The word Kuche in Pennsylvania Dutch can refer to a cake (like a sponge cake), to a pie resembling pizza, and to anything resembling flat bread. What may confuse outsiders is the vast array of cakes the Pennsylvania Dutch have created – especially crumb cakes. And while it may be true that Hochkuche (layer cakes) and box cakes have pushed aside some traditional recipes, there are still a great many families who celebrate their cultural identity through desserts like these. Furthermore, just about every farm market in the Dutch Country will feature several stands where local specialties can be found. So we have taken the bakeshop approach in this chapter by selecting the widest possible range of unusual cakes and their stories. Unfortunately, due to space limitations we had to leave quite a number out, like Funny Cake (already well known) and Lydia Bender Cake from Somerset County, which is made with sour cream and covered with fluffy maple sugar icing.
One of the most puzzling pastries both to locals and outsiders is the origin of the cake known as apeas – we have included several examples in this chapter. There are two distinct types: one is a cookie, either a drop cookie or a roll-out cookie; the other is a crumb cake generally eaten with coffee. The seed cookies were flavored with anise and sold in the streets by vendors, but since many “English” (non-Dutch) did not like anise, a separate batch was always prepared with caraway, which the non-Dutch found acceptable. The caraway cookie, stamped with the letters A.P., was also known as Philadelphia Seed Cake, because it was once popular as a street food in the city’s open-air markets. However, the cake called apeas has a more unusual past.
Its name evolved from Anis Plätschen sometime in the early nineteenth century. In the cookie chapter, I have included an 1858 recipe for the true original anise drop cookie that was made and sold by many Pennsylvania Dutch bakers. If you take a cupful of that cookie batter and bake it in a 7-inch (18cm) tin – the traditional apeas cake size – you will get the anise-flavored crumb cake from which all the variant cakes now descend. Conversely, you can make drop cookies from any of the apeas cake recipes in this book.
The original creative transition from anise to other flavorings was simple and shaped by local Pennsylvania Dutch taste preferences: saffron apeas cakes from Lebanon County, vanilla apeas from Lehigh and Northampton, and buckwheat apeas from Cumberland and Perry County. The variations seem endless and there is nothing quite like them in the Old World – further proof (if such is needed) that Pennsylvania Dutch cookery is thoroughly American.
In addition to a collection of rare apeas recipes, I have also included a classic cake recipe from the manuscript household book of Mary Hamilton Winebrenner (1808-1888), the second wife of Reverend John Winebrenner, founder of the Church of God in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Winebrenner’s Leopard Cake is as spotted and as unusual as its name implies. Like Bishop’s Bread (our second recipe in this chapter), both are the sort of tourde-force desserts that were symbols of the parlor culture of the old Pennsylvania Dutch social elites.
Lastly, go to the special effort of locating caster sugar, also known as bar sugar or superfine sugar. This type of quick-dissolving sugar was used in many old recipes under the name of “rolled sugar” or “powdered sugar.” It was employed in cake baking because it yielded a finer, more delicate texture than common granulated sugar, and you should notice the difference when you use it.
This deliciously moist and crumbly cake is historically important for several reasons. First, the cake was named in honor of William Bigler (1814-1880), a Pennsylvania Dutch governor of Pennsylvania who served from 1852 to 1855 – his brother was elected the first governor of California at the very same time. Bigler then became a U.S. Senator from 1856 to 1861 and played an important role in national politics leading up to the Civil War. The original recipe for the cake was included in the 1869 Book of Recipes published at Gettysburg, the first Pennsylvania Dutch cookbook devoted exclusively to cakes and pastries.
Bigler Cake represents a creative turning point, a break with older, more traditional types of spice cakes. While its novelty in the 1850s may have recommended it to the followers of changing fashion, it remains a classic if its kind. There are two traditional ways of baking it: plain (in pie tins) or fancy (in a cake mold).
Recommended utensils: two 8-inch (20cm) pie pans or a Bundt mold.
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
3 cups (375g) cake flour
1 cup (250g) sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Grated zest of 2 lemons
6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter
2 eggs
1½ cups (375ml) buttermilk
Coarse sugar or lemon crumbs as topping
Grease the pie pans or cake mold and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, then add the lemon zest. Make a valley in the center of the dry ingredients. Melt the butter and pour it into the valley. Beat the eggs until lemon colored and frothy, then combine with the buttermilk. Add this to the melted butter and stir the ingredients to form stiff, sticky batter. Pour this into the prepared pie pans or a cake mold that has been greased and dusted with bread or cake crumbs. If using pie pans, sprinkle crumbs over the tops; if using a mold, ice the cake once it is cool. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until fully puffed and set in the middle. If baking in a Bundt mold, bake for 35-40 minutes. Serve at room temperature.
