Recipe(tried): Apple Stack Cake (using dried apples)

Apple Stack Cake

1 pound of dried apples
water
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
2 cups sugar
1 cup solid shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup of buttermilk
3 whole eggs
1 tablespoon of powdered sugar

Put dried apples in a heavy pan, cover with water and cook (covered) for 15 minutes adding a little water if necessary to avoid sticking.

Remove from heat, mash with a fork and stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cloves. Return to stove, stirring and simmering until the fruit is soft, thick and spicy. Turn off heat and leave the pot covered.

Cream together sugar and solid shortening.

Combine salt and ginger with flour and sift twice more.

Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk. Alternately add flour and buttermilk mixtures to the sugar and shortening, a little at a time, stirring well. Beat 3 whole eggs and add them to the batter slowly.

Grease and flour a #8 cast iron skillet. Take 1/6th to 1/8th of the dough and press it into the skillet (very thin).

Bake in 350deg oven for 15 minutes or top of the stove on medium heat and cook until the center is done and slightly brown. Remove the cake layer and cool. Repeat the steps until the dough is used up. (Should produce 6 to 8 thin layers.)

To assemble: put the 1st cake layer on a large platter, spoon a generous portion of the cooked apples over it, top with another cake, add the apples, and repeat until all the apples are used. Sprinkle the powdered sugar on top and let the cake stand, covered, in a cool place for a day or two before cutting. By then the cake layers and apples will have blended and mellowed and the stack will be a firm pillar that slices well.