P
American
Appalachian Stack Cake
A tall cake of 6-12 thin, gingerbread-like layers (each 5-7mm thick, spiced with ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and molasses or sorghum syrup) stacked with a thick, sweet, spiced dried apple filling between each layer. After assembly, the cake rests for 2-3 days, during which the moisture from the apple filling softens the dry, cookie-like layers into a tender, spice-infused cake. When sliced, the alternating dark-and-light layers are visible in cross-section. The flavour is molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and concentrated apple — deeply autumnal.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the layers
500 g
plain flour
plus extra for rolling
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
ground ginger
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
1 tsp
ground cinnamon
Your own market
½ tsp
ground allspice
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
bicarbonate of soda
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
½ tsp
fine salt
Your own market
115 g
unsalted butter
softened
Your own market
150 g
caster sugar
Your own market
240 ml
sorghum syrup
traditional; molasses may be substituted
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2
eggs
beaten
Your own market
120 ml
buttermilk
Your own market
For the dried apple filling
450 g
dried apples
home-dried or unsulphured; not fresh
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
1 litre
water
for simmering
Your own market
150 g
caster sugar
Your own market
1 tsp
ground cinnamon
Your own market
½ tsp
ground allspice
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Make the dried apple filling first, as it must cool completely before use. Combine the dried apples and water in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the apples have absorbed most of the liquid and are fully soft — 30 to 45 minutes. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and allspice. Continue to cook, mashing the apples with a spoon or potato masher, until the mixture forms a thick, spreadable paste with no distinct chunks remaining. It must hold its shape on a spoon without running. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
2
Heat the oven to 190 °C. Grease and flour as many 22 cm round cake tins as you have — work in batches if necessary. Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, bicarbonate of soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
3
Beat the butter and sugar together until just combined — this is not a creamed cake; do not aerate excessively. Add the sorghum syrup and beaten eggs and mix until incorporated. Add the flour mixture in two additions, alternating with the buttermilk, mixing only until a stiff, cohesive dough forms. It will resemble a dense cookie dough, not a pourable batter.
4
This is where the dish lives or dies. Divide the dough into six to twelve equal portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a round approximately 22 cm in diameter and 5 to 7 mm thick — no thicker. The layers must be dry and firm after baking; a layer rolled too thick will not absorb the apple moisture during the rest period and will remain raw and biscuit-like at its centre. Transfer each round to a prepared tin, pressing gently to fit the edges.
5
Bake each layer for 10 to 12 minutes, until firm to the touch at the centre and very lightly coloured at the edges — the layers should feel more cookie than cake when pressed. They will be dry, slightly crisp, and pale. Cool completely on a wire rack before assembly; warm layers will make the filling run.
6
Place the first cooled layer on the serving plate or cake board. Spread a thick, even layer of dried apple filling — approximately 5 to 6 mm — across the surface to the very edge. Set the second layer directly on top and press gently so the filling reaches flush with the sides. Repeat with all remaining layers and filling, ending with a plain cake layer on top. The topmost layer receives no filling.
7
Wrap the assembled cake tightly in cling film or place under a cake dome. Store in a cool place — not refrigerated — for a minimum of two days, and up to three. During this period, the moisture from the apple filling migrates into the dry layers, softening them from outside to centre. At day one the layers are crunchy; at day three the cake is tender, unified, and deeply spiced. Slice into wedges and serve at room temperature.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Home-dried fall-harvest apples, sorghum syrup from a named Appalachian producer, stone-milled soft wheat flour, and farm-fresh eggs. This is the cake as Ronni Lundy documents it — every ingredient carrying its regional identity.
02
Estate — Commercially dried unsulphured apples, sorghum syrup (widely available by mail order), good-quality butter, and fresh eggs. The flavour remains true; only the provenance of the fruit is softened.
03
Market — Unsulphured dried apples from a grocer, molasses in place of sorghum syrup. Molasses reads slightly more bitter and less grassy than sorghum; the cake is darker and more assertive, legitimate but different.
04
House — Any dried apple, golden syrup or dark treacle, standard plain flour. The structure and rest principle hold; the Appalachian character is diluted but the cake remains coherent.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Each baked layer feels firm and dry at the centre when pressed — closer to a thick shortbread than a sponge; no give or spring.
◇Sight. The dried apple filling holds its shape on a spoon and does not run; it spreads like a thick jam with no visible chunks of apple remaining.
◇Touch. After the 2–3 day rest, a light press on the side of the cake meets soft, yielding resistance — the layers have lost their crispness and feel as one unified mass.
◇Sight. When sliced in cross-section, the alternating dark layer and pale-gold filling bands are clearly distinct and even throughout the height of the cake.
◇Where it lives or dies. The layers must be rolled to 5–7 mm and baked until genuinely dry and firm; a layer that is too thick or too moist will neither absorb the apple filling during the rest nor soften to tenderness at the centre.
Pillar V
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Buffalo Trace Distillery · Kentucky Bourbon Country
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
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The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance