Learn how to make an apple stack cake recipe with variations using dried and fresh apples; one I first made, Kentucky stack, Indian stack cake, black walnut and stacking cake.
Granny Howard's Apple Stack Cake: A Generational Delight Worth Sharing In the world of cherished family recipes, few things hold as much...
Hello everyone from Ten Gables Cottage, Yesterday was the day to make the Old Fashioned Apple Stack Cake and let it moisten up for Christma...
I love the history behind this cake. I had never heard of a "Stack Cake". Here is a little history behind the "Stack Cake". Because cakes were so expensive back in the days of old. Whenever there was a gathering like a barn dance. Families would each prepare a layer of this special ginger and molasses cake to donate to the shindig. It is said that the number of layers in a cake was a measure of the popularity of the hosting family. Sometimes there would be as many as twelve layers!
A cake worthy of a regular spot at the dessert table
Appalachia has lost one of its own. As you probably have heard, on June 23, the great and legendary Dr. Ralph Stanley passed away. Stanley epitomized and popularized mountain music. He's one of those who made us all just a little bit prouder of our mountain roots. RIP, Ralph Stanley. You will be missed, but your music and what you've done for Appalachian culture will live on...and for that we thank you, kindly! Ralph Stanley autographing cd's after a 2009 Maryland concert Just a few days before Stanley passed, my nephew got married and we ironically "serenaded" him and his new bride with a surprise performance of "Man of Constant Sorrow"--a song made popular by Ralph and his brother Carter in the 1950's. My nephew is a huge "O Brother Where Art Thou" fan, so we had a lot of fun with that one. The wedding was such a beautiful ceremony and celebration! One of the neatest things about the day was how my nephew's Appalachian heritage was honored. Last summer I wrote a three part series about incorporating your Appalachian roots into your wedding day...but I must say that my nephew's wedding topped them all! From mountain music played and sung (including some old timey solos by my dad), to a groom's cake that was a homemade 14 layer Kentucky apple stack cake made by my nephew's granny (my mom)...the day was beautifully laced with mountain touches! The 14 layer apple stack cake my mother made for my nephew's wedding! And yes, you read that right...14 layers! Legend has it that the apple stack cake was the traditional wedding cake in the southern mountains. Supposedly, when a couple married, close friends of the bride and groom would each bring a layer of the cake...and the bride's family would provide the apple filling. The bigger the cake, the more popular the bride. I must say, this 14 layer stack cake was the biggest apple stack cake I have ever laid eyes on in my life! I think my mom was so honored to be asked to make that cake, and ended up pouring her heart and soul into it! So truly special! Mom patting out her dough in iron skillets, the traditional way to bake a stack cake! Mom assembling my nephew's groom's cake Mom pouring her heart and soul into the groom's cake! Mom with the finished 14 layer apple stack cake! Another pic of my mother's cake at the wedding This groom's cake inspired me to share a similar traditional recipe from Appalachia with you today. My mother doesn't cook from a recipe, but she has talked me through how to make this enough that I am able to pass it along to you in recipe form. The beauty of this recipe is that you can actually make two different desserts all at once--Old Timey Appalachian Tea Cakes AND Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes! Tea cakes were a very popular cookie in Appalachia years ago. They were a lightly sweetened, relatively low in fat cookie that could be made in large amounts...and kept very well. This was a perfect fit for large mountain families where the cooking needed to feed several mouths for several days. My Eastern Kentucky mamaw would actually mix up her tea cakes in a big old dish pan, and then, when finished, store them in a very large cooker...that's how many she would make in one batch! My mother showing the type of dish pan that my mamaw used to mix her tea cake dough The truly nifty thing about tea cakes and apple stack cakes (at least by my family's tradition) is that the dough used to make each is essentially the same. This was so true that when my mamaw made apple stack cake, if there was any dough left over, she would roll it out and cut out a few tea cakes to bake from what remained. And then here is where the fun truly happened! If there was any apple filling left over after forming the apple stack cakes...she would often take the little tea cakes she had made from the dough scraps and combine them with the apples to make little bitty apple stack cakes for the children in the family! How precious is that!?! There was no