General blather

Funny Cake

quiteayarnblog

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that my favorite dessert is funny cake, and many of you wondered what that is.

This is not my picture – it is from the web. Somehow or the other, I do not seem to have any pictures of funny cake, which is pretty amazing considering how much of it I have eaten.

Funny cake is a Pennsylvania Dutch dessert, which I like to call “the cake pie of my people”. It is just that, a pie with cake and chocolate sauce in it. The funny part comes from how it is baked. Some people say that you start with the pie crust dough, pour in the syrup, then add the cake batter. Those people are wrong. You start with pie crust dough, pour in the cake batter, then add the chocolate on top. As it bakes, the syrup sinks through the cake batter, leaving little swirls of chocolate throughout and a good layer of chocolate between the cake and the pie crust. It is a nice dessert – not too sweet and not too heavy. My family’s recipe was originally double what I use now, and made two funny cakes. That is a lot of cakepie though, so here it is halved.

Funny Cake

  • Dough for a single crust pie
  • Cake Batter
    • 1/2 cup sugar
    • 1 egg
    • 1 cup flour
    • 1/4 tsp. salt
    • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
    • 1/4 cup shortening
    • 1/2 cup milk
    • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • Chocolate Filling
    • 1/2 cup sugar
    • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
    • 1/2 cup water
    • 1/2 tsp vanilla

Line a 9″ pie pan with the unbaked pie crust dough. You can use your favorite dough or a bought one works fine. My favorite is from an old Better Homes & Gardens book, All-Time Favorite Pies (pictured below).

Make the cake batter. Mix the wet ingredients, then blend in the dry. Pour batter into the unbaked pie crust. Mix chocolate filling and pour it over batter. It will sink through the cake batter while baking.

Bake at 375 F for 45 minutes or until done.

This is the pie crust recipe I generally use.

What’s your favorite cake or pie? Or cakepie, for that matter 🙂

31 thoughts on “Funny Cake”

  1. Pastry and I don’t get on well. But I love pie! I like lemon meringue pie best with a biscuit base (vegan version is pain free), I will suffer indigestion and cramps for a really good egg custard tart. Basically anything like pumpkin pie, key lime pie, Mississippi mud pie I’d eat the middle and leave the pastry.

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  7. Hey!!!! I have all the ingredient to make this. Guess what will be for dessert at my house tonight. Thank you for posting the recipe. The PA Dutch have some of the best recipes ever. We lived in PA for 4 years and I always looked forward to going to their festivals just for the food!

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    1. I hope you like it 🙂 Yes, PA Dutch food is pretty awesome, for the most part! People always go on about Shoo Fly pie, but to me its nowhere near as good as funny cake 🙂 Where in PA did you live?

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      1. We lived in Springfield, Delaware County. Just south of Philly. Hmmmm cheesesteaks, soft pretzels and Italian water ice. I miss them. What is served in AZ is not the same.

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      2. Yes. Now I’m hungry! LOL 🙂
        We are lucky – we have a cheesesteak shop in town run by people who are actually from Philly! No good soft pretzels though 🙂

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      3. I made the funny cake today! Oh my it is soooo yummy. Thank you for the recipe. I did cheat and used refrigerated pie crust. My crusts do not come out very good. I wanted to make sure it all came out ok.

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  12. How have I lived in Lancaster County all my life and not heard of Funny Cake? My people were not really PA Dutch – they were Quakers – but most of my friends’ parents and grandparents were PA Dutch. I am going to try this recipe for sure!

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  14. Pingback: Favorite Foods: A Quiz – Quite A Yarn

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