Alleghany County Molasses Stack Cake

Stack cake is an Appalachian mountain original, a sturdy, homespun tower of thin gingerbread layers, fortified with sorghum or molasses, enlivened with sweet spices, and held steady by a delicious dried apple-spice puree. My friend Dean’s Aunt Lou was the stack cake queen of Alleghany County, North Carolina, renowned for her molasses-laced, six-layer versions. You’ll find believers in dough instead of batter, rolled dough instead of patted, stovetop versus oven, and sweeten