wasting anything around my mamaw! I wanted to duplicate these individually portioned desserts like my mamaw used to make, and the results were fantastic! So here we go...this is how you make Old Timey Appalachian Tea Cakes and Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes all at once (of course you can also just use this recipe to make one or the other...don't let me hold you back now!). I made a VERY large batch of tea cakes (Mamaw would be proud)...but at the bottom of the post I will also share the written recipe for half this amount if you aren't looking to make this for a big crowd. For the tea cake portion of the recipe you will need flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. Traditionally, a lot of women in Appalachia used sorghum to sweeten their tea cakes and apple stack cake dough. But mom also informed me that if the women were lucky enough to have some sugar on hand, they would commonly use that as well. So I happened to sweeten my recipe with sugar, but you may substitute with sorghum for an even more traditional flavor if you like. Eastern Kentucky sorghum Then add softened butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and enough buttermilk to get a dough that you can roll out with a rolling pin (think close to pie crust consistency). Stir all the ingredients together until a workable dough forms. Now my mamaw used her hands to work her tea cake dough together...so you feel free to do the same if you like. I won't tell! If your dough seems too soft, knead in a little extra flour right before you roll the dough out. This recipe is very forgiving...and my mother assured me that in reality there were variances each time the women in Eastern Kentucky made these tea cakes as well (especially since most did not use a written recipe). Roll one-third to one-half of the dough out at a time on a WELL floured surface. Roll the dough as thin as you can without breaking the dough apart. The thinner your dough, the crispier and more flavorful your tea cakes will be in the end. Using a three inch round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, cut out the tea cakes and place on a greased (or sprayed) cookie sheet. They don't spread much while baking, so a few centimeters apart should do the trick. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from pans and allow to cool completely on cooling racks. If you would like to also make these tea cakes into Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes, you can use all of your tea cakes to make a large number of stack cakes, or you can use just some to make whatever number of stack cakes you want. I ended up just making 5 Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes, and leaving the rest of the tea cakes to snack on. I love the versatility of this recipe! I went the simple route with this and used store bought apple butter for my apple filling. Traditionally, women in Appalachia made a sauce-like filling for stack cakes with dried apples. They would cover dried apples with water on the stove, cook them down (mashing as needed to make a saucy consistency), spice the apples heavily with cinnamon and allspice, and sweeten with either honey or sugar. When my mom made the groom's cake for my nephew's wedding, she did it from scratch with dried apples that had been grown in Kentucky. When my mother cooks you can bet every bit of it is from scratch and traditional all the way! My mother's dried apples for my nephew's groom's cake Mom mashing her dried apples for her 14 layer Kentucky apple stack cake! But mom did give the nod of approval for me making mine with apple butter, as it has a similar consistency and flavor...and in more recent years a lot of Appalachian women have used apple butter on their stack cakes. So feel free to use whichever method suits your fancy...dried apples or apple butter. If you use the apple butter like I did, you need to heat your apple butter on the stove prior to use. This will help the apples to soak into your cookie layers better, creating a cake that is more moist. I chose Musselman's apple butter because the ingredients were simple and closer to homemade...apples, sugar, cloves and cinnamon. But I wanted to get a little more spiced flavor, so as I heated it, I added some allspice into the apple butter as well. Once the apple butter is heated through, you can begin assembling the Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes. It is best to assemble them on a plate or dish that can be covered...as these cannot be served right away. They need to "set up" in the fridge for a few days so they can soften. Years ago, apple stack cakes would not have been refrigerated, so they had to be covered and left at room temperature for a couple of days. Luckily, now we have refrigeration that allows for longer set up time, and a much less dry apple stack cake! I assembled my stack cakes on rounds of parchment paper, but that is certainly optional. Just alternate