it's interesting having essentially a soft marshmellowy meringue on top of a nice flavoursome cake.
My German mother made Blitz torte. It's made in two layers, with whipped cream in between layers. She used slivered almonds on top. The reason for the six-hour time is that the meringue starts to give way, but it's still delicious. It was her favourite birthday cake.
This is similar to what we call Kvæfjord cake in Norway. But it has flaked almonds on top instead of the cinnamon sugar and the cake is cut into two and filled with creme patisserie and whipped cream.
Glen, I have this recipe in the cookbook Norwegian Food and Cooking by Janet Laurence, copyright 2007. The recipe name is Kvaelfjord cake (Kvaelfjiordkake) with vanilla cream. It is baked in 2 pans, then they are stacked with the vanilla cream between the cakes. This cake made the rounds on the internet a few years ago with the name World's Best Cake.
Glen - can you do a show on the short-hand that the old recipes used to use for measurements and other tidbits to use when reading old recipes. I got tripped up by the 2-3 cups which meant 2/3 cup recently. I am sure you've seen a bunch of these kinds of things.
I often make a cake that we call Pinocchio cake here in Sweden that is a sheet sponge cake with merengue (whit almonds) on top. You then split the cake and fill with strawberries and whipped cream, or i will mix it up and fill with vanilla cream, lemon curd and different fruits and berries that are good at that time 😋
I tried this recipe and I know I made a few mistakes..😝 While I needed to use pastry flour, and I don't think I beat the egg whites enough before adding sugar - it was still tasty. That being said, I can see why they say to eat this within 6 hours. It gets dry afterwards.. Love your channel!
Hi! I am an avid foodie and regular watcher of your TH-cam channel and recently saw your video on the Lightning Cake. I was intrigued. Later, as I was going through my Mennonite Community Cookbook looking for other ideas, I noticed a very similar cake: Toasted Spice Cake (from Mrs Frank Raber (Detroit, Mich) and Mrs Moses Stoltzfus (Elverson, Pa)). The ingredients and process are almost identical to your Lightning Cake (complete with the toasted meringue frosting covered in nuts) except that the flavour is mixed spice (cinnamon and cloves) rather than lemon. Just thought you might like to see that! In the MCC cookbook in the frosting sectionthere is also a baked-on frosting (essentially a meringue) which is to be spread ona hot cake and then baked until brown. So, the idea of a baked meringue frosting was a thing. The lightning cake/toasted spice cake simply baked the cake at the same time as the baked on frosting. Which makes it cool! Best Mikael Swayze
We are on the lookout for other instances of this Lightening Cake, where the cake batter and the meringue topping are baked at the same time. Does your family still make something like this?
looks fabulous...was there any clue as to why it was said to eat it within 6 hours?
@@ubombogirl The cake was super light airy and moist; but it dried out really quickly. The warning to eat within 6 hours was real.
Try looking for recipes for a lightning cake instead of a lightening cake.
@@cathygallivan8553 TIL that lightning/lightening is one of those words that British/Canadian English spells differently....
My mom made a very similar cake without nuts in the meringue, called Sea Foam Snacks. What's the best way for me to send you the recipe?
If I haven't commented before, I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how much I appreciate your channel. Not just for the interesting recipes, but also for you just being you. In this world of vitriol and hate, you are a bright beacon of normalcy and humanity. Thank you for all you do! ❤
You need to collect all the recipes that are older that you really, really like and curate them in a book. That way they have a chance of catching on again. I plan to make this one myself.
Oh gods. That's brilliant. I have like 18 old community cookbooks, because grandpa was a pastor and great grandpa was an Oddfellow. I should start going through and taking the recipes we grew up using and make my own cookbook out of it.
When I find a recipe I like, I summarize it in to short easily reproducible steps and create a unique recipe card. When I print a card for my recipe box, I also print several others to share with friends and family. I find I use my recipe box more than cookbooks bc that's where my favorites are. But, yeah, I'd buy Glen's Cookbook if he did this.
@@loriki8766
I do something similar with full-page sheets and a binder. I condense/simplify recipes where I can by adding in the use of equipment specific to my kitchen (stand mixer, etc.) and re-word to keep the whole thing on one side of the sheet.
I condense frequently used recipes onto sticky notes and put them on the inside of my kitchen cabinet doors. The only drawback is when hubby walks by and closes the door. Lol
100% would purchase
The American Woman’s Cookbook, originally published in 1938, has a variant of this cake called Blitz Tort. Its very similar except that you make two layers of the cake/merengue and put an egg custard in in between. It is incredibly good. It was my dad’s favorite cake and the standard for birthdays in our house when i was growing up.
yes, i was going to add the same. it seems like the cake glen made is almost a bridge point between the blitz kuchen and the blitz torte
All I know is I now want a piece of that cake you just described with the custard layer. I love just about anything with a layer of custard.
