Cake

Zucchini Fruit Cake

For those who don't like fruitcakes, try this one. It is marvelous! Mix eggs, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until blended. Mix flour, spices, soda, salt, baking powder into first mixture. Stir in zucchini, walnuts, raisins, dates and candied fruit.

Bake in greased and floured bread pans. Bake at 325 for +/- 1 hour & 10 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.

From Hazel #111

Curmudgeon's Cake

This is a WWII (maybe Depression Era) recipe from my Wife's family. It was designed to avoid things that were in short supply (like butter, no eggs). Its surprizingly good. Maybe not as good as Mayonaisse Cake, but I don't have a recipe for that. Mix all ingredients together well and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes in an 8 X 8 X 2 pan.

This recipe came from my wife's grandmother Annie Carll Hudgins Marshall, via her mother Jerry Marshall. They called it Crazy Cake. Its real good with Cool Whip or Vanilla iceing.

From Bill Willis

Flora White's Dried Apple Stack Cake

This is my grandmother's recipe for dried apple stack cake. This is an old fashioned recipe. The cake batter was thick enough that it had to be patted out. The cake is a lot better after it sits for a day or two.
(six layers) Combine molasses, shortening and sugar - cream together, combine milk and eggs - beat. Shift dry ingredients together. Slowly add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternating with egg/milk mixture. Stir only until smooth. Divide batter into 6 cups. Grease and flour two 8" or 9" pans, pat out mixture (mixture will be stiff) 1 cup of batter evenly in each pan. Bake at 375 for 15 - 18 minutes. Repeat until you have 6 layers. When cakes are cool spread apple mixture between layers and on top and sides. Let stand overnight before cutting. Apple Mixture Soak 7 - 8 cups dried apples in plenty of water overnight. (For 7 cups of apples use 9 cups of water - for 8 cups of apples use 10 cups of water). Cook apples thoroughly - mash until smooth. Add sugar, salt and spices, mix well.

From Charles A. Barker #82

OLD FASHIONED STACK CAKE

Cream butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and beat. Add milk, vanilla, salt and baking powder and flour a little at a time until stiff enough to roll out. Pinch off dough and roll on a floured board until about 1/4 inch thick. Use small plate to cut it out by, bake on top of stove in ungreased skillet until brown. This makes about 20 cakes or layers.

Cook 3 pounds of dried apples until soft, sweeten and mash. (I think I would add spices but the original recipe did not call for them.) Put the apples in between the cake layers and on the sides. Leave the top uncovered. Store 2 or 3 days before eating.

While this stack cake makes more than 6 layers, I suppose it could be cut down to 6. I am not sure if you all know this, but stack cakes are a Mediterranean specialty and among my Melungeon descended families, they were treats.

My grandmother did not use this recipe, but instead just baked 3 layer yellow cakes. She then split each layer and put something between them. I remember the apple butter but I think my favorite one had white foamy icing with sliced bananas between the layers. They were made the day before they were cut. She later made these same yellow cakes, split them and placed them in a brown crockery bowl. Fresh strawberries mixed w/ sugar were ladled over the layers, including the top layer. Then fresh whipped cream was spread over the top and to the edges. A plate was turned up over top of the bowl and all was refrigerated until the next day when it was scooped out with a large spoon and more fresh whipped cream was dolloped on top. Yum, yum!!

Enjoy!! Nancy S. # 23