Bishop’s Bread
The name of this cake alludes to a time prior to the Civil War, when Bishop’s Bread was originally made with yeast and thus more like the sweetened breads in the first chapter of this book. It was also a special occasion cake, as the name might imply. In this case, the bishop was Amish, since the recipe comes from the Amish community around Belleville in the Big Valley of Mifflin County. It was one of those cakes made only for entertaining special guests, like the bishop and his wife, or for Amish weddings, or for Twelfth Night, which the Amish call Old Christmas.
Recommended utensils: two 10-inch (25cm) cake tins with tall sides, or one earthenware Schales pan, as called for in the original recipe.
Yield: 12 to 16
2½ cups (315g) cake flour
1 cups (185g) brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (125g) unsalted butter
¼ cup (35g) chopped almonds
½ cup (100g) chopped apricots
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (250ml) buttermilk
Topping:
½ cup (35g) sliced almonds
Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Rub in the butter to create uniform crumbs. Remove ¾ cup (125g) of the crumbs, then combine the remaining crumbs with the chopped almonds and apricots. Add the baking powder, cinnamon and orange zest. Then beat the eggs until lemon colored and frothy and add the orange juice. Dissolve the soda in the buttermilk and add this to the eggs. Pour the liquid into a valley in the middle of the crumbs and beat until smooth. Pour the batter into two greased cake tins. Combine the reserved crumbs with the sliced almonds and scatter over the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until fully risen and set in the center.
Watch Point: If your oven bakes hot, you may have trouble with scorching. To avoid this, try baking the cakes at 325F (165C) for 50 minutes to an hour.
Is it a cake or a pudding? It’s a little bit of both. This famous Pennsylvania Dutch dessert from Breitinger’s Dining Saloons in Harrisburg is the epitome of old-fashioned comfort food. You can even add a little more grated Parmesan cheese to the breadcrumbs, or for a more complex flavor, combine a few sliced figs with the apples. The original recipe was preserved by Mary Hessenberger (1850-1944), whose husband, Charles, was for many years the proprietor of Breitinger’s.
Suggested Utensil: a 10-inch (25cm) diameter flat-bottomed spring-form sponge cake tin with a center tube. The sides should be at least 4 inches (10cm) deep, because the batter puffs considerably during baking.
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
8 eggs, yolks and whites separated
8 tablespoons (126g) superfine sugar (also called caster sugar)
1½ tablespoon baking powder
1½ cups (185g) breadcrumbs
¾ cup (90g) grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup (125ml) fresh lemon juice
2 to 3 apples, cored and sliced paper thin (leave the skins on)
2 teaspoon freshly ground mace
2 cups (200g) shredded sharp cheese (Cheddar type)
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Grease a cake pan and dust it liberally with breadcrumbs. Set aside.
Cream the egg yolks and sugar. Combine the baking powder, salt, breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese, then add this to the eggs and sugar and mix thoroughly. Add the lemon juice. Beat the egg whites until stiff and forming peaks, and fold them into the batter.
Pour about 1/3 of the batter on the bottom of the prepared cake pan, then make a layer of sliced apples. Sprinkle some of the shredded cheese and mace over this. Make another layer of batter, then another layer of apples, sprinkled with the cheese and mace. Continue in this fashion until all the ingredients are used: the top layer should consist of a thick layer of batter with some of the remaining shredded cheese scattered over it.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until the cake tests dry with a skewer or broom straw. Serve at room temperature.
Our recipe for this delicious cake has come down to us from Carolina Levan Reber, in her day one of the best-known country cooks in the Reading area. However, Mrs. Reber’s cake is not the same as the pie of similar name. Her cake is the closest heirloom recipe we have to the original Centennial Cake, introduced in 1876, and which later morphed into the now-iconic molasses pie. Like Buttermilk Crumb Pie (page 118), Coffee Shoofly Cake was baked in a square pan, the suggested dimension being 9 by 9 inches (23 by 23cm).
The pie and Mrs. Reber’s cake take their name from a once-famous boxing mule called Shoofly, whose name incidentally created a pun in Pennsylvania Dutch, since Schufli is also a little crumb – the main ingredient in both the pie and cake. During the 1870s and 1880s, Shoofly the mule was part of a traveling circus act in the Dutch Country, and he is depicted in the late 1870s Lancaster trade card on page 185.
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
Crumb Topping:
½ cup (65g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (65g) coarse organic sugar
2 tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter
Cake Part:
2½ cups (315g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (170g) light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
8 tablespoons (125g) unsalted butter
1 egg, separated
1 cup (250ml) barrel molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (250ml) hot black coffee (the stronger the better)
1 cake bitter chocolate
Preheat the oven to 350F (175C) and prepare the crumb topping first. Rub together the flour, sugar and butter to create fine crumbs and set aside.
In a large work bowl, prepare the cake batter by sifting together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Work in the butter to form loose crumbs.