@@admirathoria0073, it does not. And i can tell you from experience that it is just as excellent next day as it was the day it was baked. :)
It’s on page 464 of my 1957 edition of the American Woman’s Cookbook. Mom’s edition is an earlier version (from the early ‘40s i think); so it was a standard recipe in that text for a couple of decades.
😮 I must find this recipe!
I was born in 1948. My father had served in the war in the south pacific. He stayed in the army and we were sent to Germany so he could help German farmers get going again. We lived in Wurtzburg until 1953 and when we returned to the United States mom brought a lot of recipes.Blitzkuchen was a family favorite. Mom made it and taught me to make it in two layers . The meringue was spread on the batter and custard was spread between layers. Mom always turned on layer with the top down, spread the custard and turned the other layer meringue side up. Also we put slivered almonds on the meringue before baking. Good memories, thank you.
My wife of Norwegian heritage made a Kvaefjordkake, or Verdens beste, for Thanksgiving that follows the same technique. It was new to me and delicious!!!
Yes Ruthrunyon5515!! My Polish grandmother got this recipe from a friend in the ‘20-30s time frame and that’s how we made it too (slivered almonds but no lemon flavoring). But the layer wasn’t put upside down. The custard went on top of it. I think ours has quite a few whole eggs in the cake batter and it’s the most delightful cake (just the cake part). You don’t have to eat it within 6 hours, though you’ll want to. We refrigerated it due to the custard. Oh, it was my mom’s favorite and then became mine. I served it to some friends from Wisconsin and they gasped when I brought it out and were shocked I had the recipe. They’re of German extraction and remembered it.
Because of "Why isn't this in every cookbook?":
Have you considered writing your own book with all the old recipes that are forgotten but still taste amazing? With all the research you do, every recipe can have it's own little story attached to it, etc. I know it is a bit of a meme, that every food youtuber brings out a cookbook eventually, but in your case it is also extremely valuable to collect so many historical pieces in one place.
Think about it :D
Yes, I would definitely buy it. One of my favorite modern cookbooks is Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters, highly recommend btw, it's 2 sisters who both collect vintage handwritten recipes & they made a cookbook of them with wonderful pictures & story blurbs, it's great to read & the recipes I've tried are good.
Yes, please do publish a cookbook of old recipes that you've researched and then tried.
Glen you are criminally undersubscribed. Thanks for the great recipe ideas - I have used so many of yours that I don't think I can remember them all.
My mother used to make this! We lived in northern North Dakota (Grand Forks AFB), and she got the recipie from a civilian friend in town. We always called it "Paula" cake (name of her friend). Thanks for posting this! After my mother passed II was never able to find a copy of the recipie.
I hope you get a chance to make it. ❤
Have a recipe for Blitzkuchen from my great grandmothers 1936 Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook. It has vanilla in it . With a topping sugar, cinnamon and walnuts. And I still make this. I have used pecans . No egg whites on top.
I have another Pennsylvania Dutch people’s cookbook that was my grandmothers from 1968 . Pretty much same recipe. But I’ve see notes in a book Maders German Cooking and Baking from 1965 that says suggestions of toppings streusel, nut, marmalade or poppyseed. I have many other kuchen recipes.
We have a popular cake here in Estonia, which has apparently come from Finland, that is definitely a variation of this lightening cake. Cake is named “Brita cake”. I made it recently, the process is exactly as you have described - the batter is made without egg whites, egg whites are whipped into merengue, almonds sprinkled on top and the whole thing is baked together. The difference is that it then is layered with whipped cream and cream cheese and fresh fruits are added. So the idea of the cake is still very much alive here, albeit slightly changed with addition of fruits and filling. I wouldn’t be surprised if the origin is either the Blitzkuchen or, more likely, the lightning cake.
Do you mean the whipped cream and cream cheese are put between layers of cake? Or just served on top.
