♥ Cointreau Cake

by Blue Cotton Memory

The last week has been full of sweet moments, friends from far away coming near, family birthdays, and my husband returning after being out of the country for a month. The weekend started Big Birthdays that last through this week – my very special aunt’s 80th birthday celebrated over two days, a beloved son turning twelve and another turning 24.

In the midst of chaos, I so yearn to just sit on a bench in the shade. Right now it feels like I’ve thrown a bunch of celebration seeds up in the air, and they hover mid-air – that split second before they start falling, and I find myself waiting to see how those celebration seeds grow and bloom. Imagine trying to direct a that seed to fall just in the right place for the right effect – that is my state of mind.

So many thoughts, from what someone 80 years old means to me to what someone 12 – tween, means to me – and the one in between has a wife to plan his birthday now, not mom.

After it is all over, I will sit in the shade, sift through so many tender and frustrating moments – oh, and yum cake moments, too! I will save the best for you. For now, I will leave you Camille’s Cointreau Cake I made for my aunt’s birthday celebration with my and my brother’s family.

It is one of my aunt’s very favorite cakes – and has a reputation for being difficult to make. I felt as though the cake were my dissertation from culinary school. My mother’s family are fabulous southern cooks. It is a delicious heritage. I have a sneaking suspicion that my brother might even be a better cook than me – but that is just an unverified suspicion – one that will surely dissipate when I have recovered from all this celebration.

Camille’s Golden Cointreau Cake from The Heritage of Southern Cooking by Camille Glenn is all about the cointreau and the eggs – all 6 of them, separated, beaten correctly and folded in. Once I finally learned the art to beating egg yolks with my Great Grandmother’s White Cake (a long time, until less yellow), I learned the secret to great cake baking. This cake is all about following directions. So, if you are an old testament gal, then this recipe is literally a piece of cake (LOL). The only change to the recipe was in the icing. Aunt Joyce said to leave the egg out – and so I did. Glenn says this is a Gala Cake – and what would need a Gala Cake more than an 80th Birthday Celebration!

“This is the cake I created when as a young woman I catered debutante parties and weddings in Louisville. It has never been published before. This cake holds a secret all to itself – it is a magical formula that will fool you. The list of ingredients at first glance seems not unlike most good sponge cakes, but there is a difference. The texture is unusually moist, tender, and diaphanous. This delicacy in contrast to the elusive, rich frosting sets the cake apart. It is a gala occasion cake. In fact, if the occasion is not gala, the cake will make it so. You’ll see” (Camille Glenn).

Serves 12 to 14

8 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Cointreau
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Cointreau Frosting or
Classic Buttercream with Cointreau

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Separate the eggs. Put the yolks in one large mixing bowl and the
whites in another large mixing bowl.
3. Beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer until they have thickened
and are smooth. Beat in the sugar slowly, then continue beating
until the mixture turns a lighter shade of yellow and is smooth.
Add the orange juice and blend thoroughly.
4. Measure the flour, then sift it twice. Sprinkle the sifted flour over
the egg yolk mixture and gently fold it in by hand with a whisk or
rubber spatula, or with the electric mixer on a very low speed. Fold
in the Cointreau and vanilla.
5. Add the salt to the egg whites and beat until they begin to turn white
and foamy. Add the cream of tartar, and continue to beat until the
egg whites hold a stiff peak but are not dry and grainy, about 4
minutes more.
6. Fold a few spoonfuls of the egg whites into batter to lighten it. Then
add the remaining egg whites to the batter, gently folding them in.
7. Spoon the batter into a 10 x 4 1/2-inch ungreased angel food cake
pan (a tube pan with a removable bottom). The pan should be no
more than three-quarters full. Place the cake pan on the middle
shelf of the oven and bake until a cake tester inserted in the center
of the cake springs back at once when lightly touched, about
1 1/4 hours.
8. Remove the cake from the oven, turn it upside down on the tube
pan legs, and allow it to rest overnight before frosting.
9. Loosen the cake with a thin sharp knife, and unmold it. Put the
cake on a plate or on a flat surface covered with wax paper or foil.
Spread the frosting over the cake.

♦ This cake freezes beautifully any time.

Cointreau Frosting

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter,
cut into pieces
2 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk [Aunt Joyce recommends not using the egg yolk]
6 to 8 tablespoons Cointreau, or
more as needed

1. Put the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the confectioners’ sugar
and salt. Beat well with an electric mixer. Add the egg yolk, then
slowly add 6 to 8 tablespoons of the Cointreau. Continue to beat the
frosting until it is smooth, thick, and pliable, 3 minutes.