Today in American history…former First Lady Lucy Webb Hayes was born on August 28, 1831 in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Married to former President Rutherford B. Hayes, she was our Nation’s First Lady from 1877-1881.

Lucy Hayes was a well educated woman for her time and was the very first First Lady to have a college degree – graduating from Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College in 1850.

One of former First Lady Lucy Hayes favorite desserts was a traditional white cake. Here is her own personal recipe (among others!) at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museum:

“There is not to be found a better receipt for white cake than the following. The cake is mixed contrary to the usual rules of making cake, but it is the best mode of making it fine-grained and delicate.”

Ingredients: Whites of six eggs, scant three-quarters of a cupful of butter, one and one-quarter cupfuls of pulverized sug-ar, two cupfuls of flour, juice of half a lemon, one-quarter of a tea-spoonful of soda.

If soda is used, mix it well with the flour, and pass it through the sieve several times to distribute it equally. Beat the butter to a light cream, and add the flour to it, stirring it in gradually with the ends of the fingers until it is a smooth paste.

Beat the whites of six eggs to a stiff froth, and mix in them the pulverized sugar; now stir the eggs and sugar gradually into the flour and butter, adding also the lemon-juice, and mix it smoothly together with the egg whisk. As soon as it is perfectly smooth, put it into the oven, the heat of which should be rather moderate at first. When done and still hot, spread over it a frosting made with the white of one egg, pulverized sugar and a flavoring of lemon.

The frosting is a decided improvement, and, according to the receipt, only requires a few minutes to prepare.

I made a traditional white cake today using my favorite recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction – it’s the only one that I ever use when making a white cake – it’s truly the best! (And I’ve eaten a lot of cake in my life 🤣)

For the cream cheese frosting – I always use the recipe from my personal favorite Sugar Spun Run