Hi, Glen. I'm from Des Moines, and as you went through the recipe I was having a deja vu experience. The ingredients seemed awfully familiar to me. It turns out my mother (who grew up in Iowa) used to make a cake that had essentially the same recipe without the lemon flavoring. Instead it was made into two 9" circles, and between the layers was filled with whipped cream, crushed pineapple and chopped fresh strawberries. It's delicious and still in my recipe box. By the way, reading the page from the Des Moines Register I spotted a notice for a concert by Bernardo De Pace, a mandolin virtuoso of the time. I play some of his music on the mandolin. I never knew he was in Des Moines. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I love how you pronounce German words. Made me smile so hard and I would love to hear more of that ;)
Warm hugs from Cologne Germany ❤
Ok. When Glenn is this excited about a cake I definitely need to make it. Gonna get the eggs and butter out of the fridge...
I went through my moms old cookbooks and found a recipe called "Spice cake with baked-on topping". Instructions were to "beat until just stiff--1 egg white and gradually beat in 1 cu p of brown sugar" Drop resulting meringue by spoonfuls on top of cake batter and spread evenly. Maple Milling Company 1947
Sounds good too
I am amazed at the time Glen puts into the research of each and every recipe he does. Like some have said he is easy going and always happy, especially when he is surprised when a recipe turns out better than he thought is would. You can tell when that happens because he has this happy dance he does.
I absolutely believe the mistake theory -- my favourite rhubarb pie started out as a rhubarb meringue, but my mother mixed the whites in by mistake once, and that crispy, sweet topping is just perfect.
I've come late to this channel, but as a Canadian over a certain age I love the work that you're doing.
Wow, Glen - this truly is a wonderful cake!! I used the zest of 1 lemon and replaced about a tablespoon of the water with lemon juice. I used powdered buttermilk in place of the milk. I also put the cinnamon sugar in a layer on top of the batter, under the merengue (the merengue still fell, but we love it like this!)
My (Russian) wife LOVES it!! What didn’t come through in the video is how moist the cake stays because it is sealed up by the egg whites. And I never would have thought that cinnamon and lemon would go together, but they do. Truly delicious!!!
This is the most pure channel on TH-cam! Thank you, Glen and Friends 😊
are you going to film an update in 6 hours to see how the cake changes over that time?
Please do that!! 😊
I was thinking same thing. Seems they commented on first post and said it dried out quickly.
I came here to ask how the cake changed after 6 hours. Did it go stale quickly? Did the meringue become gummy? Inquiring minds want to know!
Yes please! Another inquiring mind.
Yes Please! Why 6 hours?
I FINALLY have something to add to the conversation. From watching your videos I’m aware of your preference for older, obscure and community cookbooks, but maybe take a look at this anyways. In the mid 1950s my mom received a copy of Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook Revised and Enlarged. It was a wedding gift. When I was a child I would look at the color photos for all the cakes, pies and cookies and then search through the book to find the recipes. Most of the photos were black and white in the book and those didn’t interest me. I found all the recipes except one. There was a photo on the back cover of the book in the upper left corner of a layer cake without frosting with a filling between the layers. It had some kind of nut topping. I looked through all the cake recipes and nothing matched. Mind you the photos were those weirdly over saturated ones with colors not seen in real life. At some point I found it under Desserts, though I wasn’t totally positive initially because, again, those bizarre color photographs. It is described as: Blitz Torte (Lightning Cake) Beautiful...the meringue top encrusted with sugar and toasted almonds. My mom has since passed and I now own her book, stained, torn and tattered pages, held together with awful yellow duct tape. I adore that book and the great memories. You can easily find the book for sale, it s the one with a lattice pie, ears of corn, a baked whole chicken and cherry wink cookies on the cover. Yes, I have made the Blitz Torte and it’s delicious. No lemon in it as other have mentioned in their memories of a similar cake. If you haven’t seen this cookbook it really is worth a look, so much information from basic techniques to fabulous recipes and information about them.
I watched my mother and grandmother use this book with fine results and I have a copy myself. Everything I baked from Betty Crockers vintage cookbook was delicious and consistently so. Loved the cookies from around the world as well as the cakes and pies. I prefer the old fashioned cakes which are smaller, and the delicious frostings and icings to the modern mile high cakes with fondant. As a child I loved looking at those old cookbooks because I found the photographs beautiful! I cherish my collection of all types of old cookbooks for the content of the recipes and the lush photos too! Keep on baking, Glen and sharing you enthusiasm with all of us!. One note: I am 72 and I never saw a 9" square or round pan in my mother's or grandmother's kitchen in the old days. I think some of the very old recipes probably used smaller pans than 9" as you frequently use. Might make the cakes higher and moister in a smaller pan. Although the baking time might be different. Also I notice you put your pans in the bottom of the oven. I've always put them on the middle rack. Except for angel food cake which I bake on the lower rack. Just wondering...??
