From Dorothy Hammill, Franklin Park
Makes 20 servings
4 cups sifted cake flour
1 pound butter, at room temperature
3 cups sifted granulated sugar
6 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1. Sift the sifted cake flour, then measure 4 cups into a bowl (you'll have some left over). Sift again 3 or 4 times.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sifted sugar with an electric mixer at high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition.
3. Add cake flour to the batter alternately with the milk in several additions, again scraping down the sides and beating thoroughly after each addition. Stir in mace and mix until blended.
4. Pour batter into 2 (9-by-5-by-2 1/2-inch) greased loaf pans lined with strips of parchment paper. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and let stand on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and carefully strip off parchment. Cool thoroughly on wire racks.
6. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator or at room temperature.