Apple Jack Stack Cake Recipes

APPLE STACK CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Start the filling first. Put the apples in a Dutch oven, and add enough water to cover the apples by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high; then turn down the heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender enough to mash, 1 to 1½ hours. You may need to add a little more water to keep the apples from sticking, but you don't want the final mixture to be soupy.
• While the filling continues to cook, prepare the skillet for baking, and make the dough. Liberally grease the inside of a 9-inch cast-iron skillet with shortening, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the flour, shaking and turning to coat the bottom of the skillet and about 1 inch up the sides.
• Sift 5½ cups of the flour with baking soda and salt, and set aside. Place the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl, and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended, about 3 minutes. Add the sorghum syrup, and beat 1 minute to blend. Whisk together the buttermilk and the eggs in a small bowl. (This recipe does not use baking powder, so buttermilk is necessary to activate the baking soda.)
• Add flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the egg mixture in 5 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat on low speed after each addition to incorporate. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or up to 2 hours.
• After the apples are cooked, stir the brown sugar and mace into the apples until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and mash with a potato masher until a thick puree forms with lumps no larger than a pea. (You can also pulse the mixture in the bowl of a food processor 15 times.) If mixture is too runny, return to medium heat, and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until liquid evaporates and mixture is the consistency of apple butter. Cover to keep warm.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously sprinkle a flat surface with some of the remaining flour, and scrape the chilled dough onto it. With floured hands, shape dough into a log about 10 inches long. Using a sharp, floured knife, cut into 5 (2-inch) pieces. With floured hands, roll each piece lightly in the flour, and shape into a ball. Place 4 of the balls on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until ready to use.
• Pat remaining 1 ball into a disk. Place dough disk in the greased and floured skillet and, pressing lightly with floured palm and fingers, flatten it evenly so it spreads out to just touch the edges of the skillet all around. Don't pat too hard and don't press it up against the side of the skillet, or it will stick. Evenly prick the surface of the dough lightly with a fork.
• Bake in preheated oven until the top is golden and the cake has pulled slightly away from the edges of the skillet, about 25 to 30 minutes. It will not rise like a normal cake layer but will look like a big cookie, only much more tender. Let cool in skillet on wire rack for 5 minutes. Run a butter knife around the inside edge of the skillet, and gently nudge the layer underneath to loosen. Turn cake layer out onto a rack, and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Transfer layer to a cake plate, and spread warm apple mixture over the top, to the edges. The apple filling should be about 1⁄4 inch thick, and you should use about 3⁄4 cup of the mixture per layer.
• Clean inside of skillet with a paper towel, and cool on rack until barely warm, 10 minutes. Repeat Steps 7 and 8 for each dough ball, greasing and flouring skillet for each. Proceed, stacking each successive layer while warm and spreading with apple mixture. Leave the top layer bare. Save remaining apple mixture for another use.
• Allow cake to cool completely, about 30 minutes. Wrap cake in cheesecloth, and then wrap in several layers of plastic wrap. Allow to "ripen" at room temperature for 2 to 3 days before cutting and serving. Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar, if desired.

APPLE STACK CAKE

Steps:

• Place apples and water in a 6-qt. stockpot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 40-45 minutes or until apples are softened, stirring occasionally. Mash into a chunky sauce. Stir in brown sugar and pie spice; simmer, uncovered, 10-15 minutes longer or until liquid is absorbed and sauce is thickened. Cool completely., Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and baking soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition., Divide dough into 8 portions; shape each into a disk. Cut out eight 9-in. circles of parchment. With a floured rolling pin, roll out a dough disk to fit each parchment circle. Transfer to baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., Place1 layer on a serving plate; spread with 2/3 cup filling. Repeat layers. Top with remaining cake layer, wrap tightly in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1-2 days or until layers soften. If desired, sprinkle cake with confectioner's sugar.

APPLE JACK STACK CAKE

Steps:

• For the filling:
• Put the apples, brown sugar, cider, and applejack in a large saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain the apples and reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid. Set aside.
• For the cake:
• Position the racks in the upper-middle and lower-middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk and vanilla.
• In large bowl, with an electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the molasses, beating until incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated. Gradually add the buttermilk (the mixture will look curdled); add the flour mixture and mix until a soft dough forms-it should look like cookie dough. Remove the dough from the bowl, pat into a round, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 6 equal portions, about 8 1/2 ounces each. On parchment paper, roll portions of dough into circles about 1/4 inch thick. Use an 8-inch cake pan as a guide to trim into uniform 8-inch circles. Bake one circle on each prepared sheet until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating and switching the baking sheets halfway through baking. Transfer the circles to cooling racks and let cool completely. The cakes will harden and set as they cool. Repeat with remaining dough. Reroll scraps to form a seventh layer.
• Place the first layer on a serving plate and spread with 1/4 cup of the apple butter. Arrange one-sixth of the cooled cooked apples on top of apple butter and top with another layer of cake. Repeat with the remaining filling and cake layers, ending with a cake layer on top. Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the layers soften, at least 12 hours and up to 2 days.
• For the glaze:
• In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, reserved apple cider mixture, and the molasses. Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes, then pour the glaze over the top of the cake. Slice and serve, or store the cake, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.

DRIED APPLE STACK CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease bottoms of two 9 inch round layer cake pans.
• In a large bowl, mix the spice cake mix, dried apples, pecans, coconut, currants, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla extract and butter. Pour the mixture into the cake pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
• Split each cake layer into four sections. Spread apple butter between the sections and reassemble layers.

APPALACHIAN STACK CAKE WITH APPLE-BOURBON SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line bottoms of 5 greased 6-in. round baking pans with parchment. In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar and molasses until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition (mixture may appear curdled). In another bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition., Transfer to prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks; remove paper. Cool completely., For the sauce, in a large heavy saucepan, combine apples, brown sugar, water and bourbon. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat until apples are soft and pliable, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add butter. Cook and stir, uncovered, until sauce is thin and syrupy, 5-10 minutes longer. Remove from heat; cool completely., Using a long serrated knife, trim tops of cakes if domed. Spread 1 tablespoon apple butter on a rimmed serving plate; top with 1 cake layer. Spread with about 1/3 cup apple butter. Top with 2/3 cup apple and bourbon sauce. Repeat layers. Drizzle any remaining sauce from apple mixture over top of cake. Refrigerate, covered, at least 24 hours before serving.