The mountains that stretch from West Virginia to Kentucky bring us this unpretentious but surprisingly delicious recipe.  Naturally there are as many variations as there are families but this has to be the best of the best. Everyone in the area knows that in the autumn season molasses is made everywhere in Renfro, Kentucky at the famous Appalachian Harvest Festival.  Here sweet fresh green juice is extracted from hand harvested sugar cane in a mule drawn press. This specific recipe is huge and the quantities are massive – since we were asked to work it out. It can, quite easily, be halved or minimized even more.

Ingredients

• 1,200 g cake flour
• 450 g dark brown molasses sugar
• 225 g butter
• 125 ml buttermilk
• 2 extra large eggs at room temperature
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 4 tsp baking powder, rounded
• 4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp salt

Ingredients for the apple filling

• 500 g dried apples
• 450 g dark brown molasses sugar
• 1225 g water
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp salt
• Icing sugar

Method

Prepare and grease 3 x 23 cm cake tins

• Combine flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and set aside.
• Cream brown sugar and butter in an electric mixer for 4 minutes, add eggs an beat well after each addition.
• Add the vanilla and then start sifting in the flour mixture a little at a time with the buttermilk to make a smooth dough.
• Divide the dough into seven portions, put the first three into the cake tins, pressing down to make and even, reasonably flat mixture and bake in the pre heated oven for 10 minutes until the cake is golden brown.
• Place on wire racks and start the whole process again (if you have a huge oven you can do all seven at once, of course).

For the filling

• In a large saucepan boil the apples in water for about 25 minutes until all the water has been absorbed.
• Add the sugar and the spices with the salt to cook for about 15 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Arrange the cake on a serving dish, put down the bottom layer and spread with the apple filling, continue the process, using up all the filling until you get to the last layer.
• Naturally this last layer does not get any filling but is sprinkled liberally with icing sugar.

Allow it to stand for 24 hours before you serve It.