How Southwestern Virginia’s Autumnal Dessert ‘Stacks Up’—and Why It’s Having a Revival
Apple stack cake is an Appalachian favorite. Learn about the history of—and renewed interest in—this dessert.
In the novel “Sunrise On the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins, a prequel to her hit “Hunger Games” series, the protagonist, teenage Haymitch Abernathy, thought longingly of the cake his mother bakes to welcome the new year. As he described the dried apples, cinnamon, and other spices and ingredients she would gather to make the cake, and how she would stack thin layers on top of each other to complete the confection, many readers thought that the dish was another product of Collins’ famous imagination. But Southwestern Virginians knew better, recognizing Ma Abernathy’s cake as a classic apple stack cake, which has been enjoyed in the Appalachians, especially during the cooler months, for generations.
While “Sunrise On the Reaping” is set in the fictional future dystopia of Panem, the Abernathys’ home, District 12, is heavily hinted to be located in the Appalachian mountains. Other aspects of Appalachian traditions and culture that appear in District 12 throughout Collins’ work include the use of traditional songs and a long relationship with the mining industry, but the apple stack cake stood out and ignited curiosity even among readers who aren’t familiar with traditional Appalachian cuisine.
But where exactly did apple stack cake come from? How did it become such a beloved treat in Appalachian cuisine? And, perhaps most importantly, how can you get a taste of some of it for yourself? Read on to find out.
Traditional torte, wedding treat, or washday cake?
The origins of apple stack cake are a bit mysterious, although food historians agree that this cake has been around for a very long time. What’s less agreed upon is which state can lay claim to the “original” stack cake.
Kentucky puts in a bid, with the theory that the cake was brought there from Pennsylvania in 1774 by James Harrod, who would also go on to found the town of Harrodsburg (although wouldn’t that make it Pennsylvanian in origin?). Tennessee also makes a claim to stack cakes, with recipes for “Tennessee Mountain Stack Cake” available online. In Kentucky, apple stack cake is also sometimes referred to as “washday cake,” because it was typically assembled one day, then eaten several days later after having time to sit, meaning you do the washing on the day you make the cake, then again when you eat it.
Wherever the first stack cake was constructed, southwestern Virginia, like the rest of Appalachia, has come to love it—especially as, unlike neighboring Maryland’s signature Smith Island cake, which is also made up of many thin layers separated by icing, stack cakes make use of the apples southwestern Virginia grows in abundance each fall. In fact, on the subreddit r/Old_Recipes, user u/quilmesaurus proudly shows off a homemade apple stack cake and recipe card for what they describe as an “old SW Va recipe,” made with homemade apple butter.
Now, whether it’s served in Virginia, Kentucky, or anywhere else, apple stack cake has historically been something of an occasion for the people who make (and eat) it. In fact, apple stack cake has been traditionally served at weddings and other special occasions in lieu of a tiered wedding cake or traditional European torte, which it slightly resembles. Also like the wedding cakes of Europe, the intensive labor involved in making a stack cake meant it wasn’t a feasible everyday dessert, but something to be celebrated.
What’s in a cake?
The other thing that lovers of apple stack cake don’t always agree on is how, exactly, to make one. While the first commercially published apple stack cake recipe was only printed in 1980, the cake itself has been passed down between friends and family for much longer—and the recipe can vary from person to person.
Traditionally, an apple stack cake consists of layers of a heavy, molasses-infused cake whose texture recalls a cookie or a pancake, layered with apple butter, applesauce, or stewed dried apples. The filling, and sometimes the layers themselves, are spiced with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and other spices, although the exact balance varies from recipe to recipe, many of which have been passed down between family members for generations.
Many apple stack cake recipes call for sorghum molasses specifically, but as sorghum can be hard to find, there are substitutions you can make. In fact, one of the nicest things about the lack of agreement on how one should make an apple stack cake is that adding a personal touch to the recipe, or modifying it to suit your tastes, is perfectly in keeping with the tradition of making one.
How to try apple stack cake for yourself
Reading about apple stack cake tends to produce a common response: a craving for cake! If you’ve never had apple stack cake before, you’re probably wondering where you can get yourself a slice. There’s a bit of a wrinkle there, though: You’re unlikely to find apple stack cake on any restaurant menu, even in southwestern Virginia, or in Kentucky, Tennessee, or elsewhere in Appalachia. This is traditionally a cake that’s been the exclusive purview of home cooks.
With that in mind, you might want to try making an apple stack cake for yourself! A word of warning, though: This is not a quick-and-easy baking project. In “Sunrise On the Reaping,” Haymitch mentions that his mother makes her stack cake only once a year, and while this is due in part to the family’s limited finances, it may also be because, as mentioned previously, this cake is a pretty intense project to make!
If you’re not much of a baker or aren’t in the mood to try making your own apple stack cake, all hope is not lost! One chain of grocery stores with outlets in Virginia, Food City, frequently stocks its own take on the traditional apple stack cake, especially in the autumn and around the winter holidays, when the cake is particularly popular. While the Food City version uses cake layers that are slightly fluffier and closer to a yellow sponge than most apple stack cake recipes call for, it’s still a fun and tasty way to try the Appalachian classic. A
nd who knows? You might enjoy your first taste of apple stack cake so much, you’ll be inspired to try making it yourself—for a special occasion, for the premiere of the upcoming “Sunrise On the Reaping” movie, or maybe just because.
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