In another work bowl, beat the egg yolk until lemon colored and frothy, then whisk in the molasses. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot coffee, then combine this with the molasses. Add this to the crumb mixture and stir gently to create a thick batter. Beat the egg white until it forms peaks, then fold it into the batter. Grease your cake pan and add the batter, spreading it evenly over the bottom. Scatter the reserved crumb topping over the batter and bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes until fully risen and set in the center. Cool on a rack and serve at room temperature, liberally garnished with tiny shreds of bitter chocolate. Use an apple peeler to create the shreds.
I thought the preceding coffee cake recipe would satisfy our cravings, but things get even better with this delicious cake from the Big Valley in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. It came to us from the late Lydia M. Yoder (1918-2000), a member of the Allensville Mennonite community in that area. Her recipe was easy to locate because it is the same popular cake that was served during the 1960s under the name Amish Spice Cake at the Water Gate Inn in Washington, D.C. Mocha icing with bits of caramelized sugar scattered over the top is a perfect match with strong coffee, but Big Valley cooks prefer powdered sugar.
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
½ cup (125g) unsalted butter
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar
3 eggs, yolks and whites separated
½ cup (125ml) strong black coffee, room temperature
1½ cups (190g) cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves Confectioners (10-X) sugar
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Grease a 10-inch (23cm) cake tin and dust it with breadcrumbs or cake crumbs. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar, beating vigorously until all the sugar is dissolved. Beat the egg yolks until lemon colored and frothy, then add the coffee. Combine this with the creamed butter and sugar, again beating vigorously so that the ingredients do not separate.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Make a valley in the center of the dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients. Stir to create a thick, creamy batter. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then fold them into the batter. Pour this into the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until set in the center. Remove from the oven, dust with confectioners sugar and cool on a rack.
I would be remiss if I did not include at least one classic crumb cake in this collection. After testing many recipes from different parts of the Dutch Country, this one stood out as easy-to-make and flexible in terms of presentation. I leave flavoring to your imagination, although vanilla is called for in the original.
Our recipe traces to the late Helen Fenstermacher Breidigam of Lyons, Pennsylvania, wife of Delight R. Breidigam, Sr., co-founder of the East Penn Manufacturing Company, in Lyons. Her recipe has been widely circulated among church groups in southern Berks County and was a featured cake at fundraisers for Christ Lutheran Church in Dryville, where she was a member. Mrs. Breidigam baked her cakes in three 7-inch (18cm) tins, which was the traditional way to prepare them as breakfast cakes – much in the same manner as apeas.
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
1¾ cups (435g) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (180g) unsalted butter
2 eggs
1¼ cups (315ml) clabbered raw milk or buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Sift together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Rub the butter into this to form fine crumbs. Set aside 1/3 cup (35g) of the crumbs. Beat the eggs until lemon colored then combine with the milk and vanilla. Add this to the crumb mixture to create batter. Grease and dust with breadcrumbs three 7-inch (18cm) pie tins. Fill them one-half full and top with the reserved crumbs. Bake at 400F for 20 to 25 minutes or until fully risen and set in the middle.
Dutch Apple Cake
This elegant yet simple cake came to us from McVeytown in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, where it was long associated with its originator, Phoebe Hanawalt (1884-1958), wife of a well known Church of the Brethren minister. The cake is best when baked in a 10 to 11-inch (25 to 28cm) Schales pan or cake tin of similar proportions with 1-inch (2.5cm) sides.
Yield: 8 to 10
2 cups (250g) cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1½ tablespoons (25g) sugar
4 tablespoons (60g) unsalted butter
½ cup (50g) chopped hickory nuts
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1 cup (250ml) whole milk
3 to 4 apples, pared, cored and quartered (number of apples depends on their size)
Cold butter
1 tablespoon coarse sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Sift together the dry ingredients, then work the butter to a crumb in a food processor or with a pastry cutter. Set aside in a deep work bowl and add the nuts and lemon zest. Beat the eggs until light and frothy, then combine with the milk. Make a valley in the center of the dry ingredients and add the egg-milk mixture. Work this into a stiff batter and pour it into a greased 10 to 11-inch (25 to 28cm) Schales pan or cake tin with 1-inch (2.5cm) sides. Press the quartered apples cut-side down into the batter, arranging them in a circular pattern. Slash each apple with 8 or 10 deep vertical cuts. Dot each piece of apple with a small square of butter, combine the sugar and cinnamon and scatter this evenly over the apples and cake. Bake in the preheated oven 30-35 minutes. Serve hot from the oven or at room temperature.
Note: Any sort of fresh fruit can be used as topping with this batter.
Dutch Butter Cake or “German” Butter Cake, as it is sometimes called, are the common commercial names for a popular cake peculiar to the Dutch Country and still produced by many local bakeries. Known as Dickemillich Kuche (Clabber Cake) in Pennsylfaanisch, it was often sweetened with honey instead of sugar. Some recipes call for a gooey topping of melted sugar and butter. That is the way it was served during the 1920s at Chef’s, a chicken-and-waffles restaurant at Annville, Pennsylvania. I have decided to keep it simple, like the farmhouse recipes of 100 years ago.