My dad's go to cake, is a two layer cake, where each layer is a sponge with merengue on top, (baked as one, as this recipe) and with whipped cream in the middle. I think the recipe calls it a golden cake
That sounds like a Norwegian cake I’ve eaten…. It’s actually called ‘The World’s Best Cake’. (It really is the world’s best!!!) My mother in law made something similar and she called it a Swedish Cake. Mmmmmm so yummmm.
IMO, this is like a coffee or tea cake. Mouth is watering.👍🤭
No lie, I just made this cake and it’s in the oven right now. Taking it to church.
Update after church, IT WAS A HIT, people ate seconds and thirds! I changed the recipe to my liking, used almond flavor instead of lemon, added vanilla flavoring to the meringue and omitted the pecans. SO EASY, from turning the mixer on to taking it out of the oven, 45 mins!
@@ragingblazemaster Glad to hear it went well! I was thinking of switching out lemon for almond as well.
@@PenitusVox def try it!!! It was so easy and delicious!
@@ragingblazemastertry sprinkling slivered almonds on top of the meringue.
@@TheDriftwoodlover okay!
I don't like merengue, but I've never had it baked INTO cake batter. Oh yeah, Glen, I'm cooking this one.
You two are some of my favourite people 💕
I feel like I'm living back in Canada everytime I watch your content; appreciate all the hard work you guys put into this show👏🏽.
I was hoping for a P.S. to the video of the two of you sampling the cake after six hours/the next day . Great video!!!
I was so disappointed that there was no "P.S. Here we are in tomorrow - look how dry!"
We have a Danish version that's quite similar. Some put preserve/jam under the merinque. Some dont cook the meringue. Its called "Grandpa's beard" here
Always something new to learn on the Sunday Old Cookbook Show!
I bet this would be awesome as an almond cake.
I LOVE this channel. Thank you for all you and Jules do!!
Being from Thunder Bay and watching your show all the way in Australia I can’t say enough how much me and my wife love your show. Sending lots of love to you and Julie 🥰
Your comment about egg white's and sugar had me wondering; have you ever made, or come across, Apple Snow? It's something my mom made and it's basically a meringue with apples in it. She'd pair it with Apple Crisp/Apple Crumble. I haven't had it in years, not since a young child.
Ooooh yes, love Apple Snow. Ate it as a child, made it for my kids when they were growing up. Also Apple Amber, the semi-transparent caramel apple dessert. Lovely pair of apple puddings, cheap to make, lovely to eat in summer, or after a big winter meal.
My mom used to make Lemon Snow, lemon meringue with a custard sauce on top/
1939 The New England Yankee Cookbook page 183. Keep meaning to try it
Thanks for your great series on old recipes, I find them really fascinating. And this one in particular reminded me of a recipe my mother made which was a great favourite in our household for Sunday tea when I was a child (Sunday tea used to be cold roast meat and bubble and squeak followed by something nice sweet). So the cake was called French tea cake, although it does not seem to have anything to do with France. It is what you said was the original lightning cake, before the possible mistake which separated the meringue from the cake mixture. But this recipe is equally odd. You separate two eggs, beat the whites until stiff and then add straight in the remaining standard cake recipes - the yolks, sugar, flour, melted butter, milk and vanilla for flavour. So it is lightning to make but you need a light touch. But the oddness continues - when it's cooked you cool a little, but while still warm you split horizontally and spread the middle with more butter (there is only a tablespoon of butter in the batter). I've never seen another cake recipe where you spread plain butter in the middle. Then you pour more melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Delicious. Just reading my mother's handwritten recipe is making me nostalgic! Sadly I have no idea where she got this recipe from, probably a newspaper or magazine. I'm going to make it for the first time in about 50 years, I'll send a photo and the recipe.
My dad preferred to eat his cake in a similar manner. He would take a slice of fresh cake cut it down the middle and butter it. Stick the two halves back together and eat his cake.
I love seeing the copper bowl come out to play.
This is the recipe of my childhood neighbour. Loved it! This was shared with my mom in the 60s.
Honey Cake
1/2 c white sugar 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c butter 1 tsp salt
2 egg yolks 1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c flour
Mix and put in dish. (press into .8" pan?)
2 egg whites 1 1/c brown sugar
walnuts
Beat egg whites. Add sugar and nuts. Place one top of other mixture.
Bake @ 350 for 25 - 30 minutes.
Not exactly the same - no lemon - but similar.
