As fall comes around each year my thoughts eventually drift to memories of getting the farm chores done before the 'first cold spell'. It was routine each year to gather in sweet potatoes, turnip greens, apples, and walnuts before the hard frosts came in November. There was usually some unspoken sense of urgency about it.
Apples were the most fun because there were so many things that could be done with them. They could be used to make stack cakes, apple pies, apple dumplings, apple butter, apple jelly and fried apple pies. Mama always had a million ideas for their use. Usually I was involved in the process because Mama firmly believed her job was to teach me every mountain skill she knew so that I would be ready to become a housewife. While she never said it, I think she believed the Appalachian lifestyle had enormous value economically; 'A penny saved' was truly, 'a penny earned'. In her case it was more like an apple saved was an apple you didn't have to buy. Mama really didn't relish buying anything if it could be grown on the farm.
On our family farm we had apples, tons of them, which to Mama meant you tried to save as many as you could. Most of our cooking in the fall revolved around apples; stewed, baked, fried, canned, frozen, preserved, and dried. Every day we had apples in one form or another, for the last five years, some twenty years past Mama's death, I still feel the need to do something with apples in the fall.
Recently I have been on a quest to find the best apple stack cake recipe to see if I could duplicate Mama's. Mama didn't write her recipes down so I didn't have her blueprint to follow. I asked Appalachian friends, searched a gazillion books, called my relatives, and even consulted with The Apple Barn for a recipe. Each one that I got was different in some way. I also had to search for dried apples, dark brown, sun-dried apples, not the ones in the grocery store that are white and dried with chemicals. Eventually I began to make progress.
Today I am happy to report that I am decent maker of Stack Cakes. While they are not Mama's, they are very close. Close enough to serve with pride to folks who have never had an introduction to them. If you as a reader would like to know the process, send an email. I'd like to talk 'stack cake' and would love to have your thoughts and comments.