Yield: 8 to 10 Servings
½ ounce (15g) dry active yeast
½ cup (125ml) lukewarm milk
1 teaspoon sugar
8 tablespoons (125g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (125g) sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (250ml) sour cream or yoghurt
2 large eggs
2 cups (250g) bread flour
3 tablespoons (45g) cold, unsalted butter chopped into tiny bits
2 tablespoons (30g) coarse granulated sugar
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon or cassia
Proof the yeast in the milk slightly sweetened with 1 teaspoon sugar. Cream the butter, remaining sugar and salt, then add the sour cream. Beat the eggs until lemon colored and frothy, then whisk vigorously into the batter. Add the proofed yeast, then sift in the flour to form a soft, sticky sponge. Cover and set aside in a warm place until double in bulk.
Preheat the oven to 375F (190C), then stir down the sponge. Grease a 10 by 2 by 10 (23 by 5 by 23 cm) cake pan (or two 8-inch/20cm square pans) and dust liberally with breadcrumbs. Add the proofed sponge, spreading it evenly in the pan. Cover with a warm damp cloth and allow the sponge to recover in a warm place until the cake has risen almost to the top edge of the pan. Remove the cloth and dot the top with the chopped butter. Combine the cinnamon or cassia and sugar and then scatter this over the cake. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the cake tests done in the center. Cool before cutting.
Watch Point: If the cake appears to be darkening too much on the top, cover it with a sheet of tin foil to prevent scorching. Do not remove the cake from the oven prematurely, or it will fall.
Dutch Butter Cake
While it might be argued that in this chapter we have explored crumb cakes to the very last crumb, there always seems to be one more recipe with an interesting twist and new take on the concept. Our recipe here comes from Lena H. Lebo (1879-1971), who lived in western Chester County, right on the border of the Dutch Country. She descended from an old Huguenot family that came to Pennsylvania from Alsace. This is a Lebo family recipe, and what makes it special is that different crumbs go inside as well as on top; thus, it is multi-textured. There is a whole branch of crumb cake cookery in which the cakes are filled in some manner, be it a thin layer of apple butter, quince honey or peach preserves – or in this case, with a rich nut-crumb mixture. Some Dutch like gooey centers, others do not. Hopefully, this recipe will strike an acceptable middle ground.
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
Filling:
½ cup (90g) brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons (15g) cake flour
2 tablespoons (15ml) melted unsalted butter
½ cup (60g) chopped hickory nuts or hazelnuts
Combine these ingredients in a work bowl, stirring them together with a horn or wooden fork, then set aside. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190C).
Cake Part:
1½ cups (185g) cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (185g) sugar
4 tablespoons (60g) unsalted butter or lard
1 egg
½ cup (125ml) whole milk
While the oven is heating, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, then rub in the butter or lard to create crumbs. Beat the egg until light and frothy, and combine with the milk. Make a valley in the center of the crumb mixture and add the liquid ingredients to form thick, sticky batter. Spread half the batter in bottom of a well-greased cake tin, then cover this with half of the reserved crumb mixture. Cover with the remaining cake batter and sprinkle the rest of the crumbs on top. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake tests done in the center.
Observation: For best visual appearance, bake in deep 6 or 7-inch (15 or 18cm) cake tins or in a small square one.
Family reunions are major events in the Dutch Country, and quite often, a focal point for special foods made for the occasion. One of the oldest continuous family reunions celebrates the coming of Johann Gerhart to Pennsylvania in 1739. Sometime in the early 1900s, a cake was created for the annual picnic held in his honor.
Our recipe traces to Susan Weinhold Gerhart (1857-1934) of Wernersville, Pennsylvania, who wrote down the recipe in 1927. It would appear, however, that it is based on or derived from an 1850s cornstarch cake made famous throughout the Dutch Country by Annie Wampole of Norristown, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Wampole’s cake took blue ribbons at country fairs and her award-winning recipe was widely published in local newspapers. Like Mrs. Wampole’s cake, the Gerhart cake is light, somewhat like sponge cake. It was not iced, because it was served with ice cream and strawberries, or whatever fruit was in season. The most common choice of flavoring was lemon or bitter almond.
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
8 tablespoons (125g) unsalted butter
1 cup (250g) caster sugar (also called bar sugar)
flavoring of your choice (about 1 teaspoon)
½ cup (125ml) butter milk
1¼ cups (155g) double-sifted cake flour
¾ cup (90g) potato starch
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
3 egg whites
Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flavoring of your choice and the buttermilk. In a separate work bowl, sift together the cake flour, potato starch, baking powder and salt. Sift and fold this into the wet ingredients to create smooth batter. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then fold them into the batter.
