Moravian Sugar Cake

I grew up in Winston-Salem, NC, originally settled by Moravians in the
mid-1700s. As a kid, I thought everyone enjoyed all those Moravian goodies
like ginger cookies and sugar cake, especially popular around the Holidays.
It wasn’t till I was in my late teens that I learned what treasures I had
been blithely eating all my life.

Here’s a recipe for Winkler’s Moravian sugar cake. (Winkler’s is the name
of the bakery in Old Salem, the reconstructed Moravian settlement near
downtown Winston-Salem.) The recipe comes from _Cooking in Old Salem_.
Obviously, this is an updated version of the recipe (the original Moravians
didn’t have *instant* mashed potatoes), but it is still tasty. I find this
needs to be eaten fairly fresh, but you can seal it in an airtight bag or
container to extend its life for a while. It freezes wonderfully. It’s
delicious with coffee. All in all, it takes about 3 hours to make; most of
that time is letting the dough rise. It’s so easy, it would be an ideal
Holiday project for the young Alice Waters or Paul Bocuse in the family 🙂

Add yeast to warm water and sugar. Set aside until yeast bubbles.

Add next seven ingredients plus one cup of the flour. Beat 2 minutes on
medium speed. With a wooden spoon add the two remaining cups of flour.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, turn once to grease the top of the
dough. Cover and let rise until double – about one hour.

Punch dough down and put in greased shallow pan about 17″ x 12″ x 1″. Let
rise 30 minutes. Spread evenly in pan and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar
and cinammon. Make shallow indentations in the dough with your fingers and
dribble with last 1/2 cup of melted and cooled butter. Let rise 30 minutes
and bake until golden brown – about 12 to 15 minutes at 375 deg F.