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Epicurious

Lane Cake

4.5

(12)

Lane cake on a marble round platter.
Photo by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova

Lane cake is an old-timey cake also known as Prize Cake. It was created by Emma Rylander Lane of Alabama. She won first prize with it at the county fair in Columbus, Georgia, at the turn of the 20th century. Lane Cake is mentioned in the Southern classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird; it stirs a rivalry between two of the neighborhood cake ladies. It’s a moist white cake filled and frosted with a thick cooked whiskey-laced custard.

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