Annie Wampole’s Cornstarch Cake

During the 1850s Mrs. Charles L. Wampole of Norristown was considered one of the leading home cooks in Pennsylvania. At state fairs she usually took prizes for her apple butters, peach butters, and homemade soaps.7 But it was her cornstarch cake that made her famous.

Annie Wampole first exhibited her cake at the Montgomery County Agricultural Show in 1855, where it took first prize. Her clever recipe was publi