layers of tea cake cookies and spoonfuls of apple butter as you build your mini cakes. I built my Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes with 5 layers, but 4 layers would work well too. Any higher and it becomes a struggle to keep aligned. Once assembled, cover the stack cakes and refrigerate for 3-4 days before serving. So if you made your apple stack cakes on a Friday, you could serve them on Tuesday or Wednesday. For freshness, you don't want to wait longer than that...but I can't stress enough the importance of having a decent set up time in order to have a good apple stack cake. Don't rush it....the wait is essential, or you will be sorely disappointed with the end result. Great thing about this recipe is you can enjoy the Old Timey Appalachian Tea Cakes the day you make them, and then enjoy the Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes a few days later. Perfect for those of us with little patience! These Old Timey Appalachian Tea Cakes and Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes were so good! The tea cakes are a great accompaniment to coffee, tea, or ice cream (course I like to eat them as a snack by themselves). They are ever so lightly sweet, with just a hint of mild buttery crispness. You can eat a ton before you realize what you're doing....not that I'm speaking from experience or anything! And the stack cakes are deliciously moist, spiced, and....oh my word, SO CUTE! They are reminiscent of a cupcake in that they are individually portioned, and did I mention they are CUTE? Mamaw may have made them for kids, but I don't know of any adult who would complain about being served one of these adorable little mountain style treats! Wouldn't they be wonderful desserts to serve at a wedding or even a bridal shower? Apple stack cake is certainly a great way to celebrate anything...and these mini versions make it really easy to do so! If I were you, I'd go make some today to honor your mountain roots...because, after all, those roots are worth celebrating! The full recipe is shown below. You can click here for a printable version of the full recipe, or you can click here for a printable version of the recipe halved. Until next post, blessings to you and yours! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Old Timey Appalachian Tea Cakes & Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes (Makes approx. 120 tea cakes OR up to 24 -- 5 layer stack cakes) For Tea Cakes: 5 cups all purpose flour (plus more for rolling) 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 2 cups sugar 1 cup butter, softened 3 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla 1/4-1/2 cup buttermilk For Mini Apple Stack Cakes: Tea Cakes (5 tea cake cookies for each stack cake being made) 1 2/3 cups apple butter--for every 5 (5 layer) cakes being made 1/2 tsp. allspice (for every 1 2/3 cups apple butter used) For tea cakes, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Then work in butter, eggs, vanilla and just enough buttermilk to create a rollable dough. Once well combined, divide dough into thirds or half to roll out one part at a time on a VERY well floured surface. Roll to a quarter inch thickness or less and cut out with a three inch cookie or biscuit cutter. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Remove tea cakes to cooling racks immediately. To make the tea cakes into Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes, on stovetop heat approximately 1 and 2/3 cups of apple butter for every 5 (5 layer) stack cakes you intend to make. To each 1 and 2/3 cups of applesauce you use, add 1/2 tsp. allspice. When apple butter is heated through. Assemble the stack cakes by alternating tea cake cookies with a spoonful of apple butter, stacking as high as 5 layers of tea cakes. Make sure the entire top of each tea cake cookie is covered with apple butter (except the top cookie) Cover mini stack cakes and refrigerate for 3-4 days before serving.
Also known as a washday cake, Kentucky Apple Stack Cake is a classic recipe with eight thin layers of soft gingerbread cookie cake sandwiched in between with homemade applesauce.
Granny Howard's Apple Stack Cake: A Generational Delight Worth Sharing In the world of cherished family recipes, few things hold as much...
Hello everyone from Ten Gables Cottage, Yesterday was the day to make the Old Fashioned Apple Stack Cake and let it moisten up for Christma...
Learn how to make an apple stack cake recipe with variations using dried and fresh apples; one I first made, Kentucky stack, Indian stack cake, black walnut and stacking cake.
My mom loved to bake this sky-high apple stack cake. Layer the apple goodness two days before serving. Later, a dusting of confectioners' sugar is the only topping you'll need. —LeVa Clement, Jackson, Missouri
Like all apple stack cakes, Ronni Lundy's version tastes best after it has "cured" for two to three days. Learn how to make an Appalachian apple stack cake.
"Who was that let you off at the gate," asked Olivia. "It was Miss Emma and Miss Etta," said Clay-boy, holding out a Mason jar of the Recipe. "They sent this. Said it was Christmas cheer." "It's bootleg whiskey is what it is," observed Olivia. "What do you want me to do with it, Mama?" "I'll take it," said Olivia..."I can use some..for my applesauce cakes." -Earl Hammer Jr., The Homecoming When fall rolls around, most people jump on the pumpkin spice bandwagon. You can't throw a rock without hitting a product that has this flavor; pumpkin spice doughnuts, pumpkin spice pancakes, pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin spice chocolate covered pretzels...you get the picture. I like pumpkin flavored items just as much as the next girl, but is that the first fall flavor that comes to mind when I think of fall cooking? No, says I. I'm all about the apples! Now I like apples year round but I want to make more apple recipes in the fall and winter months. While there are many apple desserts that are common place in my part of Appalachia, none can be more rooted in our mountain culture than the Appalachian apple stack cake. Sometimes called by other names such as Confederate old-fashioned cake, Kentucky pioneer washday cake, and applesauce cake, it is traditionally made up of layers of pancake thin cake and filled with stewed dried apple filling. It is then refrigerated for at least a day or two to allow for the apple filling to saturate the cake. Doesn't that sound heavenly? I knew that this had to be on my family's Thanksgiving menu this year. Before I get into how I made my cake, I want to share some of the resourcefulness and a little history behind this regional delicacy. As I've mentioned before, Appalachian women were very resourceful. They had to be! I think this dessert is a perfect example of that resourcefulness. Apples were plentiful throughout the mountains in Appalachia. A great way to preserve those apples was to dry them. I could write a whole blog post on dried apples, and probably will at some point, but won't get into that right now. Plain applesauce (or apple butter) can be used as a filing but dried apples offer a much richer flavor and was the choice of most mountain cooks. Most old recipes that I researched also call for sorghum molasses or honey. This was also a resourceful sugar alternative that was available in the area. The rest of the main ingredients (flour, salt, shortening/lard, eggs, milk/buttermilk, baking powder/soda) were also economical staples that most women had on hand. Unlike Mrs. Olivia, I didn't find any recipes that called for any "Recipe" but that isn't to say that some didn't use it. From what I've read, the history of this cake is debatable. Some credit James Harrod, an early pioneer of Kentucky and founder of Harrodsburg, as the one who introduced this recipe to Appalachia. Some try to give all of the credit to Tennessee. Regardless of how it got to Appalachia, it's origin is probably based on Eastern European tortes. According to the Encyclopedia of Appalachia, "The dried apple stack cake was a favorite pioneer wedding cake. Weddings were celebrated with "in-fares," where people gathered to party, dance, and eat potluck food. Because wedding cakes were expensive, neighbor cooks brought cake layers to donate to the bride's family, who cooked the dried apple filling. The bride's popularity was often gauged by the number of layers, but the average was seven or eight. Stack cakes were also at family reunions, church supper, Christmas dinners, and other large gatherings." The wedding history is my favorite idea associated with this cake. If I could go back and do my wedding over again, I'd choose this for my wedding cake. I've had the opportunity to sample different versions of this dessert at reunions, church potlucks, and other gatherings but this was my very first attempt at making one. Why? Anyone who knows anything about baking could look at it and tell that there's going to be quite a bit of time invested. A labor of love, if you will. I'm going to be honest. As I was rushing around to make other things on our menu I didn't devote as much time to making it as I should've. I did use the traditional dried apples and cooked them a long time to get them just right. The cake layers is where I slacked. Instead of getting my layers as thin as I should have, I decided to try to rush the process and only do six thicker layers instead of the 7-8 that I had enough dough to do. Don't be like me. Take the time to make the layers as thin as possible. The dried apple mixture can soak into thin layers MUCH better than thicker ones which makes it SO MUCH better. I'm also wanting to use a cast iron skillet instead of cake pans next time to see if it really makes a difference. I guess I could try cast iron cake pans if I had them but I don't. Almost everyone has a cast iron skillet or two and if you don't, why the heck not?! What do you make your cornbread in?! And don't you dare tell me that you don't eat cornbread. I don't need that kind of negativity in my life. Cast iron cooking will change your life. Okay, that may be a little dramatic...no it isn't. Life. Changing. As for recipes, I used one that I found online and there's no source to credit it to. Thank you, whoever you are! Just click right on the picture if you need to enlarge it. And now you can see a few pics I took while making the cake: Tips: You'll need to add water as they cook down. Keep adding and cooking until you get a applesauce consistency. I left mine a little chunky but not as chunky as they are in this picture. See that little chopper in the pic? That thing is super handy in helping the apples fall apart. This recipe says to roll out your dough and you can even see my roller (that my dear husband made me) in the pic. This is unnecessary if you're using cake pans or a cast iron skillet. Just flour your hands, pinch off some dough, and spread it into your flour and greased pan. Just use enough dough to make a thin layer over the bottom of the pan. You're going to think, this isn't enough, but you're wrong. Pat it as thin as possible or you'll end up with thicker layers like the ones in my picture with the canning ring. It looks pretty thin and they are thinner than the ring, but trust me, it should be thinner. There will be some rising so make it THIN and then the apple filling can saturate the layers better. If you decide to roll it, go for no more than 1/4" thickness. This recipe says to let stand at least 12 hours. I really don't think that is long enough. Store it in a tight container and put it in the refrigerator for at least a day or two. Trust me...and another benefit of that is, you can make it ahead of time! The finished product. I'm still kicking myself over the layers not being thin enough but it was still delicious! Have you ever had an apple stack cake? What do you call them in your neck of the woods? Leave me a comment and let me know. I loving hearing from y'all!
A blog inspiring those with roots in Appalachia to celebrate their heritage and embrace their southern Appalachian mountain culture.
I love the history behind this cake. I had never heard of a "Stack Cake". Here is a little history behind the "Stack Cake". Because cakes were so expensive back in the days of old. Whenever there was a gathering like a barn dance. Families would each prepare a layer of this special ginger and molasses cake to donate to the shindig. It is said that the number of layers in a cake was a measure of the popularity of the hosting family. Sometimes there would be as many as twelve layers!
This no-cook apple stack cake has all the gorgeous layers, without all the work. Only two ingredients and 10 minutes of hands-on time required.
This Apple Stack Cake Recipe Box is a tribute to Southern Appalachian history. A perfect gift for bakers and dessert makers! All are sure to enjoy this incredibly delicious cake featuring favorite fall flavors of apples, cinnamon, ginger, sorghum syrup and moonshine! This gift box includes two jars of our Harvest Spice Apple Butter, one jar of Apple Pie Moonshine Jam, and a beautifully printed Recipe Card to provide all you need in creating this Harvest Spice Apple Stack Cake. Apple Pie Moonshine Jam Two Southern Favorites – Apple Pie & Moonshine, come together in this incredibly delicious and addictive jam. Slather on biscuits, top your pancakes or serve “a la mode” over vanilla ice cream for an incredibly tantalizing treat! This local harvest includes Apples from the Western Carolinas and Troy & Sons Moonshine, distilled from heirloom variety Crooked Creek Corn in Asheville NC. Made with Quality All Natural Ingredients: Apples, Sugar, Apple Cider, Apple Cider Vinegar, Moonshine (Corn Whiskey), Lemon Juice, Cinnamon, Clove, Allspice Refrigerate After Opening Net Wt. 10.5 oz, 295 g Harvest Spice Apple Butter A traditional combination; crisp freshly picked North Carolina Apples and the perfect blend of Cinnamon, Allspice and a touch of Cardamon. Slowly simmered into a smooth, thick spread--perfect for topping biscuits or with a wedge of aged cheddar. Made with Quality All Natural Ingredients: Apples, Brown Sugar, Lemon Juice, Spices Net Wt. 10.5 oz, 295 g
With six layers of spice cake and an orchard’s worth of apple butter, this Appalachian apple stack cake IS the party.
This classic Appalachian dessert is one of winter ingenuity, combining thin cake layers with rich apple butter into a divine display of resourcefulness.
Appalachia has lost one of its own. As you probably have heard, on June 23, the great and legendary Dr. Ralph Stanley passed away. Stanley epitomized and popularized mountain music. He's one of those who made us all just a little bit prouder of our mountain roots. RIP, Ralph Stanley. You will be missed, but your music and what you've done for Appalachian culture will live on...and for that we thank you, kindly! Ralph Stanley autographing cd's after a 2009 Maryland concert Just a few days before Stanley passed, my nephew got married and we ironically "serenaded" him and his new bride with a surprise performance of "Man of Constant Sorrow"--a song made popular by Ralph and his brother Carter in the 1950's. My nephew is a huge "O Brother Where Art Thou" fan, so we had a lot of fun with that one. The wedding was such a beautiful ceremony and celebration! One of the neatest things about the day was how my nephew's Appalachian heritage was honored. Last summer I wrote a three part series about incorporating your Appalachian roots into your wedding day...but I must say that my nephew's wedding topped them all! From mountain music played and sung (including some old timey solos by my dad), to a groom's cake that was a homemade 14 layer Kentucky apple stack cake made by my nephew's granny (my mom)...the day was beautifully laced with mountain touches! The 14 layer apple stack cake my mother made for my nephew's wedding! And yes, you read that right...14 layers! Legend has it that the apple stack cake was the traditional wedding cake in the southern mountains. Supposedly, when a couple married, close friends of the bride and groom would each bring a layer of the cake...and the bride's family would provide the apple filling. The bigger the cake, the more popular the bride. I must say, this 14 layer stack cake was the biggest apple stack cake I have ever laid eyes on in my life! I think my mom was so honored to be asked to make that cake, and ended up pouring her heart and soul into it! So truly special! Mom patting out her dough in iron skillets, the traditional way to bake a stack cake! Mom assembling my nephew's groom's cake Mom pouring her heart and soul into the groom's cake! Mom with the finished 14 layer apple stack cake! Another pic of my mother's cake at the wedding This groom's cake inspired me to share a similar traditional recipe from Appalachia with you today. My mother doesn't cook from a recipe, but she has talked me through how to make this enough that I am able to pass it along to you in recipe form. The beauty of this recipe is that you can actually make two different desserts all at once--Old Timey Appalachian Tea Cakes AND Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes! Tea cakes were a very popular cookie in Appalachia years ago. They were a lightly sweetened, relatively low in fat cookie that could be made in large amounts...and kept very well. This was a perfect fit for large mountain families where the cooking needed to feed several mouths for several days. My Eastern Kentucky mamaw would actually mix up her tea cakes in a big old dish pan, and then, when finished, store them in a very large cooker...that's how many she would make in one batch! My mother showing the type of dish pan that my mamaw used to mix her tea cake dough The truly nifty thing about tea cakes and apple stack cakes (at least by my family's tradition) is that the dough used to make each is essentially the same. This was so true that when my mamaw made apple stack cake, if there was any dough left over, she would roll it out and cut out a few tea cakes to bake from what remained. And then here is where the fun truly happened! If there was any apple filling left over after forming the apple stack cakes...she would often take the little tea cakes she had made from the dough scraps and combine them with the apples to make little bitty apple stack cakes for the children in the family! How precious is that!?! There was no wasting anything around my mamaw! I wanted to duplicate these individually portioned desserts like my mamaw used to make, and the results were fantastic! So here we go...this is how you make Old Timey Appalachian Tea Cakes and Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes all at once (of course you can also just use this recipe to make one or the other...don't let me hold you back now!). I made a VERY large batch of tea cakes (Mamaw would be proud)...but at the bottom of the post I will also share the written recipe for half this amount if you aren't looking to make this for a big crowd. For the tea cake portion of the recipe you will need flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. Traditionally, a lot of women in Appalachia used sorghum to sweeten their tea cakes and apple stack cake dough. But mom also informed me that if the women were lucky enough to have some sugar on hand, they would commonly use that as well. So I happened to sweeten my recipe with sugar, but you may substitute with sorghum for an even more traditional flavor if you like. Eastern Kentucky sorghum Then add softened butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and enough buttermilk to get a dough that you can roll out with a rolling pin (think close to pie crust consistency). Stir all the ingredients together until a workable dough forms. Now my mamaw used her hands to work her tea cake dough together...so you feel free to do the same if you like. I won't tell! If your dough seems too soft, knead in a little extra flour right before you roll the dough out. This recipe is very forgiving...and my mother assured me that in reality there were variances each time the women in Eastern Kentucky made these tea cakes as well (especially since most did not use a written recipe). Roll one-third to one-half of the dough out at a time on a WELL floured surface. Roll the dough as thin as you can without breaking the dough apart. The thinner your dough, the crispier and more flavorful your tea cakes will be in the end. Using a three inch round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, cut out the tea cakes and place on a greased (or sprayed) cookie sheet. They don't spread much while baking, so a few centimeters apart should do the trick. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from pans and allow to cool completely on cooling racks. If you would like to also make these tea cakes into Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes, you can use all of your tea cakes to make a large number of stack cakes, or you can use just some to make whatever number of stack cakes you want. I ended up just making 5 Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes, and leaving the rest of the tea cakes to snack on. I love the versatility of this recipe! I went the simple route with this and used store bought apple butter for my apple filling. Traditionally, women in Appalachia made a sauce-like filling for stack cakes with dried apples. They would cover dried apples with water on the stove, cook them down (mashing as needed to make a saucy consistency), spice the apples heavily with cinnamon and allspice, and sweeten with either honey or sugar. When my mom made the groom's cake for my nephew's wedding, she did it from scratch with dried apples that had been grown in Kentucky. When my mother cooks you can bet every bit of it is from scratch and traditional all the way! My mother's dried apples for my nephew's groom's cake Mom mashing her dried apples for her 14 layer Kentucky apple stack cake! But mom did give the nod of approval for me making mine with apple butter, as it has a similar consistency and flavor...and in more recent years a lot of Appalachian women have used apple butter on their stack cakes. So feel free to use whichever method suits your fancy...dried apples or apple butter. If you use the apple butter like I did, you need to heat your apple butter on the stove prior to use. This will help the apples to soak into your cookie layers better, creating a cake that is more moist. I chose Musselman's apple butter because the ingredients were simple and closer to homemade...apples, sugar, cloves and cinnamon. But I wanted to get a little more spiced flavor, so as I heated it, I added some allspice into the apple butter as well. Once the apple butter is heated through, you can begin assembling the Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes. It is best to assemble them on a plate or dish that can be covered...as these cannot be served right away. They need to "set up" in the fridge for a few days so they can soften. Years ago, apple stack cakes would not have been refrigerated, so they had to be covered and left at room temperature for a couple of days. Luckily, now we have refrigeration that allows for longer set up time, and a much less dry apple stack cake! I assembled my stack cakes on rounds of parchment paper, but that is certainly optional. Just alternate layers of tea cake cookies and spoonfuls of apple butter as you build your mini cakes. I built my Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes with 5 layers, but 4 layers would work well too. Any higher and it becomes a struggle to keep aligned. Once assembled, cover the stack cakes and refrigerate for 3-4 days before serving. So if you made your apple stack cakes on a Friday, you could serve them on Tuesday or Wednesday. For freshness, you don't want to wait longer than that...but I can't stress enough the importance of having a decent set up time in order to have a good apple stack cake. Don't rush it....the wait is essential, or you will be sorely disappointed with the end result. Great thing about this recipe is you can enjoy the Old Timey Appalachian Tea Cakes the day you make them, and then enjoy the Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes a few days later. Perfect for those of us with little patience! These Old Timey Appalachian Tea Cakes and Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes were so good! The tea cakes are a great accompaniment to coffee, tea, or ice cream (course I like to eat them as a snack by themselves). They are ever so lightly sweet, with just a hint of mild buttery crispness. You can eat a ton before you realize what you're doing....not that I'm speaking from experience or anything! And the stack cakes are deliciously moist, spiced, and....oh my word, SO CUTE! They are reminiscent of a cupcake in that they are individually portioned, and did I mention they are CUTE? Mamaw may have made them for kids, but I don't know of any adult who would complain about being served one of these adorable little mountain style treats! Wouldn't they be wonderful desserts to serve at a wedding or even a bridal shower? Apple stack cake is certainly a great way to celebrate anything...and these mini versions make it really easy to do so! If I were you, I'd go make some today to honor your mountain roots...because, after all, those roots are worth celebrating! The full recipe is shown below. You can click here for a printable version of the full recipe, or you can click here for a printable version of the recipe halved. Until next post, blessings to you and yours! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Old Timey Appalachian Tea Cakes & Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes (Makes approx. 120 tea cakes OR up to 24 -- 5 layer stack cakes) For Tea Cakes: 5 cups all purpose flour (plus more for rolling) 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 2 cups sugar 1 cup butter, softened 3 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla 1/4-1/2 cup buttermilk For Mini Apple Stack Cakes: Tea Cakes (5 tea cake cookies for each stack cake being made) 1 2/3 cups apple butter--for every 5 (5 layer) cakes being made 1/2 tsp. allspice (for every 1 2/3 cups apple butter used) For tea cakes, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Then work in butter, eggs, vanilla and just enough buttermilk to create a rollable dough. Once well combined, divide dough into thirds or half to roll out one part at a time on a VERY well floured surface. Roll to a quarter inch thickness or less and cut out with a three inch cookie or biscuit cutter. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Remove tea cakes to cooling racks immediately. To make the tea cakes into Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes, on stovetop heat approximately 1 and 2/3 cups of apple butter for every 5 (5 layer) stack cakes you intend to make. To each 1 and 2/3 cups of applesauce you use, add 1/2 tsp. allspice. When apple butter is heated through. Assemble the stack cakes by alternating tea cake cookies with a spoonful of apple butter, stacking as high as 5 layers of tea cakes. Make sure the entire top of each tea cake cookie is covered with apple butter (except the top cookie) Cover mini stack cakes and refrigerate for 3-4 days before serving.
1.2M views, 17K likes, 534 comments, 6.7K shares, Facebook Reels from The Tickled Apron: This layered apple cake will make you want to come back for more. Ingredients: 🌀4 apples 🌀3 eggs 🌀2 tbsp...
These old-fashioned dessert recipes are meant to spark a bit of nostalgia, giving trendy options space to step aside. Newer is not always better.
Like all apple stack cakes, Ronni Lundy's version tastes best after it has "cured" for two to three days. Learn how to make an Appalachian apple stack cake.
Dried Apple Stack Cake
Granny Howard's Apple Stack Cake: A Generational Delight Worth Sharing In the world of cherished family recipes, few things hold as much...
Fall is probably my favorite time of the year for baking because it just calls out for all those spiced recipes that make your house smell like you’re inside a pie. Okay, in this case, a cake. Someone asked me recently if I had a recipe for apple stack cake. Apple stack cake is an...Read More
I love the history behind this cake. I had never heard of a "Stack Cake". Here is a little history behind the "Stack Cake". Because cakes were so expensive back in the days of old. Whenever there was a gathering like a barn dance. Families would each prepare a layer of this special ginger and molasses cake to donate to the shindig. It is said that the number of layers in a cake was a measure of the popularity of the hosting family. Sometimes there would be as many as twelve layers!
Fall's favorite fruit teams up with a little sugar and spice in our best apple recipes, from apple cakes and pies to apple salads. However you slice it, these apple recipes have just the right appeal.
Before Thanksgiving, I was thinking a lot about family and especially those who aren't with us anymore. I was thinking about how I wanted to...
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Apple crumb cake is the perfect fall baking recipe--so easy to make and loaded with tender apple bits.
What foods do you associate with Christmas? For some in East Tennessee, it is the dried apple stack cake, a labor-intensive confection with ingredients that are simple and inexpensive. According to Fred Sauceman, Senior Writer and Associate Professor of Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University, most of the ingredients with the exception of flour could be found on the farm. Spices were difficult to get in some areas of Appalachia during hard economic times, so there are no spices wh
Recipe by Dee StillwellI found this recipe in my local newspaper, The Sacramento Bee food section last week. I immediatly thought of our stack cake queen, Bea Liles. I haven’t made this yet but I hope someone will and give it a review. Altho this recipe calls for dried apples, I see no reason why
Like all apple stack cakes, Ronni Lundy's version tastes best after it has "cured" for two to three days. Learn how to make an Appalachian apple stack cake.
Learn how to make an apple stack cake recipe with variations using dried and fresh apples; one I first made, Kentucky stack, Indian stack cake, black walnut and stacking cake.
With six layers of spice cake and an orchard’s worth of apple butter, this Appalachian apple stack cake IS the party.
A cake worthy of a regular spot at the dessert table
With six layers of spice cake and an orchard’s worth of apple butter, this Appalachian apple stack cake IS the party.
My mom loved to bake this sky-high apple stack cake. Layer the apple goodness two days before serving. Later, a dusting of confectioners' sugar is the only topping you'll need. —LeVa Clement, Jackson, Missouri
A cake worthy of a regular spot at the dessert table
