apple stack cake history

1 teaspoon vanilla extract. When cool weather hits, apple desserts are some of the most requested treats of all. Although the Appalachian area of this country has popularized the apple stack cake name, it seems their original recipe came from Pennsylvania. Mommy made me one to take to work for a dinner. Written by Sarah J. Grezlik. The more layers to the cake – 12 to 16, perhaps – the more popular the bride, or so the story goes. Only recently has the cake gotten some respect for what it is. If you've never tasted this traditional Appalachian creation, you're missing out. A stack cake is a unique regional variation that replaces a wedding cake, which can be prohibitively expensive in the economically deprived area of Appalachia, United States. Repeat with the remaining layers. Spread evenly. A wonderful article from Appalachian Heritage gives a history of the “DRIED APPLE STACK CAKE”.Mary Lou Kendrick shared her treasured family recipe with us for this amazing dessert. I’m not fond of the thick layers… Grandma made stack cake her whole life. Friends and family each bring a layer for the cake, and the bride's family spreads apple preserves, dried apples, or apple butter between each layer. The resulting texture is thick and tactile on the palate. The resulting texture is thick and tactile on the palate. Written by Sarah J. Grezlik. I am from Kentucky and never heard of this. Apple Stack Cake is a southern Appalachian novelty, individually cooked layers of almost cookie like cake stacked with cooked apples in between. Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. My mama has made these cakes since I was a kid. Like the cake, the names are a mouthful. Bake for 12 minutes, until firm. Each invited family was to bake a layer for the cake, adding it to the base as they arrived on the day of the wedding with the bride’s family providing the filling. Do not spread fruit butter filling on top layer. Her financial means were very limited. Learn how the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians took back "…, My father did all our noses with butter and i am 74. She’s promised to teach me how to make it. The history of the people of Pennsylvania will lead us to Germany. One recipe from the Bluegrass region utilizes a sorghum molasses based gingerbread type cake. Now I’ve seen a lot of posts about apple stack cake. Apple stack cake is a holiday tradition for many families in Appalachia. It has also been mentioned by magazines such as Martha Stewart Living and Parade. When cool the cookies were ready to assemble with the dried apple mixture. By Patricia B. Mitchell “My mother made this [Stack Cake] often with apples she dried on a hot tin roof,” writes Ruby Boggs Stoner of Bear Lake, Michigan. This is the version Appalachian writer and cookbook author Sheri Castle has developed over three decades, and the recipe she plans to pass along to her daughter. Spread evenly. It’s not terribly difficult to make, but it is time consuming. Ruby's family lived in Kentucky, one of the mountain-dotted states in which impressive stack … The history of the people of Pennsylvania will lead us to Germany. You can also see me taste apple stack cake for the very first time in a segment from the show Daytime Blue Ridge. Wrap the cake in cheesecloth, then in plastic wrap, and store it in a cool, dark place such as a cupboard (not the refrigerator). No two bakers of stack cake go about it the same way, which means there's no definitive stack-cake recipe or technique, only a common concept and love for the simple dessert. August 22, 2018 by Evelyn 2 Comments This Apple Stack Cake Recipe is almost like an Applesauce Cake recipe. No two bakers of stack cake go about it the same way, which means there's no definitive stack-cake recipe or technique. Select images used from other sources and remain the property of their copyright owners. After all, wedding cakes were costly, and there was always an abundance of apples in the region. Thanks so... –. Take the first layer of the stack cake and place on flat cake dish, spread apple butter between each layer. Many types of cake layer recipes exist from sponge-like layers of cake to cookie dough-like ones; sometimes a stack cake includes many variations and flavors. Event Planning. Traditionally, the cake would be made from apple slices that the home baker would have picked, prepped, and dried themselves. My Mom would make this at Christmas and she would pour brandy on it while it would sit for a couple of days. warm Apple Cider Glaze. Makes 12 to 16 servings. Jill Sauceman with her traditional dried apple stack cake. Lay 1 cake layer on a plate or platter and spread filling on top. Then around the holidays they would make the BEST apple Stack cakes ever!! A few of the more common flavorings used were ginger, apple and molasses. She and my grandmother Sadie would peel apples early in year and dry them outside on an old piece of roofing tin covered with a screen, then bag them up when dried in an old pillow case and put in freezer. From Mary Lou Kendrick of Kentucky. “While Harrod may have brought the first stack cake to Kentucky, the cake could not have been common until more than 100 years later when flour became readily available.” Tennessee proudly points to Tennessee stack cake as the first, but in fact variations of the cake abound throughout the region. https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2013/10/22/kentucky-apple-stack-cake It’s made with layers of stiff cookie like dough flavored with ginger and sorghum and spread with a spiced apple filling. Apple Stack Cake should be on the menu. Then students called to remove it. In those days, it served as a sort of potluck wedding cake: Members of the community would contribute layers, which were held together with a spread of mashed dried apples, applesauce, or apple butter. 5 cups all-purpose flour. she had apple trees and dried her own apples and my grand father raised syrup cane and made his own syrup so Granny had the real ingredience. 1/4 cup applejack, apple brandy, or bourbon. Top cake … Repeat procedure with remaining layers and fruit butter filling, stacking each on previous layer. I kind of broke the chain, since I am a man. She inherited the recipe from her grandmother, Nevada Parker Derting, who lived in Scott County, Virginia. Now, this is where I get my history of the apple stack cake recipe. my mother-in-law and her mother used to bake a cake that they called Molasses and Applebuttercake. it Makes 7 layers and we filled it with dried apples and made it in a Iron skillet with the left over dough we made small ones and called them teacakes they are yummy..My Recipe is almost like this one, Would love to have some of the really old recipes for this cake. 1 1/2 cups apple butter (store-bought or see page 253) For the Cake. As in pure Southern style, the number of layers was an indication of the popularity of the bride. NEVER FORGOTTEN MEMORY. Some recipes call for sorghum molasses and spices, some dried apples that have been chopped and reconstituted in a saucy syrup, others use applesauce or apple butter between the layers. Kentucky Apple Stack Cake--Traditional Version I can't say enough about the deliciousness and simple beauty of this historic cake, which has its roots in nineteenth-century Appalachia. Kentucky lays claim to originating the dessert via Kentucky pioneer washday cake. Ive been making them for 25 years, taking over the task from my mother. 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter. A stack cake is a unique regional variation that replaces a wedding cake, which can be prohibitively expensive in the economically deprived area of Appalachia, United States. “While Harrod may have brought the first stack cake to Kentucky, the cake could not have been common until more than 100 years later … 5 cups all-purpose flour. My mother usually made 4 of these at a time. We used sorghum molasses for sweetener and we make six layers. A wonderful article from Appalachian Heritage gives a history of the “DRIED APPLE STACK CAKE”.Mary Lou Kendrick shared her treasured family recipe with us for this amazing dessert. 1 teaspoon baking powder. Copyright © 2010-2020 Mark Lynn Ferguson. To assemble, place one cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 2 tablespoons apple butter. At holidays and weddings, early mountain settlers traditionally served stack cake in lieu of more fancy, and costly, cakes. Remove cake layers from oven, and brush each with 2 to 3 Tbsp. I think of Apple Stack Cake as the fanciest of traditional Appalachian cakes. Saved by Dee Beerman. Repeat with the remaining cake layers and filling. the longer you waited, the more moist it was , and while I have had a few since thiers, none have tasted near as good. Cover and refrigerate cake for at least 24 hours. Love any and all old old recipes if any one wanted to share, My Grandmother made these all the time. Here is a little history behind the "Stack Cake". Now as an adult I too make apple stack cakes for my family!. This step gives the layers and the apple filling a chance to marry, and also solidifies the cake … Whenever there was a gathering like a barn dance. Repeat with the remaining cake layers and filling. From on High: Elegance & Exclusion on Mill Mountain. To operate, long press and release your finger at the right time. My mom and dad (who learned it from his mom and her sister – both of whom were great bakers noted for these cakes & their lemon meringue & chocolate pies) made one for every Christmas. (Reserve remaining glaze.) No two bakers of stack cake go about it the same way, which means there's no definitive stack-cake recipe or technique. His father did his and his grandmother was from Ireland and granfather from... –, Well, it's been a big mystery in our family. Known by several names—dried apple cake, washday cake, gingerbread cake—the elements of an Appalachian apple stack cake are essentially the same: dried apples and hearty disks of dough are married; the apples stewed, spiced, mashed and spread atop each pancake-like layer. An apple stack cake is a traditional Appalachian dessert featuring a thick dried apple filling spread between layers of sorghum-sweetened cake. According to the Encyclopedia of Appalachia, "The dried apple stack cake was a favorite pioneer wedding cake. The practice of stack cake creation in the region has all but disappeared (at least to those looking from outside the region). Because cakes were so expensive back in the days of old. Wrap the cake in cheesecloth, then in plastic wrap, and store it in a cool, dark place such as