Pour the batter into a greased 10-inch (26cm) cake pan with a center tube or a loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until it tests done. Cool on a rack before removing from the pan.
Watch Point: If you do not double-sift the cake flour before measuring it, this cake is likely to bake dry.
Years ago, this old-fashioned loaf cake baked in bread or scrapple pans was prepared a week or two before the holiday season, because it needed to age for improved flavor. Since there is no shortening in the dough, this is also relatively low-fat, as cakes go. After aging, the cake becomes denser and more flavorful; it can even be stored in cheesecloth dipped in rum or brandy. However, the most common treatment was to slice it as thin as possible and then cut each slice into wedges for eating with coffee, nuts or dessert wine. It also makes an excellent tea cake when eaten with butter or a mixture of honey and butter.
Yield: 10 to 15 servings (when sliced very thin)
1 cup (250ml) honey
2½ cups (325g) all-purpose flour
1½ tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
¾ cup (125g) light brown sugar
1 cup (125g) chopped walnuts
Grease two small bread pans and dust with cake crumbs or fine breadcrumbs. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).
Warm the honey in a pan of lukewarm water so that it liquefies. Sift together the flour, baking powder and spices. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until lemon colored and frothy, then beat in the sugar until the mixture is creamy and the sugar fully dissolved. Sift in the flour mixture to form a thick batter, then add the honey. Lastly, fold in the chopped nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans and bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until fully risen and set in the middle. When done, remove from the pans and cool on a rack. Then, wrap the cakes in baking parchment and store in a tight container to ripen at least 1 week before serving.
Note: The most ideal baking pans for this cake is the type of loaf pan with a sliding lid. This will insure that the cake is perfectly rectangular. However the batter can also be baked in a small Turk’s Head mold with a center tube, or in a spring form cake tin with center tube.
This delightful old-time Bedford County recipe from one of the sparsely settled Dutch valleys has been modernized for baking in a 9-inch (23cm) spring form cake tin. The original was baked in a spider or in a cast iron skillet on the hearth floor (“down hearth”) – rather than on a raised hearth, the traditional Dutch way. Our cornmeal of choice is triple-sifted flour from Iroquois “Tooth Corn” (Gourdseed Corn), tracing to the Cornplanter Senecas of Allegheny County, but any good organic white cornmeal will suffice. The maple sugar in this recipe comes from Somerset County and can be ordered from the producer on page 174.
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
1¾ cups (215g) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (125g) fine white cornmeal
4 tablespoons (65g) maple sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon (5g) baking powder
2 eggs
1¼ cup (315ml) buttermilk
3 tablespoons (45ml) melted unsalted butter or lard
Maple sugar
Caraway seeds
Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Sift together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Beat the eggs until frothy and lemon colored and then add the buttermilk and melted butter. Combine the dry and wet ingredients to form soft sticky dough. Grease a spring form cake pan and dust it liberally with fine cracker crumbs or semolina. Fill with the dough and spread it out with the back of a spoon dipped in water. Scatter maple sugar and caraway seeds over the top and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until fully set in the center. Remove from the cake tin and cool on a rack. Best eaten the day it is made.
This unusual recipe was discovered in the extensive manuscript cookbook begun in 1837 by Mary Winebrenner (1808-1888), wife of Harrisburg minister John Winebrenner (1797-1860), founder of the Church of God. We have dipped into her collection because Mary Winebrenner was a notable social figure in the state capital, and judging from the multitudes of cake recipes that captured her attention, she must have been quite an entertainer. As for Leopard Cake, it is essentially two separate types of cake (sponge cake and fruit cake) combined into one, thus creating the spotted appearance. You can bake it either in a loaf pan or in a 10-inch (25cm) spring form cake tin with a center tube. Either way, be certain to line your baking pan with baking parchment so the cake is easier to remove. Furthermore, for best results, all ingredients should be at room temperature.
Yield: Serves 10 to 12
To Make the White Part:
1 cup (250g) caster sugar (also called bar sugar)
1 cup (250g) unsalted butter
8 egg whites (reserve the yolks for the brown part)
1 teaspoon lemon flavoring or to taste
2 cups (250g) cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Preheat the oven to 325F (165C). Cream the butter and sugar, then beat the egg whites until stiff and forming peaks. Fold the whites into the butter mixture and add the flavoring. Sift together the flour and baking powder, then sift and fold this into the batter. Set aside and proceed with the brown part.
To Make the Brown Part:
1½ cups (250g) dark brown sugar
1 cup (250g) unsalted butter
8 egg yolks (reserved from the whites above)
2 cups (250g) cake flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces (250g) Zante currants
In a separate work bowl, cream the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat the yolks until thick and creamy, then fold them into the butter mixture. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves and baking powder, then sift and fold this into the batter. Dust the currants with a little flour, then fold them into the batter.
