If you've never seen an Apple Butter Stack Cake, then it looks a bit like pancakes stacked up with apple butter slathered between each layer. It's not really a pretty cake, but it does have personaltiy. It definately stands out from the other cakes at a pot luck dinner. Stack Cake is kind of like Cabbage Patch Dolls - so ugly that it ends up being cute.
The best thing about Apple Butter Stack Cake is that it is super moist. The thin cake layers soak up the apple butter, and the cake is bursting with flavor. The various seasonings combine for a seamless rich taste that is just perfect for fall or winter days.
Stack Cake requires six pans size 8 inch. These can be round or sqaure. The layers can be baked in two batches if the number of pans is a problem. Most cooks today do not have six cake pans of the same size. That's no problem. The cakes have to cool a while anyway before spreading on the apple butter.
Apple Butter Stack Cake Recipe
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup Crisco (or lard)
- 1 cup sorghum molasses
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp baking soda mixed in 1 TBS vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 5 cups flour
Directions:
Cream sugar, Crisco, and molasses. This will be pretty messy looking.
Add egg and buttermilk. Mix well
Add baking soda/vinegar, salt, cinnamon and ginger.
Stir in flour. Mix well.
Divide the dough into six uniform sized balls.
Grease 8 inch cake pans and press each ball of dough in a separate pan. They batter will be thin in the pan. It's a bit stiff as well. Press it out even with your fingers.
Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the cakes. They should be lightly browned.
Slide cakes out of pans while warm and put aside to cool.
Once the cakes are cool, layer them with apple butter between each. The cake looks like a stack of pancakes if the cakes are round. If the cakes are square, then it still looks kind of like pancakes - but sqaure ones.
This cake should be stored in the refrigerator. It tastes even better the second day than the first, since the flavors have a chance to settle.
If you'd like to try some other classic Southern cakes, here are some really good ones:
