Apple Stack Cake
History, Hospitality, and Apple Stack Cake
When you live in, or visit, The Great Smoky Mountains you have to take in Cades Cove. It seems magical today, as you walk the trails to cabins and churches left behind. But, when the community first began, I’m sure there was magic, but it was also a hard place to survive in. Cades Cove is still isolated today, so just image what it was like when John and Margaret Jane Walker built their two-room cabin in an area known as Little Greenbrier in the late 1800’s.
The Old Mill had been around for more than a quarter century, but as remote as Little Greenbrier was, the mill, which was still known as Trotter’s Mill back then, might as well have been halfway around the world. It’s unlikely any of the Walker’s ever stepped foot in the mill.
John Walker, holding an apple from the orchards he created — NPS.org
Building a homestead
The Walker cabin was the home where John & Margaret Jane raised their 11 children, seven of which were girls. John served in the Union uniform during the Civil War, and after released of his imprisonment from the Confederates, he married Margaret Jane King and immediately set about building their homestead. Along with the cabin he built a springhouse, barn, corncrib, apple barn, pig pen, and a blacksmith shop. They lived completely off the land; making, raising, and hunting for everything they needed, right down to weaving cloth for the clothes on their backs.
Raising a family in the wilderness
Raising a family in that vast wilderness was hard, but they persevered, and all 11 children grew to adulthood. The only girl to marry was Sarah Caroline. One of her great-granddaughters, Lynda, has worked for us over the years, and she embodies the values and hospitality so often read about with all the Walker Sisters.
Martha & Hettie Walker work on their porch, as Louisa (or Aunt Lou to the family) churns butter.
Formation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Shortly after John died in the 1920s, Tennessee and North Carolina began raising money to purchase the land needed to form the Great Smoky Mountain’s National Park. The remaining six sisters were Hettie, Louisa (pronounced Lou-i-za and called Aunt Lou by Lynda), Nancy, Martha, Polly, and Margaret. Nancy died 10 years later, and the last five sisters held out selling until President Roosevelt visited them himself in 1940. When he left their cabin, they had agreed to sell with the understanding that they would live there for the rest of their lives.
From homestead to tourist destination
In 1946 The Saturday Evening Post did a story on the sisters and they and their cabin became a tourist attraction, known to sell handmade items, handwritten poetry, and more. They were also known for feeding folks. After the sisters got their own, visitors were welcome to fix a plate for themselves and they all said grace.
A lasting legacy
Louisa was the last sister to live in the cabin, passing in 1964. Lynda treasures a picture of Aunt Lou holding her in a rocking chair on the porch of the cabin. Her great grandmother, Sarah Caroline passed in 1966. The cabin will forever be a part of the most visited National Park in the country, and their legacy will forever be threads in the fabric of the Great Smoky Mountains.
A taste of history
In October of 1950, Margaret, Hettie, and Louisa shared their recipe for Apple Stack Cake with the National Park Service. We are reprinting it with their permission. John Walker grew more than 20 varieties of apples on their homestead, which is why one of his barns was dedicated just to apples.
Apple Stack Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup lard or shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup sorghum molasses
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups Original Whole Wheat Flour
- ½ teaspoon soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup milk
- 3 cups of cooked dried apples or applesauce, or apple butter
Instructions
- Sift the flour, salt, soda, and baking powder.* Cream the lard and sugar, mixing well. Add sorghum and mix good. Add eggs one at a time.** Make sure there are no lumps. Pour 1/3 inch deep in greased skillet. Cook 10 minutes.*** This will make 6-7 layers. When cool, stack layers using around 3 cups of cooked dried apples or applesauce between the layers.**** Sometimes I add cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg if I’ve got um.
Notes
* Set aside.
** Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk to the creamed ingredients and mix well. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. The batter will be thick.
*** We baked it in round cake pans at 350 degrees for approximately 12-15 minutes, testing each layer after 10 minutes, and then at 2 minute intervals, to make sure the center is done.
**** Cook dried apples in water over low heat until very thick, about 30 minutes. Add sugar and spices to taste. For the layers and top of our cake, we used apple butter from the Great Smoky Mountains Association. Since there are no spices in the cake batter, be sure that the filling you use between layers is well spiced.