Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 43

Heirl SmokieS

After the month is up, either cook the beans or store
them in a covered container or in the freezer.
To cook them, rinse and drain the beans several
times. Place them in a bowl and cover them with water.
Let the beans sit overnight – for about 12 hours.
Change the water at least a couple of times. Drain the
beans a final time and put them in a pot. Cover them
with water and add a ham hock and an onion, quartered. Bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and cook
for about half a day, adding more water when necessary. When the ham hock is done and the meat begins
to fall off the bone, take the hock out of the pot, let it
cool, remove the meat, break it into small pieces, and
return the cleaned meat to the pot. When the beans
are tender, season them with salt and pepper. If you
want the beans soupy, keep the broth in the pot. If you
want to serve them in the same manner as regular green
beans, cook out most of the liquid.

½ cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup shortening
Approximately 4 ½ cups of White Lily flour, plus
enough for flouring the board when rolling out each
layer.
Cover dried apples with water and cook over
medium low heat until most of the water is absorbed
and the apples break up when stirred. If apples are not
soft enough to break up, add more water and keep
cooking. If desired, add a tablespoon or so of sugar to
taste. Cool and run apples through a sieve or Foley
Food Mill to produce a smooth sauce. Meanwhile
combine the remaining ingredients. Dough should be
the consistency of stiff cookie dough. Separate dough
into five to seven balls. Roll each ball of dough to a
⅛- or ¼-inch thickness. Cut in 8- or 9-inch rounds.
(Nevada Derting used a pie pan with a scalloped edge
to cut out rounds.) Prick each layer with a fork, making a nice design. Sprinkle individual layers with
granulated sugar and bake on a greased cookie sheet
at 400 degrees until golden brown (about 5-8 minutes,
depending on thickness). (Mrs. Derting sometimes
baked hers in iron skillets.) Cool and place the first
layer on a cake plate. Spread a coating of cooked apples
over the layer, within half an inch of the edge. Stack
the other layers, alternating cake and cooked apples
and ending with a cake layer on top. Save the layer
with the prettiest design for the top. Store, covered, in
a cool place for several days before serving. 

Left: Good dried beans
are the key to successful
leather britches.
Below: Jill Sauceman
presents a batch of stack
cakes made from her
grandmother’s recipe.

Nevada Parker Derting’s Stack Cake
This is our most requested recipe. The late Nevada
Parker Derting is my wife Jill’s grandmother. Jill is the
only grandchild who makes this cake, and the recipe
is well over 100 years old. Notice that it includes no
spicing whatsoever. This recipe has been published in
several cookbooks. Some authors have felt a compulsion to change it by adding spices. Others have
respected the simplicity and integrity of the original
recipe. It worked when William McKinley was president, and it still works today. The thickness and composition of the layers and the apple filling are strong
signs that this cake bears a kinship to the tortes of
Germany.
j Sauceman

1 pound dried tart apples
½ cup sorghum
½ cup sugar
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 | 43

Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013

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