a cupboard (not the refrigerator). Download Stack cake! Neighbors, according to folk wisdom, would each bring a layer of the cake to the bride’s family, which they spread with apple filling as they arrived. She baked them for Thanksgiving and would freeze 2 and save them for Christmas. We make them in Ky. They’re so moist and delicious! All rights reserved on original content. West Virginia Apple Butter Stack Cake recipe by , is from "THE COLLECTION", one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. A stack cake looks like a stack of thick pancakes. My grand mother used to make them for us many years ago but she could not read or write so I never got an exact recipe for it. May 22, 2013 - Old Fashioned Stack Cake My mother always made these at Christmas. Bake for 12 minutes, until firm. The cake is many layered, low in fat, and not sweet. She also cooked “leather Britches” every Christmas from her Kentucky half-runners that she also dried in her attic. Personal Celebration. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. The hallmark of cooking in the Mountain South is resourcefulness, making utterly delicious dishes from modest ingredients. It was a great hit. Its use is not limited to Kentucky cuisine but all of Appalachia. More. Photo Provided by TheBittenWord.com on Flickr. and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. warm Apple Cider Glaze. Some believe it’s an Appalachian Apple Stack Cake recipe that’s been passed down over the years. Weddings were celebrated with "in-fares," where people gathered to … Transfer a piece of cake batter to a prepared pan and pat into an even layer. Although the Appalachian area of this country has popularized the apple stack cake name, it seems their original recipe came from Pennsylvania. Whatever you call it, these things are yummy deliciousness! Let cool completely. My mother is 86 and we were raised in So. The watercolor painting of the stack cake on the wall was done by Nancy Jane Earnest. It was not as moist because she used less buttermilk and less sugar (about 3/4 cup) the mixture was stiff and shaped into large rounds like cookies then baked on a round “hoe cake” baker in the oven. This Apple Spice Cake is a nice addition to the catalog of apple … Having not made a cake from scratch for years, I was worried about how difficult... –, Mark, ever since you wrote that piece for the Chicago Tribune, I have been thinking about this, especially when the film was made. I plan to try this soon. The recipe I used came from page 165-166 of Southern Appalachian Farm Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Family by Robert G. Netherland, 2016. My mother-in-law, Ollie Lee had thirteen children; she made one of these for each couple at Christmas. Dave leads the excellent blog Appalachian History, which features stories, quotes and anecdotes from Appalachia, with an emphasis on the Depression era. For a more involved version, try the Dried Apple Stack Cake recipe from p. 267-270 Appalachian Home Cooking: History, Culture, and Recipes by Mark F. Sohn, 2005. The Dried Apple Stack Cake layer we make are very hard and brittle after cooling, like a cookie. YUMMY. Consider the stack cake: many thin layers of sorghum-sweetened cake married together by thick, fragrant filling made from dried apples. Because cakes were so expensive back in the days of old. Known by several names—dried apple cake, washday cake, gingerbread cake—the elements of an Appalachian apple stack cake are essentially the same: dried apples and hearty disks of dough are married; the apples stewed, spiced, mashed and spread atop each pancake-like layer. When served, the cake is tall, heavy, and moist. An apple stack cake is a traditional Appalachian dessert featuring a thick dried apple filling spread between layers of sorghum-sweetened cake. Smash Cake Recipes. The men was taking spoons and was scrapping the crumbs from the cakepan. Today’s guest blogger, Dave Tabler, shares the origins of this popular dessert along with a recipe that will leave your mouth watering and your feet running to the kitchen. Remove from pans to wire racks; … The dried apple stack cake is one of the most popular southern Appalachian cakes— no surprise considering apples are found aplenty in the mountains. In the Fall 2017 issue of Sift magazine you'll find stories and recipes from the traditions of Appalachian cooking, handed down in the families of the Mountain South. 374. Friends and family would each come bringing a layer to help build up the stack. In order to accommodate the typical seven or eight layers, each layer was sometimes pressed very flat. The cake actually looks like a stack … IL and my mom was also raised in Ark. This step gives the layers and the apple filling a chance to marry, and also solidifies the cake … They also put the cake up for several gays before it was cut. From Mary Lou Kendrick of Kentucky. The Roanoke Times: What Does “Appalachian Food” Mean Anymore? It's not every day a tribe reclaims its place of origin. Courtesy of Sheri Castle and Our State This was always a tradition at Christmas at grammas house. May 30, 2020 - Explore Carolyn Centers's board "Apple stack cake" on Pinterest. The cake was allowed to sit covered over night to “sob” or become moist. 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