Can't wait to see Glen's cookbook 😉
I find it so interesting how times have changed. In several videos you mention recipes that are kind of last minute through together kind of cakes and such for when people "drop by". Maybe it's just us or our circle of friends but I don't know of anyone who just drops by someone's place anymore without it being prearranged. I remember doing it as a kid with my parents but now I wouldn't think of it without at least calling (yes I still call people) someone first.
I grew up in the 60s in an Italian family..oh yes, we dropped by or was visited often and you had to have a coffee cake available ( usually a bakery bought). Just in case...and we couldn't eat it , it was for company 🤣
In the UK in the 50's-60's we always visited without notice because no one we knew had a phone. It was just the way it always was but I don't remember consuming cakes or pastries....just a cup of tea - unless we took them. Just tea was perfectly acceptable.
you can tell glen likes something when he leans real far forward and begs you to make it and tell all your friends. hahahahah must be pretty special. i wish we could've seen how tall the dome on top was before it deflated. i wonder if there's a way to keep that from happening?
Good morning friends!
My grandmother used to make something similar, except she put a layer of raspberry jam between the cake and meringue, and put coconut in the meringue instead of nuts.
Yum!
I'm ecstatic that you're going to do the Neiman-Marcus cookie recipe! I've still got it from when it floated around The Net (back then it was the ARPAnet, later Usenet) in the 1980s. The folks I know who've made it say it's a really good cookie recipe, but I've never tried making it, as some of the ingredient proportions are so esoteric and the yield is way more cookies than I could eat in a year.
I remember in high school making the smallest amount I could reduce it to and still taking dozens of cookies to school! One weird friend didn't like them, another two needed extra insulin 😳
I have it too!! I had commented on the $100 cake episode, telling about the $250 Neumann Marcus cookie recipe & story, and I just about crowed when Glenn mention it today! I wasn’t terribly impressed with the NM cookie. For me, it was a bit dry and crumbly, but better the next day after it was in a sealed plastic container overnight..
Gosh I will have to look in all my oldies. Thanks again, yeah rabbit holes.
Ooh... that looked absolutely delicious! Lightning striking again, and again,, and again... sorry, had a Lou Christie moment.
Nothing is as fast and easy as “wacky cake”. Tastes good too.
Martha Stewart's "one bowl chocolate cake" (or "one bowl chocolate cupcakes") is super fast to make as you dump the dry ingredients in the bowl and whisk and then add the wet and whisk. It is delicous and very moist. It's been my go-to cake for 10+ years. It has the oil like the wacky cake but no vinegar and it has buttermilk (I keep powdered buttermilk on hand at all times since it's stores indefinitely in the refrigerator). Avoiding butter and the need to cream it with the sugar and then alternate dry ingredients with a liquid gives you a whisk-and-bake cake.
And no bowl needed. Mix right in the pan.
@@anderander5662 My mother found the recipe for Wacky Cake back in the mid 60's in a midwest magazine called "Grit" She got a "frosting" recipe from her mom's neighbor that paired very well with this cake. It was a cooked frosting that used corn starch in it so it was more pudding like. The cake was moist and this frosting made it even moreso. It was delicious and I still make it after so many years. If you're interested in getting that frosting for the cake, let me know and I'll give it to you.
@@NotKev2017 Grit had everything in it. Kept me sane as a preteen visiting the folks.
I'm so excited about that series about recipes that a company charged people lots of money for!. Are you still making "grandma said do/n't do this" series? I love that you are a historian.
I’m from deep rural Louisiana and there was a lady when I was young who used to make this every 5th Sunday for Dinner on the Grounds (after lunch we’d all stay and eat together.) I never knew what it was called but it was this cake! Thank you for bringing back a childhood memory
I'm curious about lightning vs lightening as the recipe name, obviously blitz is German for lightning, but as you described the egg whites folded in version it seems as though the intent is to lighten the cake. But then also the quick assembly and need to eat quickly makes me think more lightning than lightening. Thanks for the content, definitely trying this one out!
Good catch! That may well explain why it's not like the other Lightning Cakes that Glen has come across.
I am curious, too. Lightning has to be correct. Misspellings make me crazy.
Yup. Seems like people have been misspelling that word for at least 100 years now! It's interesting to see the two newspaper recipes: one gets it right and one gets it wrong.
It's in the Betty Crocker Cookbook Blitz Torte (Lightening Torte) in the dessert section of the first edition 1950 cookbook. It's made with the meringue baked on top of the cake. The cake is in other versions of Betty Crocker cookbooks too I think. I've made it in a round pan and it is pale in color. Looks pretty with slivered almonds.
