I spent some time in Knoxville and got to know firsthand how pleasant the people are and how proud they are to maintain the tradition of the apple stack cake. Everyone knows it, and the routine that they follow to make and serve it is serious business.
It's an unusual and labor-intensive cake. First of all, the dough is rolled out like a cookie. It bakes into a pretty hard disk that will get mildly saturated with dried apples reconstituted with spices and sugar. The apples can't be fresh, and cheating the drying process is not acceptable. Electric fruit dehydrators save the effort of sun-drying apples on the porch or rigging an elaborate clothesline system in the attic—all methods I was told about by people who have seen it done.
One important element of the stack cake is timing. It must be wrapped and left in the refrigerator at least overnight, longer if possible. Whether you wrap it with wax paper and dish towels, aluminum foil, or plastic wrap, one way or another, keep it well covered so the moisture won't escape.
Ingredients
One stacked cake to serve a crowd
Dry Ingredients
Creaming Ingredients
For the Dried Apple Filling
For Serving
Step 1
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the rack in the middle position.
Step 2
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Step 3
3. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed until wet and grainy.
Step 4
4. Add the molasses. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a flexible spatula to get all of the molasses into the mixture.
Step 5
5. Add the eggs one at a time. Scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl and mix on low speed.
Step 6
6. Alternately add the buttermilk and the dry mixture about a quarter at a time. Stop the mixer to scrape the bowl and turn it on again on low speed for about 10 seconds. The mixture should be stiff like a soft cookie dough.
Step 7
7. Shape the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Step 8
8.把面团into 6 or 8 equal portions and place each one on a round piece of parchment paper a little larger than a 9-inch cake pan. Roll out the dough to the size of the parchment. Place the cake pan over the disk and trim away the excess around the edge.
Step 9
9. Leaving the parchment paper underneath, lift the disks onto baking sheets and bake them for approximately 10 minutes, or until the top surface appears dry and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 10
10. Slide the disks off the baking sheet onto a flat surface to cool.
Step 11
11. To make the filling, combine all the ingredients in a large, heavy-bottom saucepan and bring to a light simmer. Immediately transfer to the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse into a thick paste.
Step 12
12. To assemble the cake, spread about 1 cup of the filling onto each layer, taking care to center each disk on top of the one beneath it. Repeat until all the layers are used. Do not put apple filling on top of the cake.
Step 13
13. Wrap the cake well and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours. This gives the apple filling time to work itself into the cake. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve chilled.
Ideally, you should dry the apples yourself in a fruit-dehydrating machine. If that's not an option, go for store-bought dried apples. Don't cop out and buy applesauce, because the secret to the stack cake is not just what absorbs into the cake, but what doesn't. Jarred applesauce gets lost in the layers, leaving only a soggy stack. Although success isn't guaranteed, you can try to make dried apple slices in the oven. Peel and thinly slice 15 to 20 fresh apples (I like Gala or Cortland). Place them, without overlapping, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake in a 225°F oven for up to 4 hours or until dried.
Leave a Review
Reviews (13)
Back to TopI made this tonight to mail to an uncle turning 71. He told me his mother used to make a stack cake. As a child, I had a great aunt Kate who made it and I loved it. I have tried several versions over the years. This one is great! In my family, the tradition was to use apple butter (home made, of course) between the layers. I found a container to hold the cake and made 5.5 inch circles/layers. I should have taken a little care to have them about the same thickness, but I will know for next time. I had 2 layers that spread too much, so I had to use those for sampling! YUM. Thanks so much for a great version.
Southern Roots
Wyoming
1/15/2021
In answer to Merion, PA: People who remember a delicious flavor from long ago and those who remember a grandmother who enjoyed making this cake because she made it for those she loved. Things made with love are never trouble to make.
