Part cake and part confection, this heritage recipe for Chocolate Little Layer Cake is made by home cooks throughout southwest Georgia. The cake consists of tiny yellow layers baked individually, then filled and topped with old fashioned boiled chocolate icing.
I really love the way technology connects us. It makes it possible for us to share special recipes like this Chocolate Little Layer Cake beyond our closest circle of friends and family. What we used to do through cards and letters, newspaper and magazine clippings, or simply by word of mouth, we can now accomplish within seconds.
Just a quick internet search, and virtually any recipe ever thought of appears on your screen. I’m even more grateful that technology is helping us to preserve our old heritage recipes like this beautiful tiny layer chocolate cake.
— This post was originally published on April 24, 2012. It has been updated with new photos and additional information.
Recipe Snapshot
Cuisine: Southern, Vintage
Cooking Method: Oven and Stovetop
Total Time: 1 hour, 50 Minutes
Servings: 24
Primary Ingredient(s): Baking chocolate (see notes), sugar, flour, butter, evaporated milk
Skill Level: Intermediate
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING …
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Oh how I miss these cakes. All my family is from south Georgia and someone was always bringing one when we had big get togethers. And there was always some older lady who sold these cakes.”
— Marie
“I’m so glad to see this recipe! My aunt … made this cake many times, and it was always a hit and one of my all-time favorite desserts!!”
— Lucy
A Heritage Recipe
For as long as I can remember, these beautiful multi-layer cakes have been a part of family reunions, church dinners, and most holidays in the southwest corner of Georgia where I grew up. You might think at first glance that they’re standard cake layers that have been split and filled, but they’re not—not at all. Each little thin layer is baked separately.
To make it even more different from traditional layer cakes, it’s iced with warm boiled chocolate icing while the layers themselves are still warm. Totally goes against the conventional method, doesn’t it?
Years ago, Kim Severson of the New York Times did a story on these little layer cakes. I had the pleasure of hearing Kim speak once at a food blogging conference. She’s a very accomplished food writer and has received numerous accolades, including several James Beard Awards.
In her NYT story, she talked about how the cakes were made only in one area in Alabama and on Smith Island near Maryland. Well, I can assure you that they are part of the fabric of at least one small southwest Georgia town as well :-)
In the small town where I grew up, lots of ladies make these cakes for a little extra income on the side. They come in two versions – chocolate or caramel. Some of them make a fairly brisk business of it, especially around Christmas.
Way back when, the thin layers for these cakes were made by cooking each layer in a hoecake pan or iron skillet on top of the stove, but now most everyone cooks the layers in the oven. It just goes faster when you can bake three or four layers at one time, you see.
If you’re really experienced with little layer cakes, you can get as many as fourteen layers from your batter. I usually get a ten-layer cake. I need to practice more. If you’ve never made this cake before, aim for about seven layers your first time and gradually increase as you improve your technique.
A Modernized Recipe For You
The original recipe that I have for little layer cakes is so typical of old-time recipes. It assumes that the cook pretty much knows what to do, and only the bare essentials are given.
For instance, the instructions for making the batter read, “Mix well. Grease 8″ pans with Crisco. Put 2 large cooking spoonfuls in each pan. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.” That’s it.
And the instructions for the boiled icing are “Place over low heat until all is dissolved. Do not boil. Be sure all sugar is melted.” Well, alrighty then!
In the recipe below, I’ve tried to re-write and modernize the instructions a bit for you.
What You’ll Like About This Recipe
- It has a unique boiled chocolate icing.
- It tastes great and is pretty easy to make once you get the idea.
- It’s a very old, sentimental part of southern foodways.
Ingredient Notes
This post contains affiliate links. Lana’s Cooking is reader-supported and earns a tiny commission at no extra cost to you when you shop from our links.
- Granulated Sugar – This is just plain old white sugar. We tend to use Dixie Crystals in the south.
- Baking Chocolate – It’s really important to use the right kind of chocolate for this recipe. You’ll need to purchase Baker’s Premium Unsweetened Baking Chocolate, which produces the distinctive look, texture, and taste required for this recipe.
- Evaporated Milk – Be sure you’re buying evaporated milk, NOT sweetened condensed milk.
- Butter – Like most old-fashioned southern cooks, I use salted butter in everything, including this recipe. I can’t remember the last time I purchased unsalted butter.
- Vanilla Extract – Use a quality extract such as McCormick’s.
- Eggs – The fresher, the better.
- Self-Rising Flour – Southerners love our White Lily flour for any type of baking. It’s made from soft winter wheat and produces very tender baked goods.
The complete ingredient list with detailed measurements is included in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook!
You can see this recipe on pages 268-269 of my cookbook, My Southern Table! Get your signed copy today.
How to Make Chocolate Little Layer Cake
Prep the Pans and Ingredients
- Before starting your baking, make sure to have all the ingredients at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and go ahead and prep several 8-inch cake pans with shortening and set them aside.
Pro Tip
How many layers you bake at once depends on how many pans you have and can fit into your oven without them touching. Some people use disposable cake pans for this, but I don’t see the need. I just wipe the pans out and re-grease between each set of layers.
Make the Icing
Unlike other cakes, you actually start your little layer cake by making the icing first.
- Place a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. The heat should be barely medium-low. If in doubt, go lower.
- Add the sugar, baking chocolate, evaporated milk, butter, and vanilla all at once. Cook the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved, stirring occasionally. It is important that the icing does not boil and that you make sure that the sugar is completely dissolved so that no grainy texture remains.
Make the Batter
- Meanwhile, make the batter. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs all at once and beat until well incorporated. Add the flour and water alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Mix in the vanilla.
Pro Tip
The batter will appear to be curdled after each addition of water. This is normal.
Bake the Layers
- Pour approximately 3/4 cup batter into each prepared pan. Smooth the batter to the edges.
- Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the layers are barely golden on top. Remove from the oven and turn out onto cooling racks.
- Clean the pans, grease them, and repeat baking.
- When the second set of layers goes into the oven, begin icing the first set.
Frost the Layers While Warm
- Place a still-warm layer on a cardboard round set on a cooling rack inside a baking sheet. Spread 1/4 cup of icing on the layer, smoothing it gently to the edges (an offset spatula is great for this job). Top with the next layer and repeat.
Pro Tip
Note that the icing will be thin and fairly runny. It will drip down the sides of the layers. This is to be expected. Any excess icing should be scraped up and returned to the pan and all of it used in icing the cake. This is why I strongly recommend doing the icing of the cake on a wire rack set inside a baking pan.
- When all the layers have been stacked and iced, spread the remaining icing over the top and sides of the cake. If the icing becomes thick, return the pan to very low heat until it returns to spreading consistency.
- Smooth the icing around the sides of the cake, but realize that the contours are supposed to be visible on the outside of the cake.
Variations
- Many cooks around my hometown also make this cake with a caramel icing. I don’t have the original caramel icing recipe, but the version I use for my Southern Caramel Layer Cake should work well.
- I’ve also seen commercial versions of the little layer cake done in coconut, red velvet, and even lemon. I prefer the chocolate and caramel versions.
What to Serve With Chocolate Little Layer Cake
This cake is the perfect dessert for practically any occasion. I’ve served this for Sunday night family dinner, birthday parties, family reunions, and even bridal showers. It’s the perfect ending to a traditional southern meal of country fried steak, old fashioned green beans, fried okra, cornbread, and a fresh cucumber salad!
Storage
Store the cake in a covered container at room temperature for three or four days.
This cake freezes very well. To freeze, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Place the wrapped cake in a freezer container and freeze for up to three months. Allow the frozen cake to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
More Popular Cake Recipes
Questions About Chocolate Little Layer Cake
As mentioned in the post, this icing is really thin and runny. It’s not the consistency that you usually think of for icing. The way I handle it is by placing a wire cooling rack inside a baking sheet and setting my layers on that to start. As I add icing, it drips off into the baking sheet. Keep scraping it up and adding it back to the pan. You’ll eventually use all the icing.
There are a few reasons that the icing can turn out grainy. A few tips are to make sure you have all the ingredients at room temperature before you start and to make sure all the sugar is completely dissolved.
The best way I’ve found to keep the layers from shifting is to insert two or three very thin bamboo skewers when you get about halfway up the stack. Keep layering and frosting, and cut your skewers off before you put the last layer on so they don’t show on the outside.
Have a question or thought to share?
If you have a question about the recipe or if you’ve made it and want to share how it turned out, I would truly enjoy hearing from you. Just scroll down to leave a comment or add your star rating.
Thank you for stopping by. It means a lot to have you here.
Recipe
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox.
Chocolate Little Layer Cake
Ingredients
- Solid shortening for greasing pans
For the icing:
- 3 cups sugar
- 3 ½ ounces unsweetened baking chocolate see notes
- 10 ounces evaporated milk
- ½ cup butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the layers:
- 1 cup butter
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 6 eggs
- 3 ½ cups self-rising flour sifted
- 1 ¾ cups water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Have all ingredients at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease 8” cake pans with shortening and set aside.Solid shortening for greasing pans
- Make the icing first. Place a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat.
- Add the sugar, baking chocolate, evaporated milk, butter, and vanilla all at once. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved, stirring frequently. Do not boil. It is important to make sure that the sugar is completely dissolved and no grainy texture remains.3 cups sugar, 3 ½ ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, 10 ounces evaporated milk, ½ cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Meanwhile, make the batter. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs all at once and beat until well incorporated. Add the flour and water alternately, beginning and ending with flour. (Note: the batter will appear to be curdled after each addition of water – this is normal.) Mix in the vanilla.1 cup butter, 1 ½ cups sugar, 6 eggs, 3 ½ cups self-rising flour, 1 ¾ cups water, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pour approximately 3/4 cup batter into each prepared pan. Smooth the batter to the edges.
- Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until layers are barely golden on top. Remove from oven and turn out onto cooling racks.
- Clean the pans, grease them and repeat baking.
- When second set of layers goes into the oven, begin icing the cake.
- Place a still-warm layer on a cardboard round set atop a cooling rack inside a baking sheet. Spread 1/4 cup icing on the layer spreading it gently to the edges. Top with the next layer and repeat.
- When all layers have been stacked and iced, spread remaining icing over top and sides of the cake. If the icing becomes thick, return the pan to very low heat until it returns to spreading consistency.
- Smooth the icing around the sides of the cake, but realize that the contours are supposed to be visible on the outside of the cake.
Notes
- The specific type of chocolate traditionally used for this recipe is Baker’s Premium Unsweetened Baking Chocolate. This chocolate produces the distinctive look, texture, and taste of this recipe.
- Store your cake in a covered container at room temperature for three or four days.
- To freeze, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Place the wrapped cake in a freezer container and freeze for up to three months. Allow the frozen cake to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
I’m Lana Stuart, an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, and lifelong cook raised deep in Southwest Georgia. I started Lana’s Cooking in 2009 to share the tried-and-true recipes I grew up with. Around here, the food is full of flavor, the traditions run deep, and there’s always room at the table.
Lana, I recently found your blog and just love it! My grandparents are from Coolidge, Ga and this cake reminds me so much of my grandmother! She always made the caramel version for holidays and family dinners. I now live in Dallas, Texas and am going to make this cake and introduce it to the Texans! Thank you!
Thanks, Elizabeth! I just know your Texas friends are going to love our little layer cakes.
Lana,
In south central Alabama, these layer cakes can still be found and I remember them from my childhood! My sister-in-law makes the chocolate one and her family calls it the “Son” cake, because she only makes it when her son comes down from Virginia! The entire family wishes he would come more often! I made one for a cake auction and it brought $180.00 for charity! The apple stack cake is also made in our area of the south! Homemade dried apples were used in it. Thanks for the wonderful post!
Thank you for your comment, Glinda. Wow – your cake brought $180? That’s fantastic! I’d love to try the apple stack cake – sounds like it would be good in the Fall.
My husband has talked about his grandma making this type of cake for years. She was a hundred years old when she passed away several years ago. I had to show this to him when I saw it. He said the one his grandma made was made with dried apples. I would love to have that recipe if anyone comes across it. I will be giving this one a try but not until Thanksgiving or Christmas. We live in north central North Carolina right on the Virginia border.
Can you share the recipe for apple stack cake. I got married in 1958 and my mother-in-law used to make this for us. It was wonderful ! Had dried apple mixture between layers and boiled icing poured over the top. I ould have eaten the whole thing
My Grandmother made this cake during holidays. She lived in Atlanta. Thanks for the recipe, it brings back great memories.
Thank you, Jeanne. It always makes me happy to bring back memories through my recipes.
Lana, I`m friends with Brenda and Ted Horton and live at Lake Blackshear and I know you know where Irvinville, Ga. is you being from Sylvester. There`s a lady who lives in Irvinville who makes these cakes every year at christmas . She also works for one of my husband`s customers in the pecan business and she makes sure I get one of these cakes every christmas. They are DELICIOUS. Her`s are 14 layers and so moist. She also makes delicious pound cakes and sweet potato pies.
Hi Marianne – These really are very special cakes, aren’t they? Around my hometown they come in either chocolate or caramel. I’ve heard from several people who have had them in red velvet as well. That sounds delicious!
Actually, I’m not from Sylvester, I’m from Colquitt (Miller County).
How do you make this cake using caramel
Exactly the same except you use a caramel icing. I don’t have a recipe for the traditional caramel icing they use.
I’m from Iowa and I’ve never seen this before. If it had made it to our little part of the country, I’m sure Grandma would have made it or it would have shown up at a family reunion!
What a beautiful masterpiece!! really fantasticly put together and gorgeously delicious :)
Mary x
omg this looks fantastic!!!
I live in central Ohio and do not see these layer cakes. I have made them thanks to the web but also thanks to some historical camping and old cookbooks. I have forgotten now where I read this, but I thought an
APPLE STACK CAKE was the oldest written cake recipe from the colonists.A variation of your recipe and popular for weddings where each guest family would supply a layer of cake and the bride’s family supplied the apple filling. True or not I love the idea of the community coming together for the couple.
I would like to try and bake a cake on the stovetop.
That’s so interesting, Penny! I have not heard of the apple stack cake but now I want to research it. I’m sure that these small layer stacked cakes probably originated with layers that were cooked in a skillet because no oven was available. They’re also very similar to a torte and may have evolved in some way from that classic recipe. Probably people just making do the best they could with what they had on hand.
I’ m from Eastern NC. My husband is from Western NC. I had 14 layer chocolate cake growing up. He had apple stack cakes. I’d never heard of apple stack caskets until I moved to the mountains of NC with him.
This cake looks wonderful! It reminds me of the doberge cakes so popular in south Louisiana. Doberge is a Christmas tradition in our family. These cakes are a lot of work and I admire you for making one.
I had not heard of doberge cakes, so I did a Google search. Oh, my, they look delicious!! Very much like our little layer cakes.
Absolutely gorgeous, I’m in awe!!
Nothing looks little about that cake! ;)
I never made one of these in my years in the south but now I remember them…and you do it such justice; looks absolutely lovely Lana. LOVE the instructions from the original; so true of a lot of older recipes I have too.
Thanks for the memories.
Don’t you just love the instructions in old recipes! So simple. They put into two lines what we take a page and a half to write.
I live in Rockingham nc and just finished making this same cake from a recipe I saw on face book. I was making it for thanksgiving. My layers were sliding all over. It looks awful…but it taste good! Any tips on keeping layers front sliding. Thank you in advance for any help on this. Karen
Karen – try inserting a toothpick down through the layers every now and then as you stack them.
Ok, confession time. I tried to make this cake one time. One time. I did not have the foresight to think to place it on a rack over a baking pan to try to ice the thing. I chased icing all over my countertops, scooping, and trying to get it on the blasted cake. I did not have a happy experience.
I am jealous.
Miss P
Oh, yeah. That icing can be hard to corral!
There are some recipes that call for refrigerating the cake after frosting every layer. Seems it would holds much better, although a little time consuming with 10-15 refrigeration per layer.
I make one with 12 layers. I have 6 pans and I put wax paper in them. That way when they come out of the oven I can pull them right out of the pans. Bake the remainder while the first ones cool. Ive tried doing thin layered red velvet but it stuck to the wax paper. Only tried it once but I know it can be done because Ive had one and its awesome. By the way Im in southeast Ga about an hour from Savannah.
Thena, I haven’t had the little layer red velvet but I’m sure it’s delicious.
Lana, I see alot of NC posting…. my grandmother (South Goergia) has always for as long as I can remember made this, I’ve made it several times using my Great Grandmothers recipe that I still have on old oil stained yellowish paper… I’ve gotten 12 but we like our layers thin an crispy. I use a iron skillet. I think it’s fair to say it def is a Southern staple from our grandmother’s before
So beautiful!
What a stunning (7 layer?) cake. I’m a layer splitter, using unwaxed, unflavored dental floss, but I’ve always wanted to try the individually baked layers, even though it takes a little more time. They sell them in bakeries here (Northeast), but they’re usually rectangular. I’d give anything for a slice of that beauty, now.
It’s 10 layers, Lisa. I need more practice to get up to 14 :-)
10 separate layers of cake, or 10 layers of cake and frosting? Here they call them 7 layer cakes, but I’ll have to count the cake layers to make sure they didn’t include the frosting as a layer lol
I bake 14 layers, and they are individual layers.
I live in Eastern North Carolina too and it would not be a family reunion without one of these cakes. I have never seen the recipe although Gladys has told me how she makes hers. Personally I would rather eat one somebody else made!
Hi Nancy – interesting that you and one other person mentioned seeing these cakes in eastern NC. From my other hobby, genealogy, I know that quite a few people in our area have family ties to eastern North Carolina.
Everybody would look forward to Gladys’s cake and if you didn’t get a piece before you got your food you would be out of luck. I have a funny story to tell you. My mother found a woman that would make those cakes and she would get one for holidays, birthdays or her bridge club. She would not tell anyone the woman’s name! My mother took that woman’s name and phone number to her grave!
Nancy, Is the Gladys you are talking about lived in Wilmington and grew up in Pender Co named Gladys Harrelson Malpass?? and she has a sister Helen “Jo” Harrelson Jenkins?? Helen is my grandmother and I would really love to know how she made this cake. I have a cousin that found a recipe of Gladys but it’s a bit different.
I know know that you can get this cake at Paul’s Place Hot Dogs in Rocky Point. Well, it taste the same as my grandmothers only it has 2 layers.
Lana,
You say your other hobby is genealogy, I’m attempting to work on my dad’s family’s tree and I have quite a few blanks. My family would be from New Hanover and Pender Co.’s. If this is where your family is and you would be willing to help me, my email address is sdj7233@uncw.edu
I’m from Eastern NC, Duplin co. We had these cakes every holiday and family reunion too.
My family originally comes from the Beulaville area of NC. My Aunt Arlene made a 21 layer cake that would make your tongue slap your tastebuds, it was so good. I am searching for her recipe. My sister has it somewhere but she cant find it! I tried the Paula Dean recipe at Thanksgiving. It turned out dry. It was good when microwaved, but not as good as hers.
Jennifer, is it possible you have my Aunt Arlene Griffin’s recipe?
Carlie C’s grocery store in Durham sells it & it’s actually as close as homemade I’ve ever tasted out of a grocery store.
I’d like to make my own soon.
Thx 4 the recipe!!
There is a lady near Savannah, Ga. that makes these and hers are 18 layers. She does the yellow cake with chocolate icing, yellow cake with caramel icing, and a mocha cake with chocolate icing in the little layers. They are delicious!
Amanda – I’ve known some people who could get as much as 18 layers from their batter, too. I’ve just got to keep practicing to get it perfect. And I’ve never had the mocha version but it sounds delicious!
This one is a beauty!!!! and—-something that I have NEVER tried to make. As long as the icing is good, it doesn’t seem to matter how the layers are. So many people just go for the icing. Me–I like the layers too.
Thanks! I thought it was pretty even if it was just a teeny bit lopsided. And I like it all – layers and icing! Some people have trouble getting the icing smooth but this didn’t have a single grain of sugary-ness in it.
I’ve seen lots of these in Eastern North Carolina, only the little ol’ granny I know that makes them makes a full size layer and splits it in half with a thin guitar string looking thing.
Yes, I’ve seen cakes with split layers lots of time, but I’m specifically wondering whether others cook the individual thin layers like this. Thanks for responding!
I’m from Eastern NC and my Great Grandmother (I’m 24 she was born around 1920) used to make a cake just like this baking the thin layers and then using the boiled icing. She used to say when you made a cake not to be too particular about how the icing looked because if you spent too much time making it pretty you’d lose track of making sure it tasted good haha. Then again she could afford to say that considering even her “messy” cakes looked better than most of my pretty ones.
years ago we had an Austrian baker in our neighborhood. There 7 layer cake was the best I have ever tasted. I have been trying to find a recipe to duplicate that cake. The layers were not the traditional yellow layer cake. I seem to remember they were sort of tan in color very very thin and almost had a nutty taste.
does any one know what kind of layers these were? I have been trying to duplicate this cake for years
My Grandmom made a torte with thin layers. I remember her using merangue and ground walnuts with chocolate icing. Delicious! Maybe someone else would remember!
Are the ground nuts mixed with the batter like I remember?
Jane, I make a cake called a Marjolaine that uses ground almonds and/or ground hazelnuts as the flour together with egg whites whipped into a meringue. Here is a link to a recipe and a picture.
https://bakingwithsibella.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/072.jpg?w=656
I’m from Dunn, North Carolina and have had these cakes all of my life. My grandmother made these and several ladies in my church and community make these. One lovely lady in my church gets between 30-32 layers out of her cake. It is THE BEST EVER!! It takes her around 3 hours to finish it, and she makes her husband leave while she’s making it! No interruptions! I think she doubles or triples her icing recipe.
Dunn is where I had this cake. A friend of my aunt’s brought one over when my uncle passed away 20 years ago. Still remember it. Always wanted to make one.
I’m from Dunn as well! This cake has always had a sweet spot in my childhood! It was always my favorite one, and my first request for any occasion! My grandmother always made cream cheese pound cakes, and I have mastered that recipe. This is one I would like to tackle next (and homemade biscuits). I attended a church fundraiser last night for a family who just lost their mom, and I found myself bidding on one of these cakes..it came home with me LOL! I just started searching for recipes to get the wheels turning for the right time for me to give it a go. Seeing the comments about Dunn made my heart happy! We know how to do it right around here :P Now I’m wondering where this 32 layer one is HAHA
Hi, I bake these thin layer cakes. I do my layers in pans and spread batter thin. I have been making these for over ten years. Ian am in Cairo GA.
I’m from Moultrie, GA. I make a thin layer chocolate cake like this also but always have trouble getting my layers to lay flat and not be thicker in the middle. I cook my layers in my cake pans and they don’t appear thicker in the middle until I start stacking the cake and the middle gets thicker with each layer. Any suggestions
Sharon, one thing you can try is to alternate placing the layers right side up and bottom side up as you stack them. And you can always shave a tiny bit off the top on every second or third layer.
Hi , it could’ve been very thin layers of crepes. I cook mine on the bottom side of a pan and cook only on one side ,they are amazing ,I mean amazing ,I do all sorts of things with them . Or it could be some type of a meringue .
Glenda,
This is a long shot but do you still make these cakes? I have been calling around in Cairo and Thomasville all day trying to find someone who can make one for me. If you happen to see this within the next couple of days could you please email me at katherine.heaberlin@gmail.com
The pride of making this cake is to accomplish the perfect outcome of 16 layers as the old times one known in eastern NC. My sister and I make one of these every Christmas Eve for our family dinner on Christmas Day. We use the old fashioned fudge recipe and keep it thinned with evaporated milk. delicious! Top with nuts.
Baking the thin layers works much better for me! I’m not good at splitting the full sized layers!
I’ve seen these (and baked them) since the 50s. My grandmother was so pleased when the war (WWII) was over, because she could finally start making her 15 layer chocolate cakes again (war shortages and rationing, even on a farm, limited a lot of her baking).
I’m in Soperton, between Dublin and Vidalia, and these have been around since the early 1900s, at least. (And I never heard of splitting layers! Mawmaw baked hers in an iron skillet.)
I first learned of these wonderful cakes near the boarder of NC & SC. There is a precious lady who bakes these for all the church dinners. Her small hands are arthritic and twisted almost into fists, but she is famous for her quiet ways, and this fabulous cake. Baked in thin layers, not sliced.
I found the news article you mentioned and made it twice, and turned out great. I’m about to try your version to give for Christmas gifts. Your icing seems easier to make.
Is it very sensitive to humidity when you’re cooking it?
Hello Marie – like many icings, this one can be a little temperamental and humidity can affect it but not badly. I hope the cake turns out great for you!
My husbands grandmother (from North Carolina) taught me to make these. She and the ladies at church would make these at Christmas for a fundraiser. They charged a dollar a layer. So much history….So much fun! When our son married he asked for a 14 layer chocolate groomsman cake..,,14 inch square and yes ma’am… I delivered. Legacy cake? Maybe!
I am from nc an I make the tiney layers
Lana,
Could you make the layers and freeze them and then put them together a few days later with the frosting? I wonder how the layers would freeze?
Good question. I really don’t know. This recipe always calls for the cake to be frosted while the layers are still warm from the oven. You’d definitely end up with a totally different type of cake.
We have had these in years past at family reunions in the Pee Dee area of SC, but not in a while. You have inspired me to try.
My friend in Hartsville, SC, cooks the thin layers. I think I’ll borrow a couple extra pans from the neighbors.
Wish me luck!
Hope it turns out great for you!
I am from North West Florida. I make this cake quiet often.