Grease and line your baking tin with baking parchment. Pour half of the white batter on the bottom. Make scoops of the brown batter with a small dipper; drop the scoops in an irregular patter onto the white batter, using only half of the brown batter. Cover this with the remaining white batter, then drop scoopfuls of the remaining brown batter on top. This should fill your baking tin 2/3 full; more than that and it may overflow. Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes or until the cake tests done in the center. Cool on a rack before removing from the pan. The cake is ornamental enough with its spotted appearance, but you may drizzle Madeira or caramel flavored icing over it for added visual effect and flavor.
Observation: While we have followed Mrs. Winebrenner’s recipe as faithfully as possible, we suggest that there be a change: Instead of pouring half of the white batter on the bottom, add the batters in alternating ¼-cup scoops. This will create a more patchy visual effect, and the two batters are not likely to separate during baking.
Many years ago, when I was working on Pennsylvania Dutch Country Cooking, I put out word that I was interested in locating recipes from the southern half or “Dutch End” of Somerset County. A few months later, I received a packet of recipes from Lola Hollanda Showalter (1934-1997), a member of the Church of the Brethren in a little place called Springs, Pennsylvania. Just across the border in Maryland, Lola had relatives who heard about my quest for recipes. They got in touch with her, and then out of the blue, she mailed me a raft of wonderful cake recipes, including this one for maple sugar apeas. We have revised the recipe to conform to our easy-to-make formula. Otherwise, it retains the character of Lola’s original: the delightful maple flavor is reminiscent of caramel ice cream.
Yield: Three 7-inch (18cm) cakes
3 cups (375g) pastry flour
1 cup (250g) finely granulated maple sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (75g) finely chopped toasted hickory nuts (reserve ¼ cup/25g for topping)
6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter or
3 tablespoons (45g) unsalted butter, plus 3 tablespoons (45g) of maple cream
2 eggs
1½ cups (375ml) sour cream
Topping:
2 tablespoons maple sugar
¼ cup (25g) reserved toasted hickory nuts (see above)
Grease the pie dishes and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add ½ cup (50g) of the hickory nuts. Make a valley in the center of the dry ingredients. Melt the butter and pour it into the valley. Beat the eggs until lemon colored, then combine with the sour cream. Pour this into the valley and, using a fork, work the mixture into sticky dough. Divide into 3 equal parts and place them on the prepared pie pans. Spread smooth and even the edges with the back of a wet spoon. Combine the 2 tablespoons of maple sugar and remaining hickory nuts for the topping and scatter this evenly over the cakes. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until fully puffed and set in the middle. Cool on racks.
Unless you live there, most people do not realize that Osterburg is a Pennsylvania Dutch settlement in Bedford County. Hans Oster settled it in 1771; his grandson William laid out the village in 1876. By happy coincidence, this Easter cake originated in the small German town of Osterburg in Saxony-Anhalt. While it has no direct connection to the Pennsylvania Oster family that we know of, the original Osterburg Easter Cake claims many lineal descendants in Pennsylvania, including Moravian Sugar Cake. Moravian Sugar Cake, which appears in many of our regional cookbooks, evolved out of the Osterburg prototype.
We decided to publish this delicious cake recipe because it appears in the 1778 cookbook of sugar heiress Catherine Schaeffer Muhlenberg (1750-1835), the wife of Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, first Speaker of the House of Representatives. Muhlenberg family recipes are now experiencing a lively revival of interest, because the historic Muhlenberg farmhouse in Trappe, Pennsylvania, has undergone restoration with the intention of showcasing the daily life and culinary arts for which Mrs. Muhlenberg was once so famous. And lastly, if you want to decorate this the traditional way with red eggs, press plain hard-cooked eggs with shells intact into the dough before it goes into the oven. After the cake is baked, remove the eggs and replace them with hard-cooked eggs dyed red.
Yield: Serves 10 to 16
½ ounce (15g) dry active yeast
½ cup (125ml) lukewarm potato water
4 tablespoons (60g) unsalted butter
1 cup (250g) superfine sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 cup (250ml) sour cream
½ cup (100g) mashed potatoes
5 cups (625g) bread flour
⅓ cup (80ml) rosewater
½ cup (75g) Zante currants
2 tablespoons grated nutmeg
Glaze for Crust:
1 strained egg yolk
1 tablespoon (15ml) cream
Topping:
2 ounces (65g) unsalted butter
¼ cup (60g) coarse sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon or ground cardamom
Proof the yeast in the lukewarm potato water. In a deep work bowl, cream the butter and the sugar. Beat the eggs until light and frothy, dissolve the salt in the sour cream and add this to the eggs. Add the egg mixture to the butter and sugar, stir well, then stir in the mashed potatoes. Sift in 3 cups (375g) of flour to create a soft sponge. Cover and proof overnight in a warm place until double in bulk.
The next day, stir down and add the rosewater and currants. Sift together the remaining flour and nutmeg, then add this to the proofed batter, working it into soft, pliant dough. Knead for about 10 minutes, then cover and allow the dough to proof until double in bulk. Knock down and roll out into a large disc, approximately 1-inch (2.5cm) thick. Lay the dough in a greased baking tin measuring 14 to 15 inches (35 to 38cm) in diameter. Press the edges up to form a narrow border crust. Cover and let the dough recover for 25 to 30 minutes.
While the dough is recovering, preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Beat together the egg yolk and cream and brush the crust border with this. Chop the butter into small bits and scatter these over the top of the cake. Then, mix the sugar and cinnamon and dust the cake with this. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until fully risen and turning golden brown. Cool on a rack. This cake can be frozen for later use.
This wonderful old-fashioned cake with a very dense, buttery crumb was first published in The Gettysburg Centennial Cookbook in 1876. It went from there to become one of the most popular regional cakes during the rest of the century, doubtless because it was an easy sell at picnics and church bazaars. It took its name from the fact that in the days before parlor cars, the cake was sold by hucksters (mostly women) at train stations along the Pennsylvania Railroad. The original idea was to eat it as finger food with a swab of jam or jelly.
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
2 cups (250g) cake flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (180g) unsalted butter
1 cup (250g) sugar
3 eggs
6 tablespoons (90ml) buttermilk
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt and set aside. In separate work bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs until lemon colored, add the buttermilk and beat in the butter and sugar mixture. Gradually sift in the mixed dry ingredients, working the batter gently with a paddle until smooth. Add the lemon zest.
Grease a 10½-inch (26cm) cake pan with 1-inch (2.5cm) high sides. Dust it liberally with fine breadcrumbs or finely ground cake crumbs. Add the batter and spread it evenly in the pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until turning golden on top and set in the center. Serve at room temperature plain or with icing.
Rough and Ready is a Pennsylvania Dutch village in Schuylkill County. It is named after a gold rush town in California, because a gold mine was discovered near the village about the same time, and everyone thought a payload was in the making. Those riches never materialized, yet the name stuck, because it originally referred to the nickname of President Zachary Taylor, “Old Rough and Ready.” In any case, the village traces back to the 1850s and has added considerable local color to the area.
This has led to a waggish expression in Pennsylvania Dutch: wo die Buwe rauh sin, un die Meedel faddich – which translates to: Rough and Ready: where the boys are rough and the girls are ready. Betty Klinger Erdman (1927-1996) laughed with a little sparkle in her eye when she repeated that saying and added in Dutch: awwer unsri Meedel besser backe! (but our girls are better at baking). Well, the girls do bake in Rough and Ready, and the bake sales at the village’s nearby churches stand in lasting testimony to that. One of the local favorites is Rough-and-Ready Cake, which is flavored and colored brazen flamingo pink with teaberry candies. Mrs. Erdman kindly provided the recipe when I interviewed her in 1992.
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
8 ounces (250g) teaberries (small candy berries) or 4 ounces (125g) teaberries, plus a few drops of wintergreen flavoring
1½ cups (375ml) lukewarm milk (98F/37C)
1 cup (250g) sugar
½ cup (125g) shortening (unsalted butter)
3 cups (375g) cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 egg whites
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Grease a spring-form cake pan with a center tube and dust it with flour or fine cake crumbs. Set aside.
Dissolve the teaberry candies in the milk, then allow the milk to cool to room temperature. Cream the sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add the teaberry milk and whisk smooth. Sift together the flour and the baking powder, then sift this into the liquid ingredients. Beat the egg whites until stiff and forming peaks, and fold them into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake is done in the center. Remove and cool on a rack, then turn out of the pan to cool for icing.
Picnic Icing:
Once the cake has cooled, prepare Picnic Icing, which is better adapted to the rigors of humid summer weather.
Yield: Enough for one cake
5 tablespoons (75ml) milk
4 ounces (125g) teaberries or more to taste
Red food coloring (optional)
1 large egg
2 cups (500g) sugar
2 teaspoons soft unsalted butter
Teaberries for garnish
Put the milk in a small work bowl and dissolve the teaberries in it. Add red food coloring if you want a darker pink color for the icing. Once the teaberries are dissolved, beat the egg until lemon colored, then add the flavored milk, sugar and butter. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil in a broad saucepan over a medium heat, whisking continuously until all the ingredients are well blended. Remove from the heat and whisk until light and fluffy, then spread on the cake. Scatter teaberries over the cake for added eye appeal.
Comments: We prefer a few drops of wintergreen flavoring rather than the additional teaberry candies, because the candy flavor tends to bake out. If the cake is baked in a 9 by 9 by 2-inch (23 by 23 by 5 cm) cake tin, reduce the baking time to about 35 minutes. This same cake batter can also be used for cupcakes and for Whoopie Pies.
As far as we can tell, saffron apeas were well known in the Newmanstown area of Lebanon County, even in the 1870s. After inquiring after a recipe, we were supplied with the one we have adapted here. It came from a descendant of Kate Schaeffer Bennethum (1858-1928), who made this type of apeas for Christmas and birthdays.
Yield: Three 7-inch (18cm) cakes
3 cups (375g) cake flour
½ cup (125g) sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons grated nutmeg
Grated zest of 1 lemon
¼ teaspoon powdered saffron
½ cup (125ml) whole milk
6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1½ tablespoons poppy seeds
Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Grease three 7-inch (18cm) pie pans and set aside. Sift together the pastry flour, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, coriander and nutmeg. Add the lemon zest. Dissolve the saffron in the milk, then make a valley in the center of the dry ingredients. Melt the butter and pour this into the valley. Beat the eggs until lemon colored and add the saffron and milk infusion. Pour this into the valley with the butter and work this into a stiff batter. Divide the batter evenly among the three pie dishes and spread smooth with the back of a wet spoon. Scatter the poppy seeds over the pies and bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on racks. Best served the day they are made. Otherwise, freeze for later use.
We found this recipe at a Slatington American Legion bake sale, and after inquiring in the area, discovered that the Pennsylvania Dutch in the region north of Allentown have been making vanilla apeas since at least the 1920s. The cake even appeared on the menus of a number of hotels and tearooms farther north, including the Delaware House at Dingman’s Ferry and the Hollyhock Tea Room at Bushkill, in the Poconos. It may be that the vanilla flavor was an easy sell to outsiders, especially with a side of strawberries and ice cream. Just the same, it is a delightful localism and one more way to enjoy your apeas.
Yield: Three 7-inch (18cm) cakes
3 cups (375g) cake flour
1 cup (250g) vanilla sugar (see note)
2 tablespoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter
2 eggs
1½ cups (375ml) sour cream
Topping:
3 tablespoons vanilla sugar, one tablespoon for each pie
Grease the pie dishes and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a valley in the center of the dry ingredients. Melt the butter and pour it into the valley. Beat the eggs until lemon colored and combine with the sour cream. Pour this into the valley and, using a fork, work the mixture into sticky dough. Divide into 3 equal parts and place them on the prepared pie pans. Spread smooth and even the edges with the back of a wet spoon. Scatter the vanilla sugar evenly over the cakes. Bake in the preheated over for 25 to 30 minutes or until fully puffed and set in the middle. Cool on racks.
Note: You can make your own vanilla sugar by mixing 2 tablespoons (30ml) of vanilla extract with 1 cup (250g) sugar. Stir together with a fork and let it dry before sifting.
The original recipe below traces to Emma Boller (1859-1934), wife of Martin H. Brumbaugh of Williamsburg in Morrison’s Cove, Blair County, Pennsylvania. Martin’s father, David Brumbaugh, was well-known in the area for the fine orchard of German prune plums that he sold in markets up and down the Juniata Valley. We found a similar recipe from Lebanon County using sliced peaches, another from Gettysburg using apricots and yet another calling for Seckel pears. The basic idea (cake covered with fresh fruit) is encapsulated in the recipe for Dutch Apple Cake (page 39), which may be considered a short-cut version of this recipe, since it eliminates setting a sponge with yeast. No matter what the baking powder manufacturers may claim, the unique texture of old-style yeast-raised cakes cannot be reproduced with chemicals. This cake is living proof of that happy truism.
Yield: Serves 8 to 10
½ ounce (15g) dry active yeast
⅔ cup (160ml) lukewarm milk
7 ounces (220g) unsalted butter
4 tablespoons (60g) superfine sugar (also called caster sugar)
3 large eggs
3 egg yolks
2⅔ cups (340g) bread flour
Breadcrumbs
8 small prune plums, cut in half and pitted or 16 quarters, depending on the size and shape of the plums
16 whole blanched almonds
Topping:
1 tablespoon (15g) sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Proof the yeast in the milk. While the yeast is proofing, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs until frothy and lemon colored and combine them with the butter and sugar. Once the yeast is foaming vigorously, add it to the egg mixture and sift in all the flour to form a soft batter. Beat vigorously until the batter becomes slightly stiff and ropey. Cover and set aside in a warm place to double in bulk (this may take 2 to 3 hours). While the batter is proofing, grease a cake pan measuring 10 by 10 by 2 inches (23 by 23 by 5 cm) and dust it liberally with breadcrumbs. Set aside.
Once the batter has doubled in bulk, preheat the oven to 350F (180 C). Stir down the batter and pour it into the prepared cake pan, making certain that the batter is spread evenly into all the corners. Take the sliced plums and press them at even intervals, skin side down, into the batter. Place a blanched almond in each plum where the pit had been. Let the cake recover in a warm place for about 25 minutes, then put it in the preheated oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the cake taps hollow. As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, scatter a mixture of sugar and cinnamon over the top. Do not cut the cake until it has cooled to room temperature.
