Tea Cakes

Today I wanted to share a story from another blog that really struck a chord with me. We’ve talked here before about Apple Stack Cake and the strong tradition that dessert has throughout the Appalachian Mountains. So when I saw Appalrootfarm.com writing about “Old Timey Appalachian Tea Cakes & Mini Kentucky Apple Stack Cakes”, you know I was gonna follow that link. Well, she taught me so much more!

I remember my Grandma Stepp making Tea Cakes – it wasn’t a regular treat she gave us, in fact I guess I only remember a handful of times that she made them. But they were so good and I’ve looked for a similar recipe since but remembered so little about them that I could never find one that seemed right.

Well, Lorene writes that her Mamaw used to make tea cakes from the same batter as Apple Stack Cake. That made me wonder if my own Grandma was doing the same thing. (Oh how I wish I could pop in her kitchen and just ask – I can’t tell you how often I wish I could ask one of my grandparents for clarification on something I learned from them! Alas, we can only learn from each other now.) And that’s why I was so thrilled to read about this little Kentucky Mamaw treating her family in Ohio to tea cakes.

I thought that Grandma had found a recipe – either in a newspaper or old cookbook – and just thought she’d try it. But now I wonder if she was prompted to try it because she remembered tea cakes from her own mother or grandmother. Maybe that’s the question I need to pose to you readers with roots on the Cumberland Plateau: Do you remember old folks on the mountain making little cookie-like cakes that they called Tea Cakes? Or do you remember cookies made from the dough of the Apple Stack Cake?

Please leave me a comment if you can further educate me. And you can click on any of the underlined blue words in this article to follow the link to the original AppalrootFarm story.