by Evan a. Kutzler (Editor), Fred Sauceman (Editor)
When the Lane cake, named after Emma Rylander Lane (1856-1904), appeared in Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1960), the boozy Southern dessert was at peak popularity. Yet the culinary artist behind the cake had fallen into obscurity. FROM BISCUITS TO LANE CAKE recovers Lane's biography and reveals the Georgia backstory of Alabama's official state dessert, as well as the recipes she published in SOME GOOD THINGS TO EAT (1898). Born in Americus, Georgia, and left fatherless in the American Civil War, Lane spent most of her life living, studying, and managing a household in Southwest Georgia. While in Clayton, Alabama, and Columbus, Georgia, she drew on the diverse culinary heritage of the South as she won cooking demonstration competitions, published a cookbook, and taught cooking classes. Lane's recipes, from biscuits, wafers, and loaf cakes to salads, cordials, and holiday favorites, show that her expertise went far beyond the bourbon-infused dessert that bears her married name.