Erin Mann is baking a new cake every week for a year from the "All Cakes Considered" cookbook and shares her adventures here on AnnArbor.com. Read past columns here.

“Miss Maudie baked a Lane Cake so loaded with shinny it made me tight.”
-Scout Finch, in “To Kill a Mockingbird”

In Alabama, where the cake originated, and throughout the South, the Lane Cake is the quintessential celebration cake. Many a birthday, holiday or wedding day has been commemorated by this laborious liquor-laced white sponge cake filled with coconut, dried fruit and nuts.

The rich culinary history of Lane Cake began in the late 1800s when Emma Rylander Lane of Clayton, Ala., won first prize for her creation at the state fair. Throughout the years, Lane’s recipe has been modified with subtle variations in the filling ingredients and the type of frosting used to the coat the cake.

Like the Lord Baltimore and Lady Baltimore cake, some Lane cakes are frosted with an egg white frosting. The fillings for all three cakes consist of many of the same ingredients, but the Lane cake filling is distinguished by the addition of a cooked, sweetened egg yolk mixture and a hefty splash of either bourbon or brandy (I used apple brandy).

I mixed the batter and baked the cakes one evening. I saved the task of making the filling for the following morning. I knew the filling would be time-consuming; the raisins, pecans and cherries all need to be chopped. After all of that chopping — especially those tiny raisins — I’ve decided I’m asking Santa for a food processor next Christmas.

I was beaming with pride when I finished this cake. I often think that frosting is what makes cake so pretty, but this Lane cake was lovely without it. I love the colors of the filling against the exposed sides of the golden brown cake layers. A little pop of red from the cherries makes the cake look so festive. I took a deep breath, and the notable smells of citrus and alcohol registered first, followed by the warm scent of coconut, pecans and butter.

Like many cakes containing alcohol, this cake is best a day or two after it’s prepared. It looks and smells so wonderful I want more than anything to cut into it — but I’m going to wait a day for the flavors to meld. (I’ll make a short post about the taste in the comments section later in the week.)

The recipe comes from a website for home bakers called Diana’s Desserts; find it here. In “All Cakes Considered,” Melissa Gray doubled the amounts of the mace, pecans, salt, coconut and raisins in her adaptation of the recipe. Even with these modifications, the recipe made just enough filling for a three-layer cake.

Erin Mann is ruining diets one cake at a time with her weekly kitchen adventures. Email this baking bachelorette at SheGotTheBeat@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter. Facebook users can also keep up-to-date with A CAKE A WEEK by joining the group.