Thursday, March 3, 2011

Civil War Cake

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 t. vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
3 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
8 oz. dried apples
3/4 cup sugar
Water

Cream together sugar, shortening, and vanilla. Add egg and milk and mix well. Add flour, salt and baking powder. Divide into 4 or 5 parts, shape into balls roll out thin, like cookie dough, to size of a plate. Bake on cookie sheet at 325 until light brown. Put dried apples in pan and cover with water. When almost done, sweeten with 3/4 cup sugar, mash with potato masher. If too runny, pour off some liquid. Allow apples to cool before stacking cake layers with apples between each layer. Don't put apples on top. Just before serving, sprinkle with a little granulated sugar on top. Best if cooked the day before serving. Trim cake to an even round shape as you are cutting it to serve.
Note: A freed slave taught her former mistress to bake this cake. Mother passed the recipe to daughter by word of mouth until recent times, when it was written down by Eunice Phillips Clark.
Source: Jean Duff Alligator

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