The 6 hours rule wouldn't be a problem for my family. This would probably disappear before I got a slice myself.
Food history is an interesting topic.
I'm german. Never heard of it.
But I've just asked my neighbours about it. Maybe we can come up with more.
Thanks for sharing. It's fascitating!
My christmas gift will be a copper bowl for the eggwhites.
Just have to say, this really is fascinating, and I'm really enjoying all the comments about the variants people remember from 'way back, or are still making and enjoying. I've really come to love these Sunday old cookbook recipes!
I'll have to make this with lemon and cardamom instead of cinnamon. The cake base seems so simple for such a complex cake and yet doesn't waste ingredients.
The cookbook "The Italian Country Table" by Lynne Rossetto Kasper has a recipe for "Apple Cake with Crackly Meringue" that has a meringue baked on top of the cake. If you don't have the book, it can be found online at various places. She also labels it Torta di Mele. It has been a favorite in my household for many years, and I just made one for Thanksgiving.
Previous host of the Splendid Table!
IDK Glen, when you stare into the camera and say 'Make this cake!'...That's it for me! I'm making it! Thanks again for all the research you do to unearth these lost treasures!
He makes the lightning cake, but he ignores the fish pudding RIGHT NEXT TO IT!! 😂
Wehave a very similar cake that pops up in Sweden, except we do it thinner, divide it up in two halfs cover them with whipped cream and fresh berries, and then stack the two halfs into a layered cake. Delicious! Names wary a bit, but same principle with the meringue baked on top.
I loves your kitchen
Blessed Sunday to all!!!❤❤❤
Thanks for sharing Glen!!
Hey Glen, I love this, and I'm going to try it. Time for a German lesson though. In kuchen, the ch is pronounced closer to a hard K (koo ken) though not exactly. There's a name for it, voiceless uvular fricative. I think any german speaking north american will pass by the kooken pronounciation, but they will all chuckle or snicker under their breath at kooch-en.😀
I'm from the northeast US and I thought it was kootchen like Glen.The internet tells me kootchen is the "American" pronunciation. And then there is the site where Europeans pronounce it about ten different ways. It sort of averages out to Koo-hen. or Kooken. I still haven't quite mastered Gyro the way the Greeks say it, but I've tried. So thanks. That was a nice trip down language lane.🙂
@@kitefan1 I am first generation canadian born into a german family. The ch is pronounced like you are hawking up a loogie. The recording on google translate is about as close as you'll get without calling someone from germany. Gyro is close enough to be pronounced Year-oh. You'll not be laughed at for sure.
My Grandmother used to make something very similar to this that she called Company Cookies. I remember the cake batter being much stiffer, and without lemon extract(probably vanilla). The egg whites were only lightly beaten with BROWN sugar. The meringue would sink into the cake while it baked. The result was chewy and carmely. Thanks for your version. It has put me on track to try to reproduce what my grandmother made.
I make very similar olive oil cake, where I sub the butter for the oil, and part of the milk for lemon juice. Meringue like that is very common over here for different cakes, particularly szarlotka apple cake and plum tarte pie.
Where is "over here" may I ask? I'm in Arizona USA..you?
@@densealloy i'm curious, too. i assumed 'over here' meant Europe, particularly Poland. the szarlotka apple cake mentioned is a traditional Polish cake.
I learned to make a pineapple blitz torte when my kids were growing up, so it would have appeared in a magazine in UK between 1979 and 1985 (at a guess). It was similar in that the cake mixture had just the egg yolks and the whites were used to make meringue. It was different in that it was baked in round sandwich tins, no nuts were involved, and the 2 layers were sandwiched, cake in the middle, meringue top and bottom, whipped cream and chopped pineapple making the filling.
It really reminds me of a rhubarb cake my grandmother used to make. It was delicious!
That's an interesting variation. Adding fruit to the cake batter sounds really good.
Had never heard of this growing up but when done with the day will check thru old cookbooks that I have from my mom in Virginia/NC USA.
I was skeptical of this cake but it looks and sounds delicious, it’s like the cake version of a lemon pie!
Egg whites and sugar... :) :) My mother used to bake a pavlova probably at least once a month when I was a kid, and the beaters and bowl were hot property!
I found a version of this recipe in a Central Lab (Fort Dodge Iowa) employee cook book from 1978 called a Lemon-Poppyseed Coffee Cake. The only change was removing the nuts and replacing them with 1 tablespoon of poppyseeds. It surprised me because I didn't know people were cooking with poppyseeds in 78, especially in the Midwest. There were a couple of other coffee cakes that had the meringue on top, but they also had whole eggs in the batter while only the Lemon-Poppyseed used the yolks only in the batter.
😂😂😂 My grandmother regularly made yeast coffee cake rolled with a sweet poppyseed filling. My mom was born in 1921: so poppyseeds were indeed being used in the midwest even before 1978. Your comment made me chuckle.
I just found an almost identical cake in The American-International Encyclopedic Cookbook (copyright 1972) called Almond Meringue Cake. Calls to split batter & meringue between 2 layers. Then one is placed meringue down, cover with lemon filling then put second layer on meringue up.
Ok, I think I found 4 of these in my old cookbooks. I will try and email you in the next couple days if I can find it!
I have my great grandmother's cake recipe that puts meringue on after the cake is baked. Then back into oven long enough to brown the meringue under the broiler or just the oven.
Sounds delish!
A similar type of cake is in a common Swedish cookbook from maybe the 60's with almond flakes on top. It's quite good!
My mom still makes it. A family favorite
The settlement cookbook has a close variation on this, referenced in three different places in the book as that's the layout of the settlement cookbook. But two 8 inch round layers with vanilla custard in between and shivered almonds instead of cinnamon. My family made it for decades. I still make it from time to time. My family didn't know the source was the settlement cookbook. I discovered that on my own after anyone in the family who would have been interested had passed away. We called it the blintz torte.
I don't eat sweets but I might make that, it looks so good.
Cocoa Meringue Cake from a reprint of the Hershey's 1934 Cookbook is one of my very favorite company desserts! It consists of two chocolate cake/pecan-meringue layers with some very yummy cocoa cream filling in the middle. I've never seen a similar recipe but will try your lemon version. Thanks for your show!
This looks so good, definitely trying this one. I like that it makes a small cake too. We can never eat a 9x13 size cake before it gets stale.
A wet version of this appears in some south african cookbooks as a dessert called leapyear dessert (skrikkeljaar poeding). Now from the comments I can finally see that it came from a Scandinavian version called old man's beard. Its the cake with jam on top and then the meringue. I think your cinnamon nut version sounds heaven.
I found three recipes in two old german cookbooks I have. One of them is a Kiehnle cookbook from 1932 I am not totally positive on the date. This is my translation. There are two recipes in this book. Recipe: Blitzkuchen I ingredients: Sugar the weight of 9 eggs, flour the weight of 6 eggs, butter weight of 3-4 eggs, 9 eggs and one lemon.
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.Then add the yolks,sugar and the juice and zest of the lemon and stir for half an hour. When this mixture is thick then add the flour and lastly the butter that has been melted and cooled. This then is put into a 28-30cm cake pan. Bake for one hour in a moderately hot oven. In the front of the cook book it tell me an egg weighs 50g. So that would be small eggs.
The Blitzkuchen II recipe calls for 8 eggs, 200 grams sugar, 100g butter, 200g flour and the juice and zest of one small lemon. The eggs, sugar and lemon need to be beaten with heat for half an hour then beaten until they. have cooled off.Then the flour is added a tablespoon at a time and lastly the warm butter is added. This goes into a 28cm cake pan and baked for an hour at moderate heat.
The other cookbook I have is from the 1970's that one calls for 200g Margarine, 150g sugar, 1 pinch of salt, one package of Vanilla sugar, 4 eggs, a few drops of bitter almond flavor, 250g of flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 50g of butter and 50g of sugar. Cream butter then add sugar, salt, vanilla sugar bitter almond flavor. Mix the flour with the baking powder and stir into the dough. Grease a baking pan and distribute the dough evenly on the pan. Distribute the butter on the dough and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 to 20 min. at 200 degrees C.
I made this cake yesterday and it is so good!
Hmmmm. Definitely worth a try!
A great cake to take to a potluck!!! 😋💖💋Sue from England
We've made kuchen all my life but as a bread or as a thin coffee cake with apples on top. But never with meringue on top. I've never heard of Blitz kuchen but since my childhood dog was named Blitz - I can't wait to try this. But I want to first try the 1916 recipe you showed. Love your show!
I think others have already commented on this also being used for making Blitz Torte. My mom used to make this for her favorite minister (never for us kids!) and it's two layers of this cake sandwiched with rich custard. Mom's version (and the one I use) is from the 1950 Betty Crocker Cookbook.
This sounds delicious! Recipe now written down with a note of all the variations suggested in the comments. Thank you every!
I do the same
Somewhat differently made, but this was one of the favorite cakes of my grandma. By her recipe, the meringue had to be much stiffer and there is were nuts or cinnamon added to it. That version also had a layer of apricot jam in between layers. The egg yolk layer would be put in the oven for 10-15 minutes, then taken out, jam applied and meringue on top of it, peaks made with a tablespoon, on top. The cake is then baked until the meringue peaks turn golden and is left in a half-opened oven to slowly (very slowly) cool off, so the peaks wouldn't fall. It is usually a very tall and airy meringue. The oldest recipe I can find is from the booklet called (in translation) "Swabian Household Recipes", no author stated. Recipe itself is called the "Swabian Baiser-Kuchen" and the booklet a 1930's reprint of some recipe book from 1880's-90's, but the parts of the pages are missing and it is impossible to tell which recipe book, except that the title ended with "...mittel. It is stated in the recipe that strawberries, raspberries or sliced apples can be placed onto the "yellow layer", then meringue on top of that and that the cake needs to be baked "very carefully, in the mild oven" which really tells little to the today's bakers. My grandma had the recipe written down in several notebooks. This is in Europe, btw. Not of much help when it comes to America.
I always liked the meringue part. It reminded me of the gummy crisp part of the bottom sad part of a pound cake.
My mother makes something like this but with heavier spices (nutmeg cinnamon allspice kümmel) whenever she gets unexpected guests, meringue folded in, but honey syrup (2:1) and cinnamon brushed on top. We are from Austria
That looks delicious!! I'd like that with a *large* mug of coffee! Thanks, Glen!
My grandmother was Dutch/Australian, and whilst she made quite a few Bombe Alaskas when I was a kid, I never saw her do a meringue-topped cake unless there was icecream inside. This one has me intrigued - think I'll have to give it a try!
Just baked the cake! First the no-churn icecream, and now this. Hoping it lasts longer than the 6 hours! It's midnight here. I don't mind it, it's interesting having essentially a soft marshmellowy meringue on top of a nice flavoursome cake.
My German mother made Blitz torte. It's made in two layers, with whipped cream in between layers. She used slivered almonds on top. The reason for the six-hour time is that the meringue starts to give way, but it's still delicious. It was her favourite birthday cake.
This is similar to what we call Kvæfjord cake in Norway. But it has flaked almonds on top instead of the cinnamon sugar and the cake is cut into two and filled with creme patisserie and whipped cream.
Glen, I have this recipe in the cookbook Norwegian Food and Cooking by Janet Laurence, copyright 2007. The recipe name is Kvaelfjord cake (Kvaelfjiordkake) with vanilla cream. It is baked in 2 pans, then they are stacked with the vanilla cream between the cakes. This cake made the rounds on the internet a few years ago with the name World's Best Cake.
That’s is such different cake, I’d like try it. Thank you
Glen - can you do a show on the short-hand that the old recipes used to use for measurements and other tidbits to use when reading old recipes. I got tripped up by the 2-3 cups which meant 2/3 cup recently. I am sure you've seen a bunch of these kinds of things.
I often make a cake that we call Pinocchio cake here in Sweden that is a sheet sponge cake with merengue (whit almonds) on top.
You then split the cake and fill with strawberries and whipped cream, or i will mix it up and fill with vanilla cream, lemon curd and different fruits and berries that are good at that time 😋
I loves your channel I loves the old fashioned recipes.keep them coming where do you find your recipes
I tried this recipe and I know I made a few mistakes..😝 While I needed to use pastry flour, and I don't think I beat the egg whites enough before adding sugar - it was still tasty. That being said, I can see why they say to eat this within 6 hours. It gets dry afterwards..
Love your channel!
Hi!
I am an avid foodie and regular watcher of your TH-cam channel and recently saw your video on the Lightning Cake. I was intrigued. Later, as I was going through my Mennonite Community Cookbook looking for other ideas, I noticed a very similar cake: Toasted Spice Cake (from Mrs Frank Raber (Detroit, Mich) and Mrs Moses Stoltzfus (Elverson, Pa)). The ingredients and process are almost identical to your Lightning Cake (complete with the toasted meringue frosting covered in nuts) except that the flavour is mixed spice (cinnamon and cloves) rather than lemon.
Just thought you might like to see that! In the MCC cookbook in the frosting sectionthere is also a baked-on frosting (essentially a meringue) which is to be spread ona hot cake and then baked until brown. So, the idea of a baked meringue frosting was a thing. The lightning cake/toasted spice cake simply baked the cake at the same time as the baked on frosting. Which makes it cool!
Best
Mikael Swayze
We have one variety here in sweden too.