2Eunice
East Tennessee
3/26/2020
I am 32 years old and I grew up in Maryville, just outside of Knoxville. I've never made a stack cake, but I have fond memories of my grandmother making them when I was a child. I don't remember much about her process, except that I know she used dried apples instead of applesauce. The apples were dried in the back of my grandfather's car, which was rarely driven after he passed away. I've had stack cake a few times as an adult and it is quite delicious.
jbnuchols
Maryville, TN
3/14/2016
我是50岁。我在东北长大田纳西e. When I was young, this was a staple dessert that my mom made often. I always loved it. For whatever reason, many years ago, my mom stopped making them. Maybe, once we moved to the west coast, she thought it would be too country for our new family. I am preparing to make this for the first time. Oddly enough, while all of you condemn it, my mother always used apple sauce (homemade) for this recipe. It certainly didn't minimize my enjoyment of it. My grandmother (on my father's side) also used homemade applesauce. She was a true country woman. I do not it would have ever crossed her mind to dry apples. In our family, they were always picked and then turned into apple sauce and apple butter. I actually wonder what this cake would taste like using a really good apple butter. It might just be a little too much though.
MarkySF
5/14/2014
I grew up watching my mother make this cake from memory. It was an annual tradition in KY. Mom neither measured the ingredients or rolled it out. She threw it into the bowl, mixed, patted it out into a cast iron skillet and baked. It also wasn't as thin as shown. Best cake I've ever had and I owned a catering co..Now, the tradition continues. ;)
EGoins777
NKY
11/15/2013
This is a "rustic" cake- it can be time consuming, but it also has a significant margin of error compared to traditional cakes. Think of this as the Appalachian manifestation of a Petit Four- cakes from the days of coal and wood fired stoves. Consider this as a teaching exercise for children- it requires patience, repetition, and as I mentioned, is not easily ruined. combined ALL of my wet ingredients, and added dry a little at a time, rolled, and dropped in #10 cast iron pans- rotating 2 at a time, while I rolled, It all went quickly, and forgoing the trimming produced a dramatic appearance. I did not have dried apples, nor were apples in season when I made this in early March- instead I subbed peaches I pickled in July, and pureed them "dry" w/ some molasses, the result was not the traditional flavor but very enjoyable. Don't be scared of this one,
Anonymous
stonington, ct
3/10/2012
This cake is soooo rich and dense ... a small slice goes a long way!!! Easily would serve 15-20. I made it for our thanksgiving table. There is no other cake like this. I bake a lot and can tell you that this cake is time consuming. My dough came out way to sticky to roll easily, it was a very humid day and i measured the flour by weight. I needed to well flour my hands, parchment and rolling pin, to roll out dough. Would I make this again? Probably not, but it was delicious and worth the effort
zoopaste
Upper Makefield, PA
11/24/2011
This cake is absolutely DELICIOUS! My daughter did a report on Tennessee and we made this cake together. It was fun, interactive, and was a huge hit with everyone who tasted it! We dried our apples in a dehyrdator - tasty flavors as we welcome Fall.
mtngirlfromCO
Glenwood Springs, CO
11/2/2011
Wonderful..and I am a caterer and chef. I feel a kinship with the previous 2 reviewers...this cake IS time consuming to make (but aren't most good things??) but well worth it. I also grew up in the country and we'd make good things like this from our own fruit and veg; yes it took time but that's what you did before the age of convenience and sound bytes. I dried my own apples in an oven, and served with whipped cream spiked with apple brandy. Agree with KY, use an iron skillet and sing your praises to those great cooks in TN!!
junodog
Maryland
5/20/2011
I'll make this cake as I grew up with my mother making it without a recipe for all holidays. She didn't need a recipe since she had made it so many times. It's well worth the effort. I agree with not using applesauce but using only dried apples. Using a cast iron skillet is another trick to making it wonderful. YUMMY! I'll break my diet for this cake any day of the week!
Anonymous
KY
5/12/2011
a REAL COOK WOULD! thanks...if you think making a cake is difficult, you don't need to bother w/anything except the store bought. and this section is for REVIEWS OF THE RECIPE, not complaints b/c it's too complicated for you
Anonymous
10/19/2010
In answer to your question, cook from Merion -- apparently NO ONE!!!
bjr552oz
FarNorCal Coast
8/25/2010
I would like to know who in the world in their right mind would go to the trouble to make this cake??!!
Anonymous
Merion